"That was fun." Three simple words were all that were on the mind of Eli Lemire after winning not only his third meet of the season, but the national USCAA championship. Lemire is a 2024 graduate of John Stark High School. He ran cross country and track for 4 years at John Stark before coming to NHTI to study in civil engineering technology. Eli won the Yankee Small College Conference championship on October 26 and was honored as the YSCC Runner of the year. He had previously earned multiple YSCC runner of the week honors. 

On that chilly Sunday, in a field of 82 runners, Lemire was the standout. He ran a 5:30.6 mile average while beating all other opponents by a margin of 26 seconds. His time of 27:23.5 would have also been three seconds better than the winning mark of last season. He became the first NHTI National Champion since Hall of Famer Heather Searles did it back in 2008. It was also the best Men's finish in the national meet since Hall of Famer Ignacio (Nacho) Hernando finished 2nd in 2011. 

On the road at Penn State Fayette, running on challenging hilly terrain, Lemire was able to lead the way and cross the wet grassy hills at a pace that could not be matched. He would not be the only NHTI runner to win an award that day, as Wesley Thompson was named a member of the national All-Academic team. In addition to the award Thompson, David Tran, & Jacob Kantz also braved the conditions and finished within 30 seconds of their personal records. On the Women's side Sydney McCullough & Margaret Greenwood each ran within 15 seconds of their personal bests. Shaelyn Finlay saved her best for last, running 30 seconds better than her previous personal record. 

NHTI Cross Country began in 2006, when it was started by coaches Tom Walton and Perry Seagroves. Since then, The NHTI men's cross-country teams have won 11 YSCC conference championships on the Men's side and 6 on the Women's side. NHTI has provided 8 All American runners and 23 Academic All Americans. Head Coach Graham Hayslip and assistants Silus Frary, Chloe Astholz, & Emmett Collins were instrumental in the team's success this season. A season with great progress for all the runners and ultimately a great ending with a Lynx runner finishing at the top.