Courtesy Trinity Sports Information

HARTFORD, Conn. – Former Trinity women’s cross country and indoor and outdoor captain Kristina Miner (Suffield, Conn.) has been selected as a 2008 NCAA Spring Postgraduate Scholarship winner. Miner, who was recently named the College’s Trinity Club of Hartford Award winner as the Trinity’s senior female athlete of the year, graduated from Trinity this past May. Miner was also named to the 2007-08 NESCAC Fall, Winter, and Spring All-Academic Teams. Miner is the only NESCAC student-athlete to earn an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in the 2007-08 academic year.

To qualify for an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, a student-athlete must have an overall grade-point average of 3.20 (on a 4.00 scale) or its equivalent, and must have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity team in the sport in which the student-athlete was nominated. The student-athlete must have behaved, both on and off the field, in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution and intercollegiate athletics. The student-athlete also must intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time graduate student.

The Trinity men’s and women’s cross country squads, both coached by George Suitor (16th Season), each had another successful season in 2007. The men’s team finished with an 83-29 invitational record while the women ended the season at 97-7. At the NCAA Division III Regional meet, the men finished in fourth place and qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships for the third time and the second year in a row, while the women came in 16th. The Bantam men came in 29th place at the NCAA National Meet in Minnesota.

The Trinity track teams, coached by George Suitor, also enjoyed fine indoor and outdoor seasons. The women’s team finished 14th in the New England Division III Indoor Championships, 10th in the NESCAC Outdoor Championships, and 15tht in the New England Division III Outdoor Championships. The Bantam men’s squad came in fifth place in both the New England Division III Indoor Championship Meet (61st at Nationals) and the NESCAC Championships, and 12th in the New England Division III Outdoor Championship Meet.

An All-American in track and field and an integral member of the Trinity cross country team in her first couple of years at the College, Miner successfully returned to both teams from a life-threatening injury suffered in a car accident in December of 2005. She was selected as the 2007 Bob Casey Award recipient by the Connecticut Sportswriters’ Alliance for tremendous courage overcoming adversity in his or her athletic career.

This fall, Miner recorded the team’s best time on a 6,000-meter course at 23:12 and added a season-best of 18:48 on 5,000-meter courses. She finished second overall in both the Trinity and Westfield State Invitational Meets. In track, Miner posted Trinity’s top times in the 1,500-meter run and the 5,000-meter run with times of 4:53.01 (4th at Mass.-Lowell Invitational) and 17:55.73 (19th at Princeton Invitational, career-best), respectively. She also posted season-best times of 2:25.23 in the 800 meters, 3:01.50 in the 1,000 meters (All- ECAC, 5th-place performance, also career best), and 5:22.12 in the mile run, while adding All-ECAC outdoor honors with a third-place time of 18:01.90 in the 5,000 meters.

For her career, Miner added top times of 17:58 on 5,000-meter cross country courses, 22:25 on 6,000-meter cross country courses, 2:13.84 in the 800 meters, 4:43.46 in the 1,500 meters, 4:59.27 in the mile, 10:50.68 in the 3,000 meters. Miner graduated from Trinity in May with a degree in public policy and law. She is the daughter of Debbie and Donald Miner.