Eli Lemire, a recent graduate from John Stark Regional High School in Weare, won the United States Collegiate Athletic Association’s men’s cross country national championship in Pennsylvania this past Sunday.

His win in Pennsylvania was his third of the season, and by far the biggest. The freshman civil engineering technology student won the Yankee Small College Conference championship earlier this season and was honored as the YSCC Runner of the Year.

“We are incredibly proud not only of Eli but of the whole NHTI cross country team’s performances at the national level,” said newly appointed NHTI athletic director Annie Mattarazzo.

While racing for John Stark, Lemire led his team frequently and qualified for the Meet of Champions last fall, although he narrowly fell short of qualifying for the New England Championship. Lemire celebrated his graduation by running the Mount Washington Road Race and receiving his diploma at the race awards ceremony in June.

He was the best out of 82 runners from across the country at USCAA nationals, running a 5:30.6 mile average while beating all other opponents by a margin of 26 seconds. He finished with an overall time of 27:23.5, which was three seconds better than the time of last year’s winning runner.

Other NHTI runners also had successful performances as men’s seniors Wesley Thompson and David Tran and freshman Jacob Kantz all came close to their personal bests. Sydney McCullough and Margaret Greenwood, both freshmen, were within 15 seconds of their personal bests on the women’s side, and freshman Shaelyn Finlay beat her personal record by 30 seconds.

“Eli and his teammates trained diligently all season for this opportunity, and they made it count. To have our student-athletes earn such high honors is a feather in the cap for not only NHTI’s athletics program but for the college as a whole,” said Mattarazzo. “A huge congratulations to every member of the team as well as the coaches for representing NHTI and earning their own personal achievements.”

NHTI’s cross country program began in 2006. With the win, Lemire has enshrined himself as one of the best runners in the school’s history. He became the first NHTI national champion since NHTI Hall of Famer Heather Searles. His win was also the best men’s finish since Ignacio (Nacho) Hernando, another NHTI Hall of Famer, finished second in 2011.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com.