Last weekend, 56 Nashua PAL Gate City Striders competed in the Region 1 race at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, N.Y. It was a successful day for the Striders as five teams earned the right to run at the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympic Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., on Dec. 8. Additionally, seven runners qualified to run as individuals at Nationals.

Sub-Bantams (U8): The boys’ PAL Striders team qualified for Nationals, placing first in the race and will now look to repeat as National Champions in Albuquerque. They were led by top-10 finishers Matthew Spaulding, Nicholas Dahl, and Matthew Towle.

Running in the top 20 were Griffin Johnson and Christopher Prangley. They were supported by strong runs from Sreeman Lakshmanan, Ethan Johnson, Kyle Graser, Kieran Hummer, Cameron Prangley, and Dalton Orino. In the girls’ race, Meredith McDermott finished 1seventh and qualified to run at Nationals. Also running well were Olivia Johnson, Caroline Sullivan, and Jenna Hamelin.

Bantams (U10): In the Bantam Division, the girls’ squad qualified for Nationals with a third place team finish. They were led by 1seventh place runner Haley Schmitt. Also scoring for the PAL Strider team were Isabella Bruno, Kathryn Loranger, Grace Jones, Kara Kelliher, Lia Whitesel, Mackenzie Berthiaume, and Amelia Piercy. The boys’ team also advanced with a second place finish. They were led by 10th place finisher Rory Curran and 1eighth place runner Zackary Berthiaume. Also running strong were Christopher Keefe, Jeremy Melendez, Jared Long, Siddhant Dutta, Alex Karski, and Keegan Murphy.

Midgets (U12): The boys’ Midget team, led by sixth place runner Noah Strout and 10th place finisher Justin Carbonneau, placed third in the team scoring, and advanced to Nationals. Also scoring high were Forest MacKenzie, Curtis Comrie, Henry Keegan, Alex Koutsos, Landon Johnson, and Andrew Dunhom. In the girls’ race, seventh place runner Tylee Thurber and 11th place finisher Lauren Robinson ran well and advanced to Nationals.

Youth (U14): The boys’ Youth Division team, led by fourth place runner Noah Bellomo and ninth place runner Chris Fischer advanced to Nationals with a second place finish. Also running strong were Aidan Sullivan, Connor Muise, Tyler North, Simon Morrier, Aiden Van Batenburg, Ryan Vermette, and Conor Canfield. For the girls’ squad, Danielle Poublon ran well, finishing 1sixth and qualifying for Nationals. Ellie Goyette raced well, but just missed qualifying for Nationals.

Intermediate (U16): Both Shannen Arseneault, with a third place finish, and Marie Morrier with an 11th place finish, qualified for Nationals. Ethan Michaud ran strong in the boys’ race but just missed qualifying for Nationals.

Young Women (U18): In the Under 18 Division, Taylor Deschenes ran in the top 10 and qualified for Nationals.