After a dominant season of play, the Kent State women’s golf team traveled to the legendary Firestone Country Club for the Mid-American Conference Championships. And for the 27th year in a row, the team took home the MAC Championship trophy.
Each teammate delivered a great performance, as all five competitors finished the tournament in the top ten individually.
“I’m very proud of them,” said coach Casey VanDamme. “It was a good culmination of a year-long hard work and learning lessons, which they put to good use and did a good job when it mattered.”
Junior Veronika Kedronova solidified her greatness in her 2025-26 campaign by claiming the individual MAC Championship title and earning a spot on the MAC All-Tournament Team. She led her team to success with an incredible seven-under-par (203) performance. Kedronova now holds the lowest score of all time in the history of the MAC Championship.
“She’s really good, and she works really hard,” said VanDamme. “That combination puts you in a good spot when it really matters.”
Gracie Larsen had a great tournament, carding a score of two-under-par (208). She finished just behind Kedronova in second place. Larsen was also named to the MAC All-Tournament Team.
Claiming fourth place was senior Leon Takagi, who shot one-over-par (211). Her success and experience in the tournament throughout all three rounds was crucial to the Flashes success in Akron. Takagi was the final Flash to be named to the MAC All-Tournament Team.
Tied for ninth were Isabella Goyette and Petra Babicova. They both shot four-over-par (214), a great score for the Flashes.
Round One
Right out the gate, the Flashes took round one shooting two-under-par (278) and just edging out Eastern Michigan for the lead in the tournament. They were the only team to shoot under par in the first round of the tournament.
“[Eastern Michigan is] really good,” said VanDamme. “They are ranked better than us. So it was a really good competition, and they have a really good team, so we were happy to nip them for this event.”
Despite their success, the front nine saw some struggles from the KSU team.
Kedronova continued her dominance on the season with an impressive three-under-par (67). She also took hold of first place in a tie with Sammie Dolce of Bowling Green State University on the individual leaderboard.
Close behind Kedronova was Takagi, a familiar competitor to Firestone, who shot two-under-par (68). Takagi claimed third place to lift KSU into the first-place spot.
After a dominant performance in the Therese Hession Invitational in Columbus, Goyette shot one-over-par (71) for tenth place, while Larsen followed with a two-over-par (72) for 14th. This duo rounded out the scoring in round one for the Flashes.
Babicova took 21st and did not score for the Flashes. She shot four-over-par (74), still a solid performance for her team.
“I think they were a little nervous,” said VanDamme. “They definitely started to slow, but they hung in there with their game plan.”
Round Two
After a slow start to round one, the Flashes recovered and took first, but in round two, they broke away and separated from the rest of the pack.
They maintained first place, shooting two-under-par (278) once again, while Bowling Green sat 11 strokes behind in second place, shooting seven-over-par (287).
KSU showed its dominance with Kedronova, Larsen and Babicova all shooting one-under-par (69). Their team effort propelled the Flashes to their lead. Kedronova maintained first place, while Larsen took fifth and Babicova claimed ninth.
“[Larsen] has worked hard,” said VanDamme. “She had a little bit of struggle this spring, and I’m happy to see her come through when it really mattered. I’m very proud of her.”
Meanwhile, Takagi continued her success, shooting one-over-par (71) and remaining in third place. With four of the top ten competitors being members of Kent State’s squad, it was easy to tell why they had so much success through 36 holes.
Goyette did not score for the Flashes in round two, despite scoring a solid three-over-par (73). She moved down one place in the individual board to 11th, still supplementing the Flashes success.
Round Three
With a dominant third-round performance, the Kent State women’s golf team made it official and secured the Mid-American Conference championship title.
Shooting an impressive five-under-par (275), the squad took down No. 19 Eastern Michigan after three consistently great rounds.
Kedronova defended her title as the top-ranked golfer in the conference by finishing in first and shooting three-under-par (67) for the win.
Larsen jumped up three places in the final round and finished in second, just behind Kedronova. She carded another three-under-par (67) to tie Kedronova’s third round performance. She sank an eagle on the 13th to propel her success on the final day of competition.
Goyette finished at another great even-par (70) while finishing in the top ten for the tournament. Babicova tied Goyette for ninth with a one-over-par (71) score in the final round.
Takagi struggled the most in the final round, though her struggles were not bad by any measure. She carded a two-over-par (72) in the final round, still a great performance from the senior. Takagi did not score in the third round; however, she finished in fourth place individually.
With all five competitors finishing in the top ten of the tournament, it is no surprise that KSU took home the trophy for the 27th year in a row.
“Our goal is to fly to the NCAA Finals, so we need to be in the top five at regionals to get there,” said VanDamme. “We think we have the team to do that, so we just control what we can, but it was a good performance leading into that.”
Up Next
As the winner of the tournament, KSU will travel to the NCAA Regionals from May 11-13, looking to move on and make a statement in the NCAA National Championship.
Luke Nedved is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
