When Wilbraham & Monson Academy’s Pietro Avanza ’25 finished his second slalom run at the New England Prep School Athletic Council Class C Championships, he noticed a lot of people were looking at him.

At first, he didn’t know if that was a good sign or bad. It was good.

Pietro’s run times of 17.06 seconds and meet-best 16.86 gave the Italian a final clocking of 33.92, clinching first place at Mohawk Mountain in Connecticut on Feb. 12.

“I was hoping to win the slalom since it’s my strongest discipline,” Pietro said. “After the first run, I thought I really had a chance to finish first, but I knew I would have to give it my all, with the risk of not staying on course.

“As soon as I finished the second run, everyone was looking at me, and I thought, ‘Either it’s because I had a really bad run or because I had a good run.’ Then I looked at the clock and a smile appeared on my face, accompanied by a sense of relief and happiness.”

The team didn’t know Pietro had won until minutes before the awards ceremony due to a timing issue with all of the skiers.

“Usually you know immediately your standing,” explained WMA Coach Alf Barbalunga. “We didn’t know any of that. It created a heightened drama. You don’t want to count your eggs before they hatch, but I knew he had a great second run.”

Since the slalom course was abnormally short, there was no room for error. Coach Barbalunga added that Pietro’s second run was “perfect.”

Pietro’s gold medal led the Titans to a third-place finish in the slalom. Francesco Negri ’25 took sixth (35.27) and Gabe Hall ’26 was 37^th (42.65).

Coach Barbalunga said the boys placing in the top three was “pretty extraordinary” since the Titans carried just four skiers, compared to the normal 6-12 members of opponents.

Pietro (fifth, 1:06.15) and Francesco (sixth, 1:06.97) also placed in the top 10 in the giant slalom.

Coach Barbalunga noted the extra work put in throughout the season by the team’s assistant coaches: Coach Zach Mann ’17, Coach Marc Latimer and Marin Vigneras, a French citizen who skis for the University of Massachusetts.