Blue Mountain's Delaney Walborn, left, and Schuylkill Haven's Alan Evans, right, were the individual champions at Monday's Schuylkill League Golf Championships at Schuylkill Country Club (Photo by Leroy Boyer).

ORWIGSBURG — Alan Evans added to the family legacy.

Delaney Walborn added another gold to her trophy case.

Blue Mountain regained its status as the league’s premier program in one of the tightest team races in league history.

Evans carded an 8-over-par 80 on Monday to capture the boys’ individual title at the Schuylkill League Golf Championships at Schuylkill Country Club. The Schuylkill Haven sophomore joins his older brother, Albe, as an individual league champion. Albe Evans won three straight league crowns from 2017-19.

Walborn, a senior at Nativity, won her second straight girls’ individual crown with a 15-over 87, besting a field of nine girls’ golfers by five strokes over Vivian Reiprish of Lourdes.

Walborn’s score proved to be critical when Division I champion Blue Mountain edged Division II champion Schuylkill Haven 356-357 for the overall team title. It’s the Eagles’ first overall league title since 2019.

“It takes everybody,” Blue Mountain head coach Dr. Richard Eckert said. “Every stroke counts. That’s the way it is.”

Low scores were tough to come by on Schuylkill Country Club’s par-72 layout with only 13 of 69 competitors shooting 90 or lower. Evans went out in 42 and had a 38 on the back nine, recording his only birdie on the par-4 No. 12.

“The pins were in really hard positions,” Evans said. “I didn’t make a lot of doubles and that’s what helped me keep a good score. The double bogeys are the big reason people blew up and didn’t have the best scores.”

Evans day also included nine pars, seven bogeys and a double-bogey 7 on the par-5 No. 8. He said his bogey save on the par-4 No. 13 was one of his most memorable shots.

“Thirteen, it was a back right pin above the hill,” Evans said. “I made a 5 and it felt like a birdie to me because of how hard that pin location was. I hit a 60-yard chip shot right next to it … that was my favorite shot of the day.”

Evans won the boys’ title by three strokes over Lourdes’ Jobey Petro (83), who defeated North Schuylkill’s Jude Maziekas (83) in a one-hole playoff for the silver medal. Blue Mountain’s Dylan Knittle and Gabe Kamarousky tied for fourth at 85, with Knittle winning fourth in a playoff.

Pottsville’s Maxum DiRenzo was sixth with a 14-over 86, earning the last automatic berth to the District 11 Golf Championships set for Tuesday, Oct. 1, at the Steel Club, Bethlehem. The top five District 11 finishers (Evans, Maziekas, Knittle, Kamarousky, DiRenzo) earn automatic berths to districts.

Schuylkill Haven’s Talan Spittler, who tied for eighth with an 89, also automatically qualifies for districts since he advanced to the PIAA State Championships last season.

The remainder of Monday’s finishers will sit and wait to see if they earned a spot in the District 11 Qualifying Tournament to be held Monday, Sept. 23, at Northampton Country Club, Easton. Golfers averaging between 78 and 85 depending on course slope on all rounds shot in the 2024 season qualify.

For Evans, getting a chance to join his brother as an individual league champion was a goal coming into Monday.

“It felt good to win this one, because I knew if I was going to catch him, I had to win three in a row,” Alan Evans said. “It feels good to win one, but I have a lot of work to do to win three.”

Walborn not only won her second straight league crown, she achieved the rare feat of winning back-to-back league titles at two different schools. Walborn won last year’s title representing Nativity, winning the title in a three-person playoff.

No playoff was needed Monday, as Walborn carded a round that included birdies on the par-4 No. 7 and par-4 No. 18. She got off to a slow start with double bogeys on her first two holes (Nos. 4 and 5), but then played steadily the rest of the way.

Reiprish was second with a 92, followed by Minersville’s Emma Troutman (95), Nativity’s Carleigh Palmieri (107) and North Schuylkill’s Mya Conti (112). Walborn, Troutman and Palmieri earned berths to the District 11 championships.

“It feels pretty good,” Walborn said. “I played pretty well today. I could have some things better, but overall it feels pretty good.

“Mentally, staying in it (was the key). I had a couple bad holes and a couple of good holes, but I just stayed mentally focused and tried to keep everything smooth today.”

Walborn’s round also played a big factor in the team race.

Division I champion Blue Mountain, Division I runner-up Pottsville, Division II champion Schuylkill Haven and Division II winner Nativity competed for league team honors, each fielding a squad of six golfers. The top four scores of those six golfers counted toward the overall team score.

Blue Mountain’s top four of Knittle (85), Walborn (87), Cole Yelinek (90) and Brayden Boyer (94) finished with 356, while Schuylkill Haven’s top four of Evans (80), Spittler (89), Eli Barton (94) and Connor Haag (94) totaled 357. Nativity was third at 369, followed by Pottsville at 374.

The Eagles had two other golfers not in the team competition, Kamarousky and Josh Lesak (92), place in the top 15 overall.

Blue Mountain won 14 straight league team titles from 1997-2011, then added crowns in 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2019. Lehighton (2020-21), North Schuylkill (2022) and Schuylkill Haven (2023) captured team titles in the years since.

Blue Mountain earns an automatic berth to the four-team District 11 Class 3A Team Championships slated for Oct. 1 in Bethlehem. Schuylkill Haven and Nativity should qualify for the District 11 Class AA team event.

“It feels good (to be part of the team trophy),” Walborn said. “I think girls’ golfers are on the rise. It feels pretty good to get a good score out there.”

Schuylkill League Golf Championships

At Schuylkill Country Club

Team Championships

Blue Mountain (356) — Dylan Knittle 85, Delaney Walborn 87, Cole Yelinek 90, Brayden Boyer 94. Others: Owen Crossen 97, Evan Setlock 100

Schuylkill Haven (357) — Alan Evans 80, Talan Spittler 89, Eli Barton 94, Connor Haag 94. Others: Chase Maley 99, Michael Terefencko 102

Nativity (369) — Andy Smith 90, Ryan Grabowski 90, Trey Keating 91, Steve Karinch 98. Others: Liam Messina 100, Carleigh Palmieri 102

Pottsville (374) — Maxum DiRenzo 86, Adam Klinger 91, Nick Sukeena 97, Alan Kushwarra 100. Others: Ryder Bowers 104, Grady Leskin 105

Boys’ Individual Championships

Top 15 finishers

Alan Evans, Sch. Haven                                  80

Jobey Petro, Lourdes                                          83

Jude Maziekas, North Sch.                           83

Dylan Knittle, Blue Mtn.                                   85

Gabe Kamarousky, Blue Mtn.                    85

Maxum DiRenzo, Pottsville                           86

Brayden Maksimik, Mah. Area                   87

A.J. Wetzel, Lourdes                                           89

Talan Spittler, Sch. Haven                             89

Andy Smith, Nativity                                           90

Cole Yelinek, Blue Mountain                       90

Ryan Grabowski, Nativity                               90

Adam Klinger, Pottsville                                   91

Trey Keating, Nativity                                         91

Josh Lesak, Blue Mountain                           92

Girls’ Individual Championships

Delaney Walborn, Blue Mtn.                       87

Vivian Reiprish, Lourdes                                 92

Emma Troutman, Minersville                     95

Carleigh Palmieri, Nativity                            107

Mya Conti, North Schuylkill                         112

Brenna McAndrew, Pan. Valley                 127

Ava Long, Minersville                                         131

Callie Kosciolek, Pan. Valley                       131

Allison Fisher, Pine Grove                              132

Schuylkill League Team Champions

2024 — Blue Mountain

2023 — Schuylkill Haven

2022 — North Schuylkill

2021 — Lehighton

2020 — Lehighton

2019 — Blue Mountain

2018 — Blue Mountain

2017 — Lourdes

2016 — Marian

2015 — Blue Mountain

2014 — Pottsville

2013 — Blue Mountain

2012 — Marian

1997-2011 — Blue Mountain