MANCHESTER, NH — Ethan Fischer has spent the past two months building a cross country resume worthy of a state champion.
Saturday afternoon at Derryfield Park, he made it official.
The Bishop Guertin sophomore topped a talented field to claim his first Division I state title, in a time of 16:01.76
Fischer used a strong final half-mile to hold off Keene High senior Sullivan Sturtz (16:14.58), Concord High senior Josiah Conley (16:25.52) and Pinkerton Academy senior Trainor Mailloux (16:30.16).
Fischer’s championship performance helped Bishop Guertin to a 6th place showing as a team, just good enough to qualify for next Saturday’s Meet of Champions at Alvirne High in Hudson.
BG got strong performances from junior William Moores (21st, 17:34.65), senior Braden Phemester (32nd, 18:03.74), senior Samuel Prescott (37th, 18:09.75), sophomore William Coler (88th, 19:28.37) and sophomore Juwan Acevedo (106th, 20:07.60).
Pinkerton easily took home the D-I team championship with 37 points. Keene was a distant second with 96, followed by Londonderry (114), Nashua North (164) and Nashua South (179).
The top six teams, along with any other runners in the top 25, advance to the Meet of Champions.
North was led by senior Cole Burns, who placed 18th in a time of 17:28.83. Sophomore Tom White was 20th in 17:33.80.
The Titans also got strong showings from junior Owen Gagnon (28th, 17:55.17), senior Nate D’Silva (35th, 18:09.13) and junior Bunhour Chea (62nd, 18:42.98).
Fifth-place South was led by senior Matthew Motherway, who placed 19th in a time of 17:29.09. Junior Isaiah Rodriguez was 24th in 17:41.96.
The Panthers also got terrific efforts from sophomore Evan Jean (27th, 17:49.88), junior Pranav Dasari (48th, 18:30.94) and sophomore Sriram Vanga (55th, 18:37.19).
Memorial placed 18th as a team. The Crusaders were led by senior Blake Bickford, who placed 64th in a time of 18:49.28 and sophomore Isaac Denio, who placed 90th in 19:33.50.
Central placed 20th, as a team. The Little Green were led by senior Richard Kibasa, who placed 40th overall in 18:33.12 and by promising freshman Kadin Bobbotas, who placed 112th in 20:29.80.
DIVISION III
In the Division III boys race, Holy Family Academy placed 11th, Derryfield placed 13th and Trinity placed 15th.
Monadnock took home the D-III team title, followed by Hopkinton and Portsmouth Christian.
Holy Family was led by a spectacular performance from Max Williams. The senior placed fourth overall in a time of 17:08.07, to qualify for next week’s Meet of Champions.
Freshman Devin Forsyth placed 55th in a time of 19:59.19.
Senior Nick Lenti was the top runner for Trinity, placing 30th in a time of 19:03.18 and just missing out on a berth in the Meet of Champions by 15 seconds.
Sophomore Jacob Larson placed 38th in a time of 19:25.14, to lead Derryfield. Junior Thomas Kerwin placed 58th in 20:09.32.