Albany, NY--The Sage Colleges’ department of athletics recently honored members of the varsity teams at the Athletic Awards Banquet.

Freshman Sean Alvarado (Shokan, NY/Onteora), a member of the men’s cross country team at Sage was named the recipient of the Gator of the Year Award as the team’s Most Valuable Performer.      

Freshman Collin Greenough (Southwick, MA/Southwick-Tolland), a member of the men’s cross country team at Sage was named the recipient of the Coaches’ Award for his contributions on and off the race course this past season.       

Bowles noted about Collin, "His perseverance to overcome an early season sickness resulted in a fantastic improvement as he dropped over a minute a mile from his first to final race." Bowles, added, "He was instrumental in Sage gaining its highest finish at the Skyline Conference Championship and with three more years of training, he can continue to lead our team.  His work off the course and in the classroom has helped to raise our academic level within the team as well as the entire athletic department at Sage."

Over the course of the 2011 men’s cross country season, Greenough competed in seven of the team’s races and recorded a 19^th place finish at the Green Mountain College Invitational to help Sage take home the runner-up title at the meet. He also picked up a 29^th place finish at the final meet of the year as the Gators were in action at the 2011 Skyline Conference Championship.

The Sage Colleges competes as a member of the NCAA in Division III and is a member of the Skyline Conference. Sage sponsors varsity athletic programs in 13 sports with the addition of women’s cross country program in the Fall of 2012. Over the course of the 2011-2012 academic year, Sage was named the recipient of the Skyline Conference Sportsmanship Award in four sports, while also garnering a pair of Skyline Conference Tournament runner-up trophies and appearing in six Skyline Conference Tournaments.