THE OTTER VALLEY golf team on Thursday won the program’s third Division II golf championship in the past four years. From left are Jacob Warrell, Jackson Howe, Head Coach Greg Hughes, Assistant Coach Thomas Kingsley, Lucas Politano, Jacob Tripp and Connor Denis.
Photo courtesy of Otter Valley

BURLINGTON — The Otter Valley golf team came away with both the Division II individual and team hardware on Thursday in the high school championship tournament held at the Burlington Country Club.

Senior Lucas Politano earned D-II medalist honors for the third straight season, and joined Jackson Howe, Connor Denis, Jacob Tripp and Jacob Warrell in winning the D-II team title for OV the third time in the past four years. 

Politano’s three-over par 74 led the D-II field by a wide margin — Stowe’s Rowan Turner was second with an 80. Politano earned his 74 by recording 13 pars and one birdie on the same course he won the Vermont Amateur Championship this summer. 

OTTER VALLEY SENIOR Lucas Politano, seen playing in the 2023 state championship at Basin Harbor, won his third Division II medalist title at Burlington Country Club on Thursday. He led an OV quartet that capture the D-II team title, as well.
Independent file photo/Steve James

D-I medalist Sebastian Pell of Rutland fired a 73 for the best overall score among all D-I and D-II competitors, but Champlain Valley edged his RHS team by a single stroke for the D-I title. 

OV’s four scoring golfers collectively shot 68 over par, good for a 15-stroke margin over second-place Hartford at 83 over par. Harwood finished third at 84 over par.

After Politano, Howe was next with an 81, Denis shot a 95, and Tripp carded a 102 to round out the scorers on the chilly day on a damp course. Warrell missed scoring for OV with a 110. Howe’s 81 was good for third in D-II, one stroke better than Mill River’s Mattie Serafin in fourth. 

CVU shot 51-over in winning D-I, with Rutland at 52-over and Essex in third at 61-over.  

Politano’s day on the course marked the end of a Politano golf dynasty at OV, although he and Howe were among 13 golfers who qualified as individuals to compete in the upcoming New England championship tournament based on Thursday’s results. 

Lucas’s older sister Mia, who plays at Middlebury College, won two D-II individual titles and teamed up with younger sister Elena to do well in team competitions. She has also won the Vermont Women’s Amateur title. Thomas Politano, a recent OV graduate, helped OV win its first two D-II titles.