ORWIGSBURG — Blue Mountain freshman Sophie Orsulak was one of the first girls to finish her round at Monday’s District 11 Golf Championships.
Then came the waiting.
About 45 minutes later, the tension turned into relief and excitement.
Orsulak’s season will continue for at least another week after she shot an 85 on a perfect fall day at the Schuylkill Country Club to make the cut and qualify for the PIAA East Region Championship.
Orsulak posted her 85 early. With the top two finishers from Class AA advancing to regionals, her score stood up as the others came until there was one name left. After it was crossed off when the player withdrew, Orsulak was hugged by her mom and got a fist bump from Eagles’ coach Larry Borden.
The regional tournament, the final step before the PIAA Championships, is next Monday at Golden Oaks Golf Course in Fleetwood.
“I am really excited,” Orsulak said. “It is really cool to move on and enjoy this experience of playing at this level, especially as a freshman. It is just really great to be playing at this level.”
Pottsville junior Rachel Brahler will be joining Orsulak at regionals.
Brahler, who won her second consecutive Schuylkill League girls’ championship by two shots over Orsulak on Sept. 28 at Hidden Valley Golf Course, shot a 95 on
Monday to finish second in Class AAA and qualify for regionals for the first time.
Brahler missed the regional cut at districts last season, coming in fifth with an 98 at the Shawnee Inn and Country Club.
“I am really happy that I made it,” Brahler said. “Last year I got fifth place, so I am glad I got second this year to make it. I worked really hard and I just think I will improve by next year since I will be more confident.”
Two of the other girls from the Schuylkill League who competed Monday also earned medals.
Crimson Tide junior Kayla Drasdis was third behind Brahler with a 102, while Pine Grove junior Kamryn Felty (106) was fifth in Class AA. It was the first district medal for both.
The top three finishers in Class AAA were supposed to qualify for regionals. However, any qualifier needed to shoot a 99 or better to advance and Drasdis came up three strokes shy.
Allentown Central Catholic senior Franca Hurtado won her fourth straight Class AA girls’ title with a 5-over 77. Emmaus’ Samantha Fritzinger won the Class AAA championship for the second consecutive year with a 4-over 76.
While the girls from the Schuylkill League had a big day Monday, it was a disappointing ending for the boys.
Both Blue Mountain’s Bailey Sophy (Class AAA) and North Schuylkill’s Hunter Mickatavage (Class AA) were seeking a return trip to regionals, but both came up short.
Sophy finished in a three-way for 10th after an 81 to miss the cut by three shots. Mickatavage had a 82, finishing seventh and missing the cut by five strokes.
Pine Grove’s Luke Reiter (86), Nativity’s Tyler Coyle (90) and Tamaqua’s Carson Schoener (92) also missed the Class AA cut, while Blue Mountain’s Tanner Cook (86), the Schuylkill League boys’ champ, missed the cut in Class AAA.
Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg freshman William Mirams fired a 1-under 71 to win the Class AA boys’ championship, while Emmaus’s Max Harrington won the Class AAA title with a 1-over 73. A total of 13 boys — five in Class AA and eight in AAA — broke 80 on Monday.
The top four Class AA finishers and top six Class AAA finishers from Monday’s championships advanced to regionals. The Class AA cut ended up being 77, while the Class AAA cut was 78.
In the team competition, Moravian Academy (310) rolled to the Class AA, with Marian (356) finishing tied for third with Bethlehem Catholic. Emmaus (305) cruised to the Class AAA team title, while Schuylkill League champion Blue Mountain (337) came in third.
As Blue Mountain’s No. 5 golfer, Orsulak competed as part of the team competition Monday. She played with Emmaus’ Conner Wambold, Nazareth’s Trevor Buss and Stroudsburg’s Adam Moninghoff, teed off at No. 8 and double-bogeyed her first two holes.
But she steadied her round, and settled herself down, with back-to-back pars at 10 and 11, two of the seven pars Orsulak had on the day.
“I really came back, after the two doubles, since we were starting on 10, it was a new 9 and so I was like just regroup yourself and don’t worry about the past holes,” she said. “That is really important because if you have a blow-up hole, you can always recover. It is definitely good not to worry about the past holes.”
Orsulak felt the strongest part of her game Monday was her putting, with only one 3-putt all day. Orsulak was also pleased with her driving and iron play.
When she finished her round, she felt her 85 was going to be good enough to advance.
“I just wanted to advance, so top two spots,” Orsulak said of her expectations in her first district championship. “You don’t necessarily have to win but just move on. I just wanted to shoot good enough to do that.”
That’s what Brahler did, even through she was disappointed with her round.
“I knew I would make it, but I just wasn’t happy with my score,” Brahler said. “The pressure gets to me.”
She was pleased with how she drove the ball Monday, but felt her iron game needed work and she had to many three-putts.
One hole that stood out for Brahler during her round was No. 16, a 118-yard uphill par 3. She wasn’t sure if her 5-iron tee shot found the green, but it did. Brahler missed a 12-foot birdie putt, but was able make a 5-footer for par.
District 11
Golf Championships
At Schuylkill Country Club, Orwigsburg
Par 72
Yardage: Boys, 6,649; Girls, 5,649
Monday’s results
BOYS
CLASS AA
William Mirams, Notre Dame-ES *71
Nick Maff, Bethlehem Catholic *72
Cory Haldeman, Moravian Acad. *73
Colin McQueen, Moravian Acad. *77
Bobby Beck, Moravian Academy 79
Drew Warner, Moravian Academy 81
Hunter Mickatavage, N. Schuylkill 82
Matthew McGinley, Notre Dame-ES 85
Luke Reiter, Pine Grove 86
Andrew Benner, Palisades 86
Tyler Coyle, Nativity 90
Carson Schoener, Tamaqua 92
Bryce Etter, Wilson 97
CLASS AAA
Max Harrington, Emmaus *73
Paul Fedele, Easton *75
Kevin Scherr, Nazareth *77
Tim Gaudette, Pocono Mtn. West *77
Nick Atherholt, Nazareth *77
Kevin Caverly, Emmaus *78
Alec Cwienkala, Parkland 79
Jacob Siegfried, Liberty 79
Brian Whelan, Pocono Mtn. East 80
Nick Hinkle, Nazareth 81
Bailey Sophy, Blue Mountain 81
John Yocum, Freedom 81
Brian Frey, Stroudsburg 82
Thomas Coakley, Saucon Valley 84
Victor Tavares, Nazareth 85
Ian McBrairty, Easton 85
Tanner Cook, Blue Mountain 86
Donald LeCompte, ES North 87
Sean Abel, Freedom 87
Thomas Lakata, Allentown C.C. 88
Trevor Buss, Nazareth 90
JP Balas, Pocono Mtn. East 90
Alex Albenzi, Southern Lehigh 90
Chris Toleno, East Stroud. South 90
Michael Miller, Southern Lehigh 91
Jimmy Gold, Southern Lehigh 92
Derek Barnes, Southern Lehigh 92
Mike Kovalchick, Northampton 98
GIRLS
CLASS AA
Franca Hurtado, Allentown C.C. *77
Sophie Orsulak, Blue Mountain *85
Krista Kissell, Notre Dame-E.S. 90
Sophia Israel, Saucon Valley 103
Kamryn Felty, Pine Grove 106
Olivia Dahlgren, Allentown C.C. 110
Gia Ambrosino, Allentown C.C. 117
Akaylah Mease, Wilson 124
Natalie Krupka, Allentown C.C. 128
Sydney Posh, Moravian Academy WD
CLASS AAA
Samantha Fritzinger, Emmaus *76
Rachel Brahler, Pottsville *95
Kayla Drasdis, Pottsville 102
Allyssa Bernasconi, Easton 105
Morgan Krauss, Liberty 111
Maegan Haser, Pocono Mtn. East 113
Molly Agnello, Pocono Mtn. East 115
Suyeon Hong, Parkland 117
Jackie Katz, Parkland 130
*Regional qualifier
Team scores
Class AA
Moravian Academy (310) — Cory Haldeman 73, Colin McQueen 77, Bobby Beck 79, Drew Warner 81, Matt Kalamar 85
Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg (339) — William Mirams 71, Matthew McGinley 85, Krista Kissell 90, Brendan Murphy 93, Dylan Dembinski 104
Bethlehem Catholic (356) — Nick Maff 72, Chad Sodl 90, Jake Smedley 93, Dave Angelucci 101, Kyle Smedley 102
Marian (356 ) — Albert McFadden 83, Nicholas Kurzinsky 88, Michael Latoff 92, Jarod Paisley 93, Tyler Wackley 104
Class AAA
Emmaus (305) — Max Harrington 73, Samantha Fritzinger 76, Kevin Caverly 78, Eric Chichocki 78, Conner Wambold 96
Nazareth (320) — Nick Atherholt 77, Kevin Scherr 77, Nick Hinkle 81, Victor Tavares 85, Trevor Buss 90
Blue Mountain (337) — Bailey Sophy 81, Austin Boyer 85, Sophie Orsulak 85, Tanner Cook 86, Kevin DiLorenzo 97
Stroudsburg (358) — Brian Frey 82, Jack Mullally 88, Adam Moninghoff 92, Sam Ewing 96, Ryan Humphreys 102