Jackson Skeans had been trying to get to the District 11 Golf Championships for his entire high school career.

When he finally got there, he made the most of it.

The Salisbury senior shook off a bad start to finish with a 10-over par 82 then emerged victorious in a two-player playoff to secure his place in next week’s state championships.

“It was the last shot I had so I had to make it count,” said Skeans after beating Tamaqua’s Brody Boyle on the second hole of a playoff for fifth place and final berth into states. “Since the beginning of the season the goal was to play well the whole season and then place well in districts to make it to states.”

The Class 2A field started the district championship tournament on the 15th hole last Tuesday at the Steel Club.

Skeans made three double-bogeys and three bogeys over his first seven holes to climb to 9-over par, far off the number he knew would be necessary to advance.

“The cut at that time was three over,” he said. “It was just about clawing back. It was going to be a lot of grinding, just making sure that I’m making smart shots and playing conservative, but giving myself the best opportunity to score.”

Skeans birdied the final hole of his round, the par-5 14th, to get into the playoff. He made two birdies, three bogeys and six pars over his final 11 holes to finish with an 82. After playing his first seven holes at 9-over, he was just one-over par for the rest of his round.

In the playoff, both players made bogey on the 18th hole before Skeans sealed the win with a par on the second playoff hole, the par-4 first, which he double-bogeyed the first time around.

A four-year member of the Salisbury golf team, Skeans made it through the District 11 qualifying tournament for the first time after playing in it twice before. He finished second in Class 2A in that event, which was held Tuesday, Sept. 29 at Shawnee Golf Resort.

Skeans shot 4-over par 76 at Shawnee to earn his first trip to the district championship. He made two birdies, four bogeys, one double and 11 pars at the qualifier.

Salisbury sophomore Chase Yakaitis also competed at the District 11 Championships. After winning the Colonial League title a few weeks ago, Yakaitis was exempt from the qualifier.

At districts last Tuesday, Yakaitis also had a tough start, but was unable to recover in shooting a 17-over par 89 for 18th place in Class 2A.

“It just wasn’t my day,” he said. “We’ll see what we can do in the future.”

An accomplished junior player, Yakaitis will be one of the top players in the league next season.

Skeans advances to next week’s state championship tournament at Penn State University.

Tamaqua’s Sam Vinc won this year’s District Class 2A title with a 4-over par 76. He finished a shot ahead of Schuylkill Haven’s Eli Barton in second place. Alan Evans (Schuylkill Haven) shot 79 for third place with Palmerton’s Joey Sold one shot back in fourth place.

Saucon Valley’s Anthony Albano took this year’s District 11 3A title with an even-par 72, finishing three shots clear of Alex DiGiacinto (Nazareth) and Chris Gearheart (Pocono Mountain East) in a tie for second place.

Schuylkill Haven won the boys team title with a four-player team score of 333. Mahanoy Area (352), Notre Dame of Green Pond (353) and Northwestern Lehigh (357) were also part of the team tournament.

In Class 3A, Parkland shot 321 for first place in the team standings, followed by Nazareth (324), Southern Lehigh (336) and Pocono Mountain East (340).

Schuylkill Haven’s Giuliana Hughes shot 13-over par 85 for first place in girls Class 2A.

Southern Lehigh’s Lexi Miller earned the District 11 girls 3A title at a subregional tournament last Monday.