Athletics, public service, make for top students in Millbrook

Athletics, public service, make for top students in Millbrook
Olivia Lucal,left, valedictorian of the  Millbrook Central School District’s graduating high school class of 2023, and salutatorian Sadie Krueger. 
Photo by Judith O’Hara Balfe

MILLBROOK —  Millbrook Central School District (MCSD) has named Olivia Lucal as valedictorian and Sadie Krueger as salutatorian for 2023. They will be delivering their speeches on Friday, June 23, at the Millbrook graduation, and they have had remarkably similar careers throughout their years at MCSD.

Coming to the district in the fifth grade, Lucal is the third sister in a family of four girls. She enjoys running, weightlifting and boxing, and in high school, did track and field and excelled on the girls varsity cross country team.

In the summer 2022, an interest in science found her working with the Mid-Hudson Young Environmental Scientists (MH-YES), a program coordinated by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

This summer Lucal will be working at the Millbrook Golf and Tennis Club, where she has worked before, and has also taken a position and Millbrook Beef and Dairy Farm Store for the first time. She’ll be getting ready to leave for college in the fall, when she will be attending the University of Chicago, studying astrophysics.

“Being in a small school system, there is a lot of support around you, and you support others,” Lucal said. Her advice to other students: “Stay confident in yourself.”

Krueger is a native of Millbrook and a lifelong student of MCSD. Her younger sister is a student at the high school as well.  Krueger will be headed to Kenyon College in Ohio this fall, where she will study biology with an eye toward becoming a physical therapist, although her favorite subject in high school was English.

While in high school, Krueger played varsity soccer and was co-senior captain of the 2022 Champion C soccer team when it progressed to the state final four for the first time in school history. She also ran track.

This summer will find her working at a sleepaway camp, which she has done before; she feels that having spent summers away from home and family will be helpful in her adjusting to being away at college.

Both young women are members of the Interact Club, a service-based club which works through the Rotary Club. Lucal and Krueger are also members of the National Honor Society, peer tutors, and took part in the Hike for Hunger. They were among the Millbrook Blazers athletes and teams who were recognized by the New York Public High School Athletic Associations (NYSPHSAA) in fall 2022.

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