Hopkinton senior skier Marcella Guadagno teared up at the end of the Capital Cup as each senior Hawk was honored for their winning efforts as a team.
For the fourth year in a row, Hopkinton’s depth in alpine skiing helped it win the Capital Cup at Proctor Academy’s ski area on Wednesday afternoon with 763 points. Bow and Concord battled for second, with Bow beating the Tide by just six points.
It’s one of the few events that aggregates girls’ and boys’ team scores to name an overall winner, making the margins especially tight — Hopkinton won it with its two top finishers placing third.
Guadagno placed third with a 1:05.50 time, and was followed in the final standings consecutively by her teammates, senior Anne Pearce, junior Lia Chapin and senior Avery Loew.
“I think that’s a really big deal,” Guadagno said about the team’s overall strength. “It’s really awesome because the whole team understands and they all try their best.”
Their chemistry outside of competition is important too, because when one member falters or struggles, the others are there to tighten the net and keep each other moving downhill.
“They support each other and the girls are all happy to see each other do well,” Coach Scott Zipke said. ” It just all comes together and I think it’s really unique.”
On the boys’ side, freshman Sam Chapin clocked in at 1:00.99, just 0.13 seconds shy of second place. He was backed up by junior Coley Wells, freshman Cooper Loew and sophomore Chester Behner, who all placed in the top 10.
Concord’s Mika Taylor (first), Bow’s Madelyn Hebert (second) and Hopkinton’s Marcella Guadagno (third) embrace on the Capital Cup podium. Credit: CHIP GRIFFIN / Photos by Chip 
Concord’s Lucas Golden (first), Bow’s Cavot Blaney (second) and Hopkinton freshman Sam Chapin (third) stand proud on the podium at the Capital Cup. Credit: CHIP GRIFFIN / Photos by Chip
Bow
The Falcons finished in second place and had their two best racers place second at Proctor.
The team had no seniors to honor and put on an impressive overall performance for a younger team. “We just got to find our confidence and ski more consistently and clean,” said Mike Sampo, Bow’s head coach.
Sophomore Cavot Blaney placed second with a total time of 1:00.86, while his teammate, freshman Merrick Blaney, finished ninth at 1:08.02.
On the girls’ side, junior captain Madelyn Hebert placed second at 1:01.71. Sierra Scull and Jules Cusson also cracked the top ten at eighth and 10th place, respectively.
Hebert said she hopes the team can learn from the small mistakes and use it to prepare for the state meet. “I feel like overall as a team we skied really good today, because everyone worked really hard,” she said.
Concord
Junior Lucas Golden and senior Mika Taylor stole the show as they both placed first at the Capital Cup.
Taylor stayed humble after winning the girls’ individual title and said it wasn’t her best skiing. Coach George Golden said Taylor is skiing better than ever. It was her third time placing first at the Capital Cup, as she finished runner-up last season.
“I’ll continue to train and I have my own personal goals I want to work on before states,” Taylor said.”I’m super excited. I got a great team behind me.”
According to Coach Golden, the team has suffered numerous injuries and has suffered because of depth. The skiers are looking ahead to getting healthy and ski their best by the end of the season.
Lucas Golden recovered from one of those injuries and has returned to form. Eugene Conn and Eli Paddleford hit strides themselves and both finished in the top 10 to cap off a strong performance at their home mountain.
“We’re really looking forward to states this year,” Coach Golden added.
Ski Jumping
Also in action on Wednesday night, Concord senior Sebastian Christie was at the Nansen Ski Jump in Milan. He was the second-best jumper of the day with 193.75 points, just behind Hanover’s Caroline Chor.
Christie’s first two jumps were his best, and the second earned him 97.5 points. He is Concord’s only jumper, but is one of the best individuals at the NHIAA level.
