Polyak Breaks School 10K Record as Devils End Season with 19th Place Finish at NCAA Regionals: USciences

November 21, 2010

Polyak Breaks School 10K Record as Devils End Season with 19th Place Finish at NCAA Regionals

Junior Georgiy Polyak shaved 14 seconds off the University of the Sciences 10,000 meter cross country race school record, leading the men's cross country team to a 19^th place finish at the 2010 NCAA East Regional Championship at Franklin Park in Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday.

The Devils finished with 560 points, trailing 18^th place St. Anselm College by 19. Sciences was also the fourth place team from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference competing at the regional, joining Felician College (10^th place), Philadelphia University (12^th place) and Wilmington University (16^th place) amongst the top 20 teams finishing. Twenty-nine schools competed at this year's event. Host University of Massachusetts-Lowell won the meet with 41 points and will move on to the NCAA National Championship in Louisville, Kentucky on December 4, 2010 as will runner up Stonehill College.

Polyak completed the 10,000 meter course in 34:40, breaking the record of 34:54 set in 2008 by teammate Pete Grant on the same Franklin Park course. Polyak finished in 81^st place overall amongst the 186 finishers. The Devils #2 runner, junior Marty Farrell also ran his fastest 10K ever, crossing the line in 101^st place overall with a time of 35:41. His time is also the eighth fastest 10K time in the history of the program.

Grant was the Devils third finisher, closing out his collegiate career with a time of 36:28. Sunday's race was Grant's fourth consecutive NCAA regional race, becoming one of two runners in program history to have competed in four NCAA regionals. Pete competed in every one of the devils 30 races during his four year career.

Senior Stephen Maylie is the Devils other four-time regional participant. Steve was the Devils fifth finisher, crossing the line in 37:32, closing out his career with a top five effort. Maylie also competed in all 30 of the Devils races during his four year career.

A trio of sophomores rounded out the Devils competitors and finishers at the race. Rob Glass was Sciences fourth finisher, crossing the line with a personal-best time of 36:52. Mike Pecorino was the devils sixth finisher with a time of 38:26 and Christian Radzinski, who actually led the entire race for the first 250 yards, was the Devils seventh finisher, placing one second behind Pecorino with a personal best time of 38:27.