Former Lady Tiger Katie Lebel received the “Top Newcomer” award at the University of Redlands recently.

The award, which is similar to a “Freshman of the Year” award, was given by her coach, Mike Schmidt.

Lebel was named to the all-academic team in cross-country and track, with a 4.0 grade point average both semesters.

She was also named to the dean’s list at the school in Redlands, Calif.

During cross-country season in the fall, Lebel placed in the top 70 in three races.

In September, she finished 59th out of 77 runners in her first-ever college event.

The 6K race was held at Cal State-San Bernardino. She finished with a time of 27:20 to help her team capture a 27th place finish.

Lebel began her track season mainly competing in field events. By the end of the season she had improved tremendously in the hammer throw, javelin (neither sport is sanctioned in the state of Georgia) and discus.

Her best finish in the hammer throw came at the Redland Invitational Meet. Lebel tossed the hammer 41.10 meters (134.80 feet) coming in second place.

At the same meet, Lebel tossed the javelin 35.56 meters (116.64 feet) finishing in third place.

In the SCIAC championships, Lebel finished the season strong with a sixth place finish in the hammer throw, with a toss of 142”4,’ a seventh place finish in the javelin with a throw of 114”.07’ and a 17th place finish in the discus.

With her effort, Lebel helped her team to a sixth place finish in the event.

Lebel is the daughter of Jennifer Kruse. She is majoring in art.