The Nashua PAL Gate City Striders recently captured two regional titles and sent several teams and runners to national competition at the Region 1 Championship Race at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y.

Ten PAL teams and one individual – a total of 72 runners – will compete in the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympics in San Antonio, Texas, on Dec. 14.

The regional crowns were won by the Nashua girls teams in the age 15-16 and 17-18 divisions. Here’s a look at how the different age groups did in the girls and boys races:

Age 8 and under

The girls and boys PAL Striders teams both qualified for nationals with second place finishes. The girls were led by top-15 finishers Bella Haytayan, Ella Benzekri, and Paige Mello. They were supported by strong runs from Arianna Kouchalakos, Audrey Mullaney, and Zelena Long.

The boys were led by eighth place finisher Greevan Singh, who was followed closely by Kieran Hummer. Also turning in strong performances were Joona Hantula, Derek Griebel, Nicholas Hawkins, Quinlan Duprey, and Christopher Valade.

Ages 9-10

Led by 17th-place finisher Grace Jones, the girls squad qualified for Nationals with a fourth-place team finish

Also scoring for the PAL Strider team were Kathryn Loranger, Meredith McDermott, Amelia Piercy, Olivia Johnson, Soray Durham, Delaney Nelson, and Nadine Benamara. Also competing was a second PAL team led by Abigail North, who was followed by Jenna Hamelin, Emily Ostrowski, Rose Goyette, Rachael Reveal, and Elise Mikailov. The boys team also advanced with a third place finish, led by top-20 runners Christopher Keefe, Jared Long, and Keegan Murphy. They were closely followed by race scorers Nicholas Dahl and Matthew Spaulding.

Also running strong were Jesse Hantula, Griffin Johnson, and Christopher Prangley. The boys also sent a second team led by Brandon Metivier. Other PAL runners included Michael Rzasa, Jason Mack, Siddhant Dutta, Ethan Johnson, Harrison Spalthoff, and Joshua Rivers.

Ages 11-12

The girls team had a strong day, posting an impressive second-place finish, led by fourth-place runner Lauren Robinson and 15th-place runner Tylee Thurber.

Also running well were Isabella Bruno, Haley Schmitt, Jessica Fontaine, Hannah Swain, Elizabeth Knapp, and Arianna Braccio.

The boys team, led by eighth-place runner Noah Strout and 10th-place finisher Forest MacKenzie, placed third in the team scoring, and advanced to Nationals. Also scoring high were David Cook, Ryan Devine, Rory Curran, Zackary Berthiaume, Landon Johnson, and Owen Long.

Ages 13-14

The PAL girls were represented by Gabrielle Dionne in 31st place and Emily Willson in 48th place. The boys’ team, led by top-25 runners Garrett Earley, Jack Spaulding, Aidan van Batenburg, and Evan Tanguay, advanced to the Nationals with a strong second place finish. Also running strong were Justin Carbonneau, Simon Morrier, Curtis Comrie, and Matthew O’Brien.

Ages 15-16

The PAL Striders girls team won the Regional Title on the strength of great running by Ellie Goyette, Melissa Hiatt, Nicolina Braccio, Kelsi Farren, Danielle Poublon, Lauren Cole, Shaylyn Harrington, Grace Vogel, and Megan Cole.

The boys team, led by Chris Fischer in 14th place, also qualified for Nationals. Joining Fischer were Tom Lessard, Andrew Dahl, Ethan Michaud, and Allan Vallante.

Ages 17-18

The PAL Striders girls team also won the regional title, representing the PAL Striders were third-place finisher Brianna Lippitt, Shannen Arseneault, Shauna Salem, Marie Morrier, and Brittany Gentilhomme.

Jacob Drescher finished fourth overall in the boys race and qualified for Nationals.

BASKETBALL

Nighthawks start strong

The Nashua Nighthawks Fifth Grade White Team opened its season winning two out of three in the Hood Basketball Tournament in Tewksbury, Mass.

The Nighthawks beat Chelmsford 33-17, breaking it open in the second half. High scorers were Stephen Norris with 13 points, six rebounds and five steals while Sam McElliott added eight points. Also, Connor Dunning chipped in with six points, seven rebounds and seven steals while Daniel Dockrill had four rebounds. Landon Moore, and Sebastian Coelho also contributed two points each.

The Nighthawks then suffered a hard fought loss to Wakefield, 33-23. They had a strong rebounding effort led by McElliott (nine boards), Dunning (eight), and Dockrill (five). Scoring for the Nighthawks were Stephen Norris with seven points, Dunning (six), McElliott (four), and Sid Dutta, Dockrill and Coelho (two points each).

The locals then rolled past Wilmington, 46-8 in their final game. Leading the way in scoring were McElliott and Coelho with 10 points each. Dunning had eight points while Moore chipped in with six. Dutta, Acorn, Geoffrey Lynch, and Dockrill rounded out the scoring. Nick Drew (one blocked shot) and Kyle Gauthier contributed to an aggressive defensive effort.

Norris, Dunning, Dutta, and Coelho also participated in the tournament skills competition . Coelho won first place for fifth graders in the free throw competition while Dutta won the fifth grade 3-point contest to cap off a successful opening tourney.

HOCKEY

First loss for Cavs Pee Wee 1 team

In Valley League Youth Hockey action the Southern New Hampshire Cavaliers Pee Wee 1 team remained on top in the AAA Division with two wins and a loss.

In their first weekend match-up the Cavs downed Concord-Carlisle 8-1, notching five first period goals to take a commanding lead. SNH would add one in the second period and a pair in the third period to roll on to the win.

Austin Ciszek had a hat trick while, linemates Chris Haley and Isaac Rogers each had a pair of goals. Max Sears picked up the other goals for the Cavs. The locals’ defense, led by Sean Kelly, Joe Roth, Ruthvik Yenisetti and Damien Barahona, limited the shots on goalies Nick Hall and Ben Goolsby.

Next, ther next match up the Cavs faced a tough New Hampshire East Pee Wee team, but came away with a 3-2 win on Kelly’s game-winner with just over five minutes left.

SNH jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 15 seconds into the game off a goal by Rogers, and Haley added another early in the second period to put the Cavs up 2-0. But, Hampshire East battled back adding goals in the second and third period to tie the game 2-2.

With a little over 5 minutes remaining in the game TJ Vitullo won the faceoff in the offensive zone; sweeping the puck to Kelly at the blue line, Kelly let rip a blast that made the difference as the Cavs went on to dominate play in the neutral zone.

Finally, the Cavs good fortune came to an end as North Andover edged them, 4-3, on a goal with less than four minutes to play.

The locals jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the first period off a nice blast from Vitullo, and Rogers added nice unassisted goal early in the second period to put the Cavs up 2-0. The second period was a battle at each end of the ice, but North Andover notched three goals to go up 3-2, Rogers added his second goal of the game with just 22 seconds remaining in the period to tie it up 3-3.

Despite a flurry of action by SNH forwards Barhona, Vitullo, Sears, Rogers, Haley and Ciszek throughout the third period the Cavs could not find the back of the net. Goalies N. Hall and Goolsby played strong throughout the game, while defensemen Miller, Kelly, J Roth, and Yenisetti helped limit the opponents scoring chances until North Andover broke through.

Cavaliers Squirt Blue is 8-1

The Cavaliers Squirt Blue team is now 8-1 on the season after beating Brookline 8-0 and Reading 10-1.

In the Brookline game, the first period defensive work Matthew MacBean and Thomas Cahill kept Brookline’s offense at bay. Late in the first, defenseman Ben Foley kept the puck in Brookline’s zone on a delayed penalty. Forward’s Aidan Rowe and Ryan Bizier pressure down low gave Nate Bizier a clear shot on a rebound, putting the Cavaliers on top 1-0.

The second period continued with aggressive play by the Cavaliers. Forward Jack Conmy played the puck back to defensemen Matt D’Ortona, and D’Ortona used the boards to clear the puck up to a breaking Andre Ducharme. Ducharme then went the length of the ice to score, putting the Cavs up 2-0. Just minutes later Cavaliers Forward Ryan Kelly scored five-hole from a feed from Ducharme.

Brookline had break-in chances late in the period, but Cavaliers goaltender Ethan Gaffney made three huge saves. Ducharme then scored on a power play goal to end the second with the Cavs up, 4-0.

The Cavaliers scored four more in the third as Will Dodge put up two with an assist going to Ryan Bizier. Ducharme scored again for a hat trick and Nate Bizier netted his second. Rowe also appeared to score on a deflection, but the goal was reversed after the officials determined the net was dislodged.

Cavs 10, Reading 1

The Cavaliers started the scoring early in the first as Nate Bizier kept the puck in Reading’s zone, allowing Foley to work the puck in front to Kelley for the 1-0 lead. The locals then scored a shorthanded goal as the work of Rowe broke up Reading’s chances for a break in sending teammate Dodge on the attack. Dodge scored, extending the lead 2-0.

Later in the period, Dodge scored a power play goal, assisted by Nate Bizier, to make it a 3-0 game after one.

The Cavaliers scored seven more goals against Reading. Ducharme posted three unassisted goals, and there was one goal each by Thomas Cahill ( assisted by Nate Bizier), Ryan Bizier (assisted by Nate Bizier, Dodge for a hat trick (assisted by Ryan Bizier) and Ethan Gaffney unassisted. D’Ortona got the win in net for the Cavaliers.