Finally playing under beautiful skies in Union County, Summit, Gov. Livingston, and Elizabeth all were crowned Union County Conference (UCC) Divisional champions Tuesday morning at Galloping Hill GC in Kenilworth. Watchung Division Led by senior Max Shin’s 6-over 77, Summit (316) knocked off defending champion Westfield (319), No. 12 in the latest NJ.com Top 20, to capture the UCC Watchung Division team title. Oratory (321), Scotch-Plains-Fanwood (326), and Cranford (358) rounded out the top five respectively. Oratory junior and Bucknell commit Henry Bolster, who finished fourth last year with a 6-over 77, improved by a whopping nine shots to take home the individual division title with an impressive 3-under 68, eight shots better than Westfield senior Toby Zippler (5-over 76), who finished fifth last year with a 7-over 78. Scotch Plains-Fanwood junior Jake Todaro (6-over 77) placed third, Shin’s 77 finished fourth, and Todaro’s teammate senior Owen Dimon (7-over 78), along with Westfield junior Matthew McKenna (7-over 78) and Summit senior Charlie Vlass (7-over 78) all finished in a three-way tie for fifth. “Henry was far and away the best golfer out on the course at Galloping Hill today. He has amazing natural talent for the game, he is a very hard worker, and he has developed a very intelligently powerful golf swing. Naturally, I am very happy for Henry, but disappointed for the team, since we lost to champion Summit by only five shots,” said Oratory head coach Kevin Lueck, who is in his fourth season at the helm. Mountain Division Defending champion Gov. Livingston (333) defended their team title quite nicely, winning by 10 strokes over Johnson (343). Union Catholic (364), Roselle Park (432), and Dayton (459) rounded out the top five. Junior Mark Capparelli, who tied for fifth place last year with a 90, shot a solid 3-over 74 to win individual medal honors by four shots over Union Catholic senior Jimmy Donnelly (78). “Mark played a very smart and consistent round today. He has been playing very well in our matches, and I’m thrilled he had a really good round today,” said Gov. Livingston head coach Sharon Leahy. New Providence sophomore Max Mund (80), Gov. Livingston junior Ned Bruno (81) (improving one spot from last year) placed third and fourth respectively, while Union Catholic sophomore David Penna (82) and Johnson senior Mark Orlowski (82) finished in a two-way tie for fifth. Valley Division Elizabeth swept both the Valley Division team and individual titles. The Minutemen (379) won by 15 strokes over runner-up Union (394). Brearley (434) finished third. Senior Alexander Bento (84) won the individual medal by one stroke over Union junior Colby Palacio (84). “One interesting thing worth noting about Alex is he is someone who did not make the team as a freshman. Alex is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached. He is someone who just kept getting better and kept showing up. After speaking with him today, he didn’t love his front 9. He said he had a lot of makeable putts, and a low of wedges and short irons in that he thinks he could have hit closer. He turned it on on the back, shooting a 39, one of his best scores this season. He was helped a lot by his length off the tee and hitting better wedges into greens on the back. He hit all 3 greens on the par 3’s on the back,” said Elizabeth head coach Zachary Marzano, who is in his second season at the helm. “We played well. The difference was the response after a bad hole, or a bad shot. I remember Payton Calixto hit his tee shot on hole one into the tree line. He didn’t hang his head or pout and then hits the flagstick to a tap in distance for a birdie on one. This happened to a few of our golfers. If we hang our head and feel sorry for ourselves after a bad shot, we likely will hit another bad one. I was proud of how they handled mistakes today and had an answer for when things didn’t go their way.” Bento’s teammate senior Payton Calixto (92) finished third, Union junior Ethan Deleon (93) placed fourth and Brearley senior Giovanni Facchini (96) finished fifth. The N.J. High School Sports newsletter is now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now! Follow us on social: Facebook | Instagram | X (formerly Twitter) Lou Monaco can be reached at lmonaco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X: @loumonaco.