Albany, NY — The Sage Colleges' department of athletics recently announced the recipients of the department's annual awards. Named the 2019-2020 Sage women's cross country Gator of the Year was senior Amanda Jones (West Sand Lake, NY/Columbia).
Head cross country coach David Taranto remarked, "Amanda was truly a great athlete to work with this fall." He added, "She served as our team captain and came into the season with a renewed motivation and excitement about competing. She worked her way to being one of the top runners on the team and in the conference. She helped lead us to our first ever invitational win this year, which was a truly exciting moment for our program. What set Amanda apart was her ability to juggle her life so well. Being a senior in the nursing program, along with working a job and being a high performing member of the cross country team is challenging, but she was able to handle it all with such grace."
A team captain in 2019, Jones had a banner senior season. She opened the campaign with a 10th place finish at the Vassar Short Course Race for a 3k race in 12:36.0. She added a fourth in 26:13.1 at the SUNY Cobleskill Stephen Warde Invitational for a 6 k race. She also posted a seventh place showing at the Oneonta State invitational in 20:35.3.
She capped her 2019 fall with times of 25:50.5 at the Empire 8 Championship and a time of 26:58.3 at the NCAA Regionals.
As a Gator newcomer in cross country, was honored as a member of the 2016 Skyline Conference All-Star First Team after finishing in sixth place at the league's championship in 25:18.53. Her best time for a 6k course as a rookie was at the NCAA Regionals as she had a time of 24:19.2, while posting a time of 20:01.5 to take 18th at the Bard Invitational, a 5 k course. She opened her career with a 25th place finish at the SUNY-Poly Short Course race with her time of 18:11.9 for a 3k distance.
As a sophomore, she was team's top finisher in the RPI meet held at Saratoga State Park as she took home 88th place with her team-best time of 20:31.1. She finished in 21st place at the 2017 Empire 8 Championships as she recorded a time of 26:31.3 and helped the team to a sixth place. Her best time in 2017 for a 4k race was a time of 17:38.9 for a 22nd place finish at Siena College's Short Course event.
In 2018, as a junior, she had a number of impressive performances as well in cross country and helped the Gators as one of the team's scorers at nearly every meet. She added an impressive time at the highly competitive RPI Invitational with a time of 21:42.8.
Also a member of Sage's outdoor track and field team, her personal best times include a 5:36.81 in the 1,500 meters, a 21:20.37 in the 5,000 meter run and a time of 13:45.12 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. At the 2018 Capital District Championship, she added a fifth place in the 3,000 meter steeplechase for her personal best, while adding an 11th place at the Wagner Invitational in the 5,000 meter run for another personal best.
She is majoring in nursing at Sage and excelled in the classroom. She was a Skyline Conference Scholar-Athlete Team (2016) member and was a Dean's List student. She has earned back to selections to the Empire 8 Presidents' List in both 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. She is also a Sage's Scholar-Athlete Team honoree and was named to the Sage Athletic Honor Society in both 2019 and 2020.
