Concord’s Lucas Golden swept the competition at the Division I boys’ alpine state championship. The junior has cemented a place among the most dominant alpine skiers at the D-I level with his performances, with plenty of season to go.
Golden has now won the D-I giant slalom three times and the slalom twice in his three seasons with the Tide.
He said he was happy with his performance, and that he did what was needed to defend his title.
His father and coach, George Golden, had nothing but praise after the day, because, well, Lucas was the best individual skier on the mountain. The 26-year head coach of the Tide said he had never seen a boy win the giant slalom three years in a row.
He will move on to the Meet of Champions at Cannon’s Mittersill next week in hopes of qualifying for the Eastern High School Alpine Championship (EHSAC) on team New Hampshire. He said he expects longer and icier conditions at Mittersill and, hopefully, Attitash for the EHSAC.
“I hope to keep it up and strive to do a little better in those races. I’m really excited for them,” Lucas Golden said.
Here’s a look at how the day went for local alpine teams across the divisions. Skiers with at least one top 10 finish in either the GS or slalom qualify for the Alpine Meet of Champions.
Division I: Concord’s young team yet to best the best
Golden’s race-winning performance was a big boost to start the GS, but his teammate Eugene Conn had an unfortunate second run and fell three gates down, disqualifying him from scoring.
The setback was a tough break for the four-man team because it significantly hindered their placement with only three scoring skiers.
Despite a tough go in the morning to finish in 13th place for GS, the team recovered in the slalom for a third-place performance.
Conn came back to finish 17th in the slalom with a combined time of 1:20.50 to earn the team 84 points. The sophomore’s season came to an end in difficult fashion, but with plenty of room to continue improving into next season.
Freshman Eli Paddleford had a very consistent day on the slopes. In GS, he finished 32nd with two runs of 41.58 and 41.21 seconds. In the afternoon slalom, he finished 14th place with 39.42- and 39.77-second runs.
“He finished every run of every race this year … and he consistently scored points for us in every run,” Golden said about Paddleford’s strong freshman season.
Fellow freshman Emory Dill also stepped up big and finished 53rd place in both the GS and slalom races to round out the group.
Division II: Falcons boys and girls finish with mixed results
Bow’s teams fell against tough competition in D-II on Monday and Tuesday at Cranmore.
The boys only had one skier with a qualifying run in the slalom, junior captain Oliver Weiss with a combined time of 1:11.98s to place 10th.
In GS, the team placed fourth as the Falcons’ top four all placed in the top-30. Sophomore Cavot Blaney finished in fifth place with a one-minute-flat combined time.
Weiss finished in 21st place with 1:05.15s. The group was rounded out by freshman Merrick Blaney (25th, 1:05.82s) and sophomore Bode Totten (30th, 1:08.10).
The following morning, the girls hit the slopes and had solid performances across the board to finish fifth in GS and fourth in slalom.
Junior Madelyn Hebert paced the team with a seventh-place finish in GS with a combined time of 1:02.38s. Also in GS, junior Sierra Scull finished 17th (1:05.85s), freshman Ashlyn Blethen in 19th (1:05.89s) and sophomore Piper Price in 20th (1:07.08s).
The girls’ team depth was on full display in the afternoon. Hebert, the team’s first skier, was disqualified on her second run but her teammates stepped up and performed.
Sierra Scull took the top spot on the team with a ninth-place finish (1:17.23s). Sophomore Jules Cusson, Blethen and freshman Britain Fischer finished 22nd, 23rd and 24th to gain vital points and finish the day strong.
Bow’s Madelyn Hebert placed second, just 0.39 seconds behind Concord’s Mika Taylor on Feb. 1, 2026 at the Capital Cup. Credit: CHIP GRIFFIN / Photos by Chip 
Bow’s Cavot Blaney edged out Hopkinton’s Sam Chapin for second place and helped Bow place second at the Capital Cup on Feb. 1, 2026. Credit: CHIP GRIFFIN / Photos by Chip
Division III: Hawks’ dominance continues
The Hawks boys kept pace with the girls, who won D-III on Monday, by winning the division themselves and qualifying even more skiers into the Meet of Champions.
By the end of Tuesday, all six girls and four boys, junior Coley Wells, freshman Cooper Loew, freshman Sam Chapin and sophomore Chester Behner, qualified for the Meet of Champions.
It wasn’t a cakewalk through cookies and cream on the slopes for the boys, though. The Kearsarge boys took a 15-point lead in the morning after GS, but Hopkinton stormed back to win it by two points and took down the defending D-III champs.
“It was an incredible afternoon for the Hawks as all 6 of our skiers skied both slalom runs cleanly 12-for-12 to grab the victory,” wrote head coach Scott Zipke after the comeback.
Kearsarge’s strong morning in GS was powered by sophomore Leo Mann (fourth place, 1:19.63s), junior Grayson Wyman (eighth place, 1:25.09s), freshman Aaron Spiegel (11th place, 1:27.01s) and sophomore Cody Shank (14th, 1:29.13s).
Mann went on to finish third in slalom as well and will return to the MOC hoping to make an impact alongside Wyman.
Wells finished seventh in GS with a combined 1:23.27s, and Loew followed him up in ninth, 2.24 seconds slower. Junior Ryan Dermody and Behner finished 13th and 25th to round out the group.
“Ryan Dermody’s 13th-place morning GS finish went a long way to salvaging our standing and set us up for the opportunity to charge back in the slalom like we did,” Zipke added.
Later in the slalom, No. 25-bibbed Chapin erupted with two quick runs totaling 1:15.17s to place fifth. Wells continued his strong performances with an eighth-place finish at 1:19.87s combined time.
Behner came in clutch with bib No. 36 and had two consistent sub-42-second runs to place 10th and reach the Meet of Champions. Ten skiers later, Loew placed 11th with a combined time of 1:23.86s to win it all.
The Hopkinton boys finished with 722, compared to Kearsarge’s 720, to win Division III.
