MARCY, N.Y. – In the excitement surrounding SUNYIT's NEAC Championship victory on Saturday, some of the team's tremendous individual accomplishments were lost. Here's a recap of the team's awards:

Runner of the Year: Derek Struck (Knox, N.Y. / Berne-Knox-Westerlo)

Struck continued to dominate his home course on Saturday, winning the 8K championship race with a course record time of 26 minutes and 33 seconds. By winning the race, Struck was also named to the NEAC All-Conference 1^st Team for the second-straight year.

Despite the overpowering performance, Struck took nothing for granted. When asked at what point he knew he was going to win the race, Struck responded "At the finish line."

Coach of the Year: Bill Tylutki

SUNYIT Coach Bill Tylutki put together a remarkable season – his men's cross country team finished in the top-4 in four out of their seven races on the year, and peaked at just the right time as, incredibly, all 5 of SUNYIT's scoring runners on Saturday finished in the top-10.

"This is the greatest team I've ever coached," said Tylutki, "we did workouts this year that I did when I was training for marathons; we ran ski hills, we ran hills all over the place."

Regarding the most surprising outcome of the day – the career-best 5^th place finish of SUNYIT senior Chris Wicks (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker) – Tylutki remarked "Chris is one of those kids that can redline…he can run in pain for an extended period of time – Struck does that too, this whole team can do that. They're not afraid of the pain."

All-Conference Selections

The Wildcats filled up the all-conference rolls with 6 runners, all of which made either the first or second team. Joining Struck on the first team were seniors Dylan Parry (Voorheesville, N.Y. / Voorheesville) and Chris Wicks (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker).

Parry, the team's senior leader, finished 4^th on the day with a time of 27:57. Said Parry, "We knew the course so well; every turn [even the muddy ones], there was no chance any of us was going to fall."

The Wildcats' young talent was on display in the All-Conference 2^nd Team, as freshmen Joseph Acey (Forestport, N.Y. / Adirondack) and Sean McCarthy (Selden, N.Y. / Centereach) joined junior Cody Russell (Fonda, N.Y. / Fonda).

Acey finished 8^th in the championship with a time of 29 minutes even, while McCarthy finished 9^th with a time of 29:10 and Russell turned in a time of 29:17, good for 11^th place.

To view the full NEAC Championship and All-Conference Press Release, click here.