Ethan Fischer, 12, is Nashua Police Athletic League’s Runner of the Year.

The nonprofit Nashua PAL (Police Athletic League), announced that its 2022 PAL Boys Runner of the Year is 12-year-old Ethan Fischer of Merrimack. Ethan, along with PAL’s athletes of the year in football, basketball, cheerleading, boxing, and girls cross country – as well as youth and adult awardees in coaching, volunteering, and policing – will be honored at the 2022 Night of Champions on September 15th at Nashua’s Holman Stadium.

Formerly known as the “PAL Sports Dinner,” the event event has been relocated to Holman Stadium. The event includes a silent auction, food and drink (both family friendly and adult fare), fun raffles, and of course, the PAL kids. Past featured speakers have included NBA champion Matt Bonner, Jackie MacMullen, Dan Shaughnessy, and Nashua’s own Mike Lupica of the NY Daily News and ESPN’s “Sports Reporters.”

Ethan, a rising 7th grader at the Academy of Science and Design, ran on the Nashua PAL/Gate City Striders Boys U12 squad under Coach Mike Dunhom. He placed third at the 2021 USA Track and Field (USATF) Regional meet covering New England and most of New York State including New York City, Long Island and upstate, finishing the 3K course in 10:13. This past spring, Ethan won the 1 Mile event at the USATF Youth Championships with a tine of 5:10. He qualified for the USTAF Nationals meet in both the fall Cross Country and spring Track and Field seasons.

Ethan came late to the middle school interscholasitc season, competing for the ASD middle school team, and eventually finishing 3rd out of 122 runners in the middle school state championship meet.

Ethan is a hiker and recently climbed the Presidential Traverse in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, a hike that many adults plan between 2 and 4 days to complete. Others prefer to hike on the Summer Solstice so they can have 16 hours of daylight to finish. Ethan’s best time as a 12 year old was a blistering 8 hours and 19 minutes.

Tickets and sponsorship opportunities for the PAL Night of Champions support PAL’s educational, athletic, and enrichment programs for Nashua’s at-risk youth. They are available at nashuapal.com/events; call603-594-3733; or email Jen@nashuapal.com. For more information on Nashua PAL, go to www.nashuapal.com.

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