Covert Fires Third-Round 78 to Lead BC3 Golfers At Nationals

Lincoln High School graduate Mitchell Covert on Thursday fired a third-round 6-over 78 to lead three Butler County Community College golfers who shot their lowest scores of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III championship tournaments in Chautauqua, N.Y.

Covert cut nine strokes off his second-round 87 with three birdies and by parring seven holes at Chautauqua Golf Club’s Lake Course.

Taylor Voloch followed 114s with a third-round 108 and BC3 women’s teammate Leah McClellan cut 10 strokes off her score Wednesday with a 110.

Covert’s and Voloch’s scores Thursday were their lowest through seven rounds of the national championship tournaments. Covert competed as a member of a BC3 men’s squad that advanced by winning a regional qualifier in 2025 and Voloch, in an open women’s field.

They are each positioned to finish the 2026 national championships with lower scores than they had in 2025.

Covert shot a four-day 340 in 2025. By shooting an 88 or lower Friday, he will end with a score no higher than 339.

The 18 individual men’s and women’s golfers with the lowest score after Friday’s fourth and final round earn All-American status.

Voloch in 2025 became BC3’s first female All-American in golf by placing in the Top 18 of the women’s national championship.

Voloch had a four-day 474 in 2025. By shooting a 137 or lower Friday, she will end with a score no higher than 473.

BC3 men’s golfer Mason Phillips followed a second-round 90 with a 92.

Mitchell Covert

Taylor Voloch

Leah McClelland

Mason Phillips

Sebastian Haug, of Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst, N.C., leads the men’s field by one stroke with a 213.

Amelia Dunseth, Rock Valley College, Rockford, Ill., leads the women’s field by eight strokes with a 229.

Covert and Phillips earned berths in the national championship during the NJCAA Division III Region 20 tournament at the Links at Spring Church in Apollo on May 19. The women’s national championship is an open tournament.

Covert is a graduate of Lincoln High School in Ellwood City; Phillips, of Knoch; Voloch, of Moniteau; and McClellan, of Butler.

The Pioneers’ spring golf season features regional play, a regional tournament and the chance to compete in the national championship. BC3’s fall golf season concludes with the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference championship.