Wahconah's Hill Medals Twice at State Alpine Meet
PRINCETON, Mass. -- Two of Berkshire County’s top skiers proved to be among the top racers in the commonwealth at Wednesday’s state championship meet at Wachusett Mountain.
Wahconah’s Tanner Hill and Lenox’s Abby Kate Caproni each medaled, and Hill, a 2017 state champion at Wachusett, took home two medals this time around: a bronze in the slalom and a fourth-place finish in the giant slalom.
“I was a little disappointed in the GS, I could have done better,” Hill said. “In the slalom I did really well. I’m happy [Bromfield’s] Jack Donaldson won the slalom.
“I just had longer skis than I should have [in the GS], so it made it harder to turn.”
Two years ago as a sophomore, Hill won the slalom title at Wachusett and finished fourth in the GS, leading Wahconah to a 10th place showing in the state.
Wednesday, Hill,Kyle Brogan and Drew Dunham teamed up to lift Wahconah to fifth place.
Hill said the three seniors weren’t overly sentimental going into their final competitive run for the school.
“It’s kind of sad,” he said. “I think Kyle and I are going to the Eastern High School Championships next week, so at least we’ll have one more race.”
Joining them at that event will be Caproni.
The Drury High junior who races for the Lenox cooperative team had a day like Hill’s on Wednesday: bouncing back from a so-so morning run on the GS course to post a strong time in the slalom.
“I don’t think the GS went very well for me,” she said. “I have really struggled with GS this season, so I was a lot more focused on my slalom training the last few weeks. … With the slalom, I had a clean run. It was smooth, it was fast.”
Caproni, who drew the No. 2 position in the starting order, benefited from having her slalom run on schedule. About a half dozen racers into the event, a malfunction on the timing device at the finish line forced a delay of about a half hour, making the other 115 or so racers wait at the top of the hill.
“I was very lucky to be running bib No. 2,” Caproni said. “I got down and said, ‘Alright, I’ll go back up in time to see one of my friends who is running later.’ And I got up there and nothing had happened.
“I’m very happy that I didn’t need a rerun, and I didn’t have to stand around. I was lucky.”
After just five DNFs (did not finish) in the girls’ morning GS, there were 22 starters in the girls slalom who did not post times.
It was the reverse for the boys, who saw just seven DNFs in the afternoon after 20 racers failed to post a score in the GS.
“I think the guys were definitely going more aggressively [in the GS],” said Hill, who is heading to Clarkson University in the fall to continue his education and ski with the Golden Knights. “And the course just got a little less grippy, so you couldn’t really get a grip on it.”
Hill and Caproni were the only two Berkshire skiers to pick up medals on Wednesday, but Taconic’s Andrew King just missed in the GS, finishing 12th with a time of 59.70, the last of the sub-minute times and .20 seconds behind the final medalist, Donaldson, who placed 10th.
King continued his strong day in the slalom, where he placed 20th with a time of 36.89.
Top 10 finishers and local competitors at Wednesday’s Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Alpine Championships at Wachusett Mountain:
Girls Giant Slalom
Julia Waal, Hingham, 59.30 seconds; 2. Coriann Delaney, Frontier, 1:00.73; 3. Chloe Brush, Groton-Dunstable, 1:01.25; 4. Karen Oh, Lexington, 1:01.88; 5. Maddie McKay, Marblehead, 1:02.02; 6. Sarah Creamer, Concord-Carlisle, 1:02.15; 7. Courtney Pingree, Marblehead, 1:02.19; 8. Stella Alphas, Weston, 1:02.29; 9. Kate Rogers, Hingham, 1:02.34; 10. Molly Naples, Cohasset, 1:02.64; … Abby Kate Carproni, Lenox, 1:06.23; Helena Jankovic, Lenox, 1:08.04; Carly Terrnaova, Monument Mountain, 1:08.52; Paige Lussier, Monument Mountain, 1:08.58; Danni Orlando, Wahconah, 1:13.08; Sydney Rugiero, Monument Mountain, 1:17.69; Taylor Knight, Lenox, DNF; Dakota Grosz, Pittsfield, DNF.
Boys Giant Slalom
Raymond Dennehy, St. John’s HS, 57.51 seconds; 2. Jonah Tobin, Wellesley, 58.26; 3. Cam Musial, St. John’s Prep, 58.36; 4. Tanner Hill, Wahconah, 58.52; 5. Sam Thompson, Marblehead, 58.53; 6. Evan Symes, St. John’s Prep, 58.71; 7. Cameron Ottoson, East Longmeadow, 58.81; 8. Travis Reardon, Lunenburg, 59.00; 9. Jack Masciadrelli, Saint Mary’s (Westfield), 59.28; 10. Jack Donaldson, Bromfield, 59.50. … Andrew King, Taconic, 59.70; Kyle Brogan, Wahconah, 1:01.92; Drew Dunham, Wahconah, 1:06.58; Ethan Coe, Taconic, 1:08.88; Ben Higa, Monument Mountain, 1:11.32; Max Digrigoli, Lenox, DNF; Keegan Leach, Monument Mountain, DNF;
Girls Slalom
Stella Alphas, Weston, 34.45; 2. Chloe Brush, Groton-Dunstable, 35:07; 3. Julia Waal, Hingham, 35.16; 4. Taylor Loomis, Mohawk Trail, 36.02; 5. Elaine Jones, Ashland, 36.04; 6. Katie Bateman, Nashoba, 36.05; 7. Haley Kutzer, Westwood, 36.18; 8. Karen Oh, Lexington, 36.22; 9. Abby Kate Caproni, Lenox, 36.54; 10. Anna Soutter, Andover, 36.54; … Helena Jankovic, Lenox, 40.39; Paige Lussier, Monument Mountain, 40.41; Carly Terranova, Monument Mountain, 41.96; Danni Orlando, Wahconah, 45.24; Dakota Grosz, Pittsfield, 47.62; Sydney Ruggiero, Monument Mountain, DNF; Taylor Knight, Lenox, DNF; Morgan Schnauber, Taconic, DNF.
Boys Slalom
Jack, Donaldson, Bromfield, 34.18 seconds; 2. Jason Denoncourt, Andover, 34.38; 3. Tanner Hill, Wahconah, 34.55; 4. Max Rodgers, Hopkinton, 34.78; 5. Cameron Ottoson, East Longmeadow, 34.91; 5. Sam Thompson, Marblehead, 34.91; 7. Jack Preston, Winchester, 35.03; 8. Cam Musial, St. John’s Prep, 35.24; 9, Travis Reardon, Lunenburg, 35.35; 10. Raymond Dennehy, St. John’s HS, 35.62; … Andrew King, Taconic, 36.89; Drew Dunham, Wahconah, 38.20; Max DiGrigoli, Lenox, 38.53; Keegan Leach, Monument Mountain, 41.09; Kyle Brogan, Wahconah, 42.24; Ben Higa, Monument Mountain, 42.80; Ethan Coe, Taconic, 46.61;