San Lorenzo Valley High’s boys golf team went unbeaten to repeat as Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League champion in the spring, but Harbor’s top player took home top individual honor during all-league selections.

Pirates senior Kaden Dunton, who will compete for North Central University in Minneapolis next season, was named the 2025 SCCAL MVP.

Dunton, the 2024 SCCAL individual champion, took second at this year’s SCCAL Championship behind SLV senior James Dahlen, was Santa Cruz County’s lone golfer to advance from the Central Coast Section Regional Championships, and narrowly missed advancing to the CIF NorCal Championships.

“It means a lot,” said Dunton, of the honor. “There was super good competition, especially with James and all of them.”

Dunton was medalist in six of 10 matches for the Pirates and held a 37.33 scoring average for nine holes.

“Kaden is an extremely solid golfer with a very strong work ethic,” Pirates coach Tim Boucher said. “He is an excellent ball striker and can maintain his composure in a large variety of situations on the course. His consistent playing is a testament to the hard work that he puts in. He is great player and teammate and always has a smile on his face.”

While Dunton was elated to advance from CCS Regional action — one of his season highlights — he was also thrilled that a youth-laden Pirates program got to experience victory over powerful Aptos in league play.

“That was super big, one of our best team efforts,” he said. “And as far as what I did in CCS was great. I played as good as I could’ve that day.”

Dunton, who also received interest from some colleges in Colorado, is excited to join a Rams program that qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships for just the second time in school history under coach Greg Sweeney this season.

“I’m stoked to get out there, play two years of college and transfer,” said Dunton, an aspiring PGA professional who plans to major in sports management. “That’s the goal.”

Dunton said Sweeney is equally supportive of his goal of transferring to a larger school after two seasons.

The Rams are getting a consistent player who never scores too high, and is continually working to go super low. He typically scores in the low to mid-70s.

“I’m pretty consistent with that,” he said of his scoring. “I’m definitely getting better.”

He has shot 2-under par twice at Pasatiempo Golf Club and 4-under at DeLaveaga Golf Course “three or four times.”

Dunton said his driver was a strength all season, and that he’s continuing to put in the work on the greens and improve his putting.

Dunton loves to be on the course, and he knows he’ll be severely handcuffed playing in region that receives snow five months each year. That said, North Central shares facilities with University of Minnesota, located two miles away.

“It’s going to be a change, for sure,” he said. “I’m going to work with what I’ve got and try to play my best.”

SLV’s Luke Dahlen was voted Coach of the Year for a second straight season after leading the Cougars to a title repeat.

Aptos sophomore Nicholas Bjorn was the lone underclassman selected to the first team. He was joined by five seniors: Dunton, SLV’s James Dahlen and Keenan Buntz, and Santa Cruz’s Tobin Ortiz-McClendon and Cliff Chesnut.

It was Dahlen’s third straight season on the first team, and Buntz and Dunton’s second.