Alpine skiing: Bow’s Wachsmuth, Concord’s Taylor, lead locals at Meet of Champions

The best Alpine skiers from all four NHIAA divisions converged at Mittersill Ski Area at Cannon Mountain on Wednesday for the Meet of Champions, and, just like the division championships, Capital Area competitors dotted the top of the standings.

Bow senior Patrick Wachsmuth finished second in the boys’ giant slalom, and Concord freshman Mika Taylor finished in the 10 in both the slalom and GS events, highlighting area performances.

Dylan Welch won the GS in 1 minute, 19.79 seconds, while Wachsmuth clocked a 1:21.24.

Wachsmuth nearly had another podium finish in the slalom – the race he was crowned individual champion for at the Division II championship. Wachsmuth was disqualifed on his first run, but he blazed a 37.17 second run on his next attempt, the fastest slalom run of the day.

Plymouth’s Dylan Welch won the slalom with a 1:15.05 (from a combined time of 37.70 and 37.35 runs), ahead of teammate Caedon Manseau (1:16.05).

Hopkinton sohopmore Merrick Chapin finished fifth in the slalom (1:19.27) and posted the second-fastest time of the day in the GS (39.89 seconds), but was unable to complete his second run to get an overall score.

Hopkinton senior Chapin (eighth slalom, ninth GS), and juniors Harrison Wilson (13th slalom, 19th GS) and Cam Bassett (37th slalom, 38th GS) skied well for the Hawks, the D-III team runner-up.

Concord’s Brett McDonough (21st slalom, 25th GS) and Read Merrill (26th GS), Bow’s Seth Lowne (22nd GS, 26th slalom) and Kearsarge’s Alex Spinny (22nd slalom) also fared well among area representatives.

On the girls’ side, Taylor was the top area finisher in both the slalom (fifth, 1:39.42) and GS (10th, 1:28.91), while senior teammate Hannah Golden was sixth in the slalom (1:39.73).

Kennett claimed both individual titles, with Allie Hussey winning the slalom (1:36.51) and Ashley Garside taking the GS (1:23.45).

Hopkinton, the D-III girls’ team champions, had several competitors in both events, with senior Clara Locke leading the way with a ninth-place showing in the slalom, and freshmen Anne Pearce (16th slalom, 20th GS), Avery Loew (28th slalom, 33rd GS) and Marcella Guadagno (26th GS, 29th slalom) also performing well.

Merrimack Valley’s Violet Webb (18th slalom, 19th GS) and Kearsarge’s Maya Spiegel (39th GS) – the D-III slalom champion this year – rounded out the top area girls’ skiers.