Bishop Guertin's Ethan Fischer had plenty to smile about on Saturday, finishing third in the New Englands two-mile run at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. (Photo by Jack Belanger)

BOSTON — Eight area schools had at least one athlete compete in the 2026 New England Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.

Bishop Guertin’s Ethan Fischer put together the best performance by any of the local athletes, landing the best finish — third — as well as the area’s only medal from the meet.

The sophomore took an early lead in the two-mile run, taking the front in a tight pack. Knowing he was going against experienced runners, he hoped to create space.

“My goal was to come out and win it. That’s what I tried to do from the very beginning…and make it hurt,” he said.

With about two laps to go, a pair of Connecticut runners pulled ahead, ultimately taking Fischer down to third place, landing in a time of 9:23.57.

“It’s a little intimidating (running against upperclassmen),” Fisher said. “But I know I’m good enough with my training and my coach trained me to stay with these guys.”

After medaling in his first New England meet, Fischer had little to complain about.

“It’s such a blessing,” Fischer said. “All glory to God. I can believe I did that. I never saw myself here. It was so cool to see all these fast times and run with them.”

Nashua North brough the biggest contingent of athletes from the area. The Titans competed in eight events on the day.

After winning the D-I state meet, the Titan’s 4×400 girls relay team already qualified to run at nationals. With the pressure off, the squad ran a respectable 4:12.60, finishing in 16th place.

“We really wanted to run a good race,” Allison Frye said. “We had winter break all week so it was really just getting back into it. Hopefully this is a good warm-up for Nationals.”

Abigail Azevedo, who ran the third leg, competed in the high jump as well, reaching a height of 5 feet-1 inch, good for 23rd place. Her teammate and anchor, Rosalie Neveu, finished 18th in the 600-meter run, crossing the line at 1:40.10. Neveu also ran in the Titans’ 4×200 relay squad, helping them to secure 22nd.

Three area boys relay teams, Bishop Guertin, Nashua North, and Nashua South, all took their crack in the 4×800. While the Cardinals and Titans landed outside the top-25, the Panthers foursome of Isaiah Rodriguez, Sriam Vanga, Pranav Dasari and Matthew Motherway improved on their seed time by about 10 seconds (8:27.62) to secure 20th.

North’s boys 4×400 foursome of Yaxiel Vazquez, Ryan Hutchins, Sam Nardone and Gavin Suchecki competed at the end of the meet, running to a 20th place finish (3:38.42).

Hollis-Brookline senior Grace Dow took part in the opening event, the 55-meter hurdles. After taking third in the state D-II race, her time of 8.71 put her in the middle of the pack at 17th.

In the boys hurdles, a pair of locals finished side-by-side in the final leaderboard. Alvirne’s Joseph Marcotte came in 21st with a time of 8.14 while Nashua South’s Preston Bois came in 0.02 behind in 22nd.

Marcotte saw better success in the long jump, placing 10th with a leap of 21 feet-4 inches. This time he came in behind ninth place finisher John Katsel of Souhegan, who recorded a jump of 21 feet-6.5 inches.

Katsel and fellow Saber Brody Smith ran the fourth and first legs of the Souhegan’s 4×200 meter relay. The duo helped the squad beat Merrimack and Alvirne in the race, taking 19th place at 1:33.75. Smith also took 10th in the 300 meter run thanks to a time of 35.30.

Milford’s sole competitor came in the form of Joshua Pettingell. Also running the 300, his 35.92 split earned him 18th place.

The North 4×400 relay team of, from left, Abigail Azevedo,Charlotte Wilson, Allison Frye and Rosie Neveu finished 16 Saturday at the New Englands in Boston. (Photo by Jack Belanger)