The Bow Alpine ski program is in its second year of competing in Division II. The Falcons didn’t have any clear threats for individual championships, taking the mountain against high school skiing giants like Kennett, Plymouth and Hanover. Yet the Falcons’ depth was the envy of every team at Wednesday’s Division II boys’ championships at Crotched Mountain.
Bow flexed the depth of its roster by placing all four scoring skiers in the top 22 of the giant slalom and the top 20 of the slalom to wrap up an undefeated season and convincingly claim the D-II boys’ crown.
Freshman Patrick Wachsmuth finished sixth in the giant slalom, sophomore Eli Gadbois was eighth, junior Connor Wachsmuth was 10th and senior Jonathan Cook was 22nd, leading the Falcons to a victory in the morning GS runs.
The Falcons were even more dominant in the afternoon slalom event with Connor Wachsmuth (third), Patrick Wachsmuth (eighth), Gadbois (14th) and Cook (20th) leading Bow to another win.
The Falcons (717 points) topped the two-time defending champions Kennett (698), Souhegan (689), Hanover (652), Hollis Brookline (647) and Plymouth (641) despite those teams being front loaded with talent.
Plymouth had the individual winner in both disciplines – Dylan Welch – while Kennett’s Connor Glavin was the runner-up in both events.
“Our top four skiers skied all four of their runs cleanly and well,” Bow coach Mike Sampo said. “They really came through … It’s been this way all season – we hardly put anyone in the top two places, but since it’s a team event, we do very well. D-II is loaded with talent and it’s a super competitive division, but it’s a team sport, so our depth is really what carries us.”
Sampo added, “We’ve been undefeated going into the state meet so there was a lot of pressure for us to perform. It felt good. The boys deserved it.”
Pembroke was 10th out of the 12 teams, but had a strong day from Jackson Frazier, who qualified for the Meet of Champions by finishing fourth in the GS and fifth in the slalom.
John Stark’s Nathan Innerfield – the only skier for the Generals – had a solid day, finishing 28th in the GS.
Savanah Shannon has dominated the slopes of D-I all year, so it was fitting that the Concord sophomore closed out a perfect season at Gunstock on Wednesday, sweeping the giant slalom and slalom titles, leading the Tide girls to second place.
“She has won every run of every race this year,” Concord coach George Golden said. “It’s been unbelievable. As long as Savanah stood up she was going to win. She’s been consistent, which is not always the case for the top skiers. They give it 100% every run and they’re on the edge every run, but with Savanah she is so consistent and focused. She is the best skier in Division I hands down.”
She was close to that last year as well, when she won the slalom title and finished second in the GS.
The Crimson Tide finished with 644 points, second to only to Bedford’s 758.
The Bulldogs won their third straight title.
The Tide finished third in 2018 and again in 2019. Concord tied for second last year, but finished third due to the tiebreaker rules.
“It was nice for the girls to (finish second) outright this year,” Golden said.
Exeter (639), Windham (636) and Pinkerton (633) rounded out the top five.
Concord was in fourth through the morning GS event, trailing Bedford, Exeter and Windham, but made up some ground in the afternoon – as Golden expected.
“We are definitely a better slalom team,” Golden said. “All the girls ran their runs solidly.”
Shannon’s combined time of 1:13.88 in the GS easily outdistanced the runner-up – Bedford’s Jessica Rioux – who clocked a 1:16.40.
Hannah Golden (24th), Abby Duffy (28th) and Emma Burbank (41st) were the other Concord scorers.
In the afternoon slalom, Shannon’s time of 1:07.37 once again topped Rioux by more than two full seconds.
Hannah Golden (11th) just missed out on MOC qualifying by .63 seconds, while Burbank (32nd) and Duffy (35th) also scored.
Duffy, who is blind and skis with a guide, is the first-ever assisted skier to score in a Division I championship, according to Golden.
The Hopkinton Alpine team showed its prowess on the slalom slopes at Mount Sunapee, gaining ground in the afternoon to finish third overall at the Division IV championship.
Addie Locke finished third in the morning GS event with a combined time of 1:14.01, putting the Hawks in fourth place.
Profile’s Sophie Bell (1:12.80) won the individual title to give Profile the lead, followed by Lin-Wood, Sunapee and Hopkinton.
Clara Locke (ninth), Elizabeth Berliner (16th) and Izzy Holmes (37th) also scored for Hopkinton.
The Hawks only trailed the Lakers by two points, but made up the gap, and then some, with a dominant performance in the slalom races.
Addie Locke (fifth), Berliner (sixth) and Clara Locke (eighth) all finished in the top 10 to qualify for MC and Holmes (32nd) rounded out a strong afternoon.
Profile won with 749 points. Lin-Wood (733) and Hopkinton (703) were also in the the top three overall out of 11 teams.
Hopkinton’s coach Bob Berliner was impressed with his team’s performance, noting that, “while Division IV may have small schools by population, the talent level in alpine racing is anything but small. The D-IV girls have the most talented and deepest field of any Alpine ski division.”
Concord 7, Hanover 0
Key players: Concord Matt Hauschild (2 goals, assist), Joey Ala (2 goals), Ryan Doherty (goal), Alex Forward (goal), Tyler Coskren (goal)
Highlights: Doherty, Ala and Hasuchild scored in tehf irst period of the Crimson Tide, in that order, and Concord took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. Hauschild tallied the only goal of the second period on a powerp play, and then the Tide extended its lead in the third. Noah Drew and Ryan Philbrick added assisted for Concord.
Records: Concord 12-1-0; Hanover 7-5-0
Timberlane 40, Concord 27
Key players: Concord – Ethan Comeau (win by pin at 120), GJ Gimaranzi (3-1 OT win at 170), Kody Rashed (14-10 win at 182), Abbas Abdulrahman (win by pin at 195), Hunter Jeffers (3-0 win at 285), Sam Wagner (win by forfeit at 106)
Highlights: The four-time defending Division I champion Owls took a big lead by dominating the light and middle weights before the Crimson Tide made things a little closer in the heavier divisions.
Plymouth 49, Bow 24
Key players: Bow – Wyatt Rheinhardt (win at 113 by pin), Alec Schultz (win at 132 by major decision), Andrew Bliss (win at 170 by decision), Anthony Sutera (win by forfeit at 220), Will Zachistal (win by forfeit at 285)
Highlights: The Falcons lost to perennial D-III powerhouse Plymouth on Bow’s home mats. Rheinhardt’s victory was a highlight – claiming the win by a third-period pin.
Coach’s quote: “(Plymouth is) the team to beat. Absolutely. They’re tough. We got beat by a tough team. We’re going to learn from this and get ready for states. Wyatt stepped up for the team. I’m really proud of him.” – Bow’s Brock Hoffman
Pembroke 58, Milford 32
Key players: Pembroke – Ashley Stephens (14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals), Lindsay St. Jacques (10 points, 2 steals), Britney Hill (12 rebounds, 6 points, 2 steals)
Highlights: The Spartans played with more composure compared to recent games, collecting 20 offensive boards. Hill had a huge game on the offensive boards and attacked the hoop.
Coach’s quote: “It feels great getting back in the win column tonight, breaking a six-game losing streak, despite Milford fighting hard the entire game. Britney Hill had a fantastic performance.” – Pembroke’s Caitlin Powers
Records: Pembroke 4-10; Milford 0-15
Bow 60, Pembroke 46
Key players: Bow – Ellie Pingree (16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists), Alex Larrabee (14 points), Madison Speckman (13 points)
Highlights: Larrabee scored 10 points and Speckman scored eight points in the final frame to close out Tuesday’s victory over the Spartans.
Coach’s quote: “Bow came out sluggish in the first half and only led by five, but in the second half Bow scored 35 points, played awesome offense and pressure defense. Great second half.” – Bow assistant Al Douglas
Records: Bow 8-6; Pembroke 3-10
Concord 67, Dover 57
Key players: Concord – Rylan Canabano (33 points), Angelo Gray (14 points), Hamza Abdulrahaman (9 points)
Highlights: Dover came out strong early on their home court on Tuesday, but Concord found its rhythm and identity through defense, rebounding and sharing the ball.
Coach’s quote: “I can’t say enough about our floor leader Rylan Canabano. He was double teamed tonight, almost played every minute and he continues to play a very physical game. He pours his effort into each competition. It’s inspiring. Outside of that, our guys are adapting within some of the freedoms they have on the court. Instead of relying on timeouts, they are making smart decisions and growing their basketball IQ at critical moments in the game. Our group closed this one out very effectively.” – Concord’s James Thorpe
Records: Concord 7-4; Dover
Bow 59, Pembroke 46
Key players: Bow – Matt Lamy (24 points), Steve Gurrettte (10 points, defense, rebounding); Pembroke – Shea Shackford (18 points), Mike Pittman (10 points)
Highlights: The Spartans led early on Tuesday night, but the Falcons had a 12-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and outscored Pembroke 20-7 in the second to take a 32-18 halftime lead. The Spartans’ press cut the deficit to 41-32 heading into the final frame, but Lamy scored nine points in the fourth to seal the win.
Coach’s quote: “We missed a lot of easy shots tonight and didn’t handle their pressure well, but our defense was pretty good, especially late. We’ll take the win, but need to keep improving.” – Bow’s Frank Moreno
Records: Bow 11-1; Pembroke 4-8