Liberty’s Matt Vital had high expectations about defending his District 11 Class 3A championship Monday afternoon at Old Homestead Golf Course.

In fact, he was pretty confident.

Vital did achieve his goal, but he took a different route.

The senior overcame a slow start and eventually rallied and defended his title. Vital overcame a six-over par on the front nine and battled through two bogeys on the back nine. He finished with a 75.

As a team, Liberty won its third consecutive district title.

“After capturing the championship last year, I expected to win this year,” Vital said. “I have been playing a lot of good golf lately. I was away from the team, and played in tournaments in different parts of the country.

“I am really proud of myself to finish first even though I had a rocky start, among a few birdies to manage my round. My game feels pretty good, but there are still areas I can improve.

“This team is really strong, and we are definitely contenders for a championship.”

Liberty teammates Jase Barker (77) and Michael Vital (77) followed Matt Vital to round out the top-three. Teammate Jimmy Barker was seventh with an 80, and Matt Ronca was 20th overall with an 88.

As a team, Liberty finished with a total of 309, 26 strokes ahead of second place Northampton. The Konkrete Kids were led by Michael Seidick, 14th (83); Gavin Pychinka, 16th (85); and Trent Moyer, 17th (86).

Madison Salter took fourth in the girls event shooting a 93.

Jayden Bleiler shot an 81 and played as part of the team competition. Justin Edwards shot a 94 for the Kids.

Northampton went 15-2 during the season and was third in the EPC tournament, which included a first place finish for Salter.

“We had a very successful season,” said Kids head coach Brian Davies. “As individuals, we had no state qualifiers, but most of our team will return next year. With one more year of experience, I expect Northampton golf to be a top-two team in the EPC and District XI.

“I always looked at this season as a building block for next year and we definitely accomplished that goal.”

The Hurricanes will advance to the subregional round Oct. 12 to play the District 12 champion at Old Homestead. The winner there will move on to states Oct. 19 at Penn State.

Flight 4 3A Boys

1. Matthew Vital (Lib) +3; T2. Jase Barker (Lib) +5; T2. Michael Vital (Lib) +5; T4. Evan Murphy (PME) +7; T4. Hunter Probst (S) +7; T4. Noah Shurman (Emm) +7; 7. Jimmy Barker (Lib) +8; T8. Colin Sarnoski (SL) +9; T8. Jeff Markosky (NS) +9; T10. Frankie Boensch (SL) +10; T10. Trey Spring (Leh) +10; T10. Will Eberz (S) +10; T10. Zachary Miller (Naz) +10; T14. Aiden Greenberg (Naz) +11; T14. Michael Seidick (North) +11; 16. Gavin Pychinka (North) +13; 17. Trent Moyer (North) +14; T18. Cohen Resch (SL) +15; T18. Lewis Ronca (Naz) +15; 20. Matt Ronca (Lib) +16; 21. Krish Patel (F) +17; 22. Landen Benner (Park) +19; 23. Bryson Hicklin (Naz) +20; 24. Drew Miller (NS) +22; 25. Blake Greenawald (SL) +24; 26. Lydon Patascher (PV) +26; 27. Brady DiPasquale (PME) +30

Flight 5 Kids for team districts

1. *Jayden Bleiler (North) +9; 2. *Luke Ronca (Naz) +15; T3. *Brady Najda (Mah) +18; T3. *Jared Reinhard (Palm) +18; 5. *Ford Koch (MA) +20; 6. *Justin Edwards (North) +22; 7. *Bobby Kaufman (Mah) +24; 8. *Jude Maziekas (NS) +27; 9. *Bryce Cuthie (NS) +30; 10. *Chris George (SH) +32; 11. *Connor Haag (SH) +36; 12. *Justin Sebelin (Palm) +39; 13. *Brayden Maksimik (Mah) +40; 14. *Lucas Karnish (Mah) +49; 15. *TJ Adams (SH) +73

Flight 3 3A Girls

1. Camryn Hoff (Naz) +13; 2. Natalie White (B) +14; 3. Chloe Chase (Park) +20; 4. Madison Salter (North) +21; 5. Allie Tarreto (Naz) +24; T6. Ashlyn McCormick (PMW) +27; T6. Sydni Sundstrom (Park) +27; 8. Anna Farnschlader (Emm) +35; 9. Maddie Hagens (SL) +45