GENEVA, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Men's Cross Country Team turned in a great finish at the NCAA Atlantic Regional Race on Saturday, finishing in 23^rd place out of the extra-large field of 39 teams.

Leading the way in the 8k race was Derek Struck (Knox, N.Y. / Berne-Knox-Westerlo), who finished 34^th out of a field of 275 runners.

Struck broke 26 minutes, finishing with a time of 25 minutes and 54 seconds.

The team's 23^rd place finish is the best in the program's history. Dylan Parry (Voorheesville, N.Y. / Voorheesville) turned in a gutsy performance after a grueling race just a week ago at the ECAC Championships (Parry PR'd in the race). The senior finished the race in 27 minutes and 15 seconds, good for 117^th.

Following Parry was fellow senior Chris Wicks (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker), who placed 144^th with a time of 27:47.

Freshman Joseph Acey continued to exhibit his promise, placing fourth on the SUNYIT squad with a time of 28 minutes, 36 seconds, while finishing 178^th overall. Finally, junior Cody Russell (Fonda, N.Y. / Fonda) rounded out the scoring five for the Wildcats, just beating out freshman Sean McCarthy with a time of 28:51.3, good for 192^nd place.

At time of publication, all indications were that Struck would just miss qualifying for the NCAA Nationals, however an official notice will not be available until Sunday.

All in all, Head Coach Bill Tylutki was pleased with his team's performance, especially coming off back-to-back hard races at the NEAC Championship and ECAC Championships, saying "this is the best we've ever ran here."