Kent State Set to Defend Mid-American Conference Championship At Firestone

KENT, Ohio - The Kent State Dr. Paula Treckel women's golf team opens the 2026 Mid-American Conference Women's Golf Championship on Sunday at Firestone Country Club's Fazio Course, hosting the event as the Golden Flashes pursue their 27th consecutive conference title.

Kent State enters the championship ranked No. 28 nationally by Clippd and brings a roster of five returning All-MAC selections.

The lineup includes reigning MAC Golfer of the Year Veronika Kedronová, 2024 MAC Golfer of the Year and two-time conference medalist Leon Takagi, and three returners from last year's championship team: Isabella Goyette, Aryn Matthews, and Gracie Larsen, who finished tied for second on the players leaderboard at the 2025 championship, one stroke off medalist honors. Rounding out the lineup is sophomore Petra Babicová, who served as the team's alternate at the 2025 championship.

The 10-team field includes Eastern Michigan, ranked 19th nationally and led by seniors Janae Leovao (No. 53) and Jasmine Leovao (No. 68), junior Baiyok Sukterm (No. 80), and junior Savannah de Bock (No. 144). Also competing: Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, and Western Michigan.

Kent State Lineup

Veronika Kedronová
Leon Takagi
Isabella Goyette
Petra Babicová
Gracie Larsen
Aryn Matthews (Alternate)

Field (Clippd Team Rankings)

Kent State - No. 28 (Host)
Eastern Michigan - No. 19
Ball State - No. 141
Bowling Green - No. 156
Northern Illinois - No. 175
Akron - No. 183
Western Michigan - No. 195
Ohio - No. 206
Central Michigan - No. 208
Toledo - No. 216

Tournament Information

Event: 2026 Mid-American Conference Women's Golf Championship
Host: Kent State University
Location: Akron, Ohio
Course: Firestone Country Club, Fazio Course
Par/Yardage: 70 / 6,137 yards
Dates: April 26-28, 2026
Format: Stroke Play / 5-count-4 (+1 Alternate) / 54 holes
Team Live Scoring: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/244269/scoring/team
Individual Live Scoring: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/244269/scoring/player

Individual Notes

#1 Veronika Kedronová (Junior | Rožnov pod Radhoštem, Czechia)

Teeing off from Hole 1 - 10:30 a.m. with Baiyok Sukterm (Eastern Michigan) and Sabrina Langerak (Ball State)

Kedronová enters Firestone ranked 25th nationally by Clippd and coming off one of the most complete individual seasons in the country. The reigning MAC Golfer of the Year has won three times this season, including a 13-under performance at the Landfall Tradition, where she finished seven strokes clear of the field. Earlier this month, she became the third MAC golfer ever to compete in the Augusta National Women's Amateur, joining former Kent State golfers Michaela Finn and Pimnipa Panthong, who both competed in 2019. Panthong and teammate Karoline Stormo were also invited to the 2020 event, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her six rounds in the 60s are more than the rest of the Kent State lineup combined. A sixth-place finish at last year's championship leaves room for a statement week.

#2 Leon Takagi (Senior | Tokyo, Japan)

Teeing off from Hole 1 - 10:20 a.m. with Janae Leovao (Eastern Michigan) and JJ Gregston (Ball State)

Takagi arrives at Firestone with a chance to bookend her career. The 2024 MAC Golfer of the Year claimed individual championship titles as a first-year in 2023 and again as a sophomore in 2024 before finishing eighth a year ago. Her 2025-26 season profile reads like a player ready to reclaim the crown: the team's second-best scoring average across a team-leading 29 counting rounds, 10 of those under par. In her final MAC Championship appearance, the lone senior in the Kent State lineup has the kind of résumé and form that makes a third career medalist finish a live possibility.

#3 Isabella Goyette (Sophomore | Medina, Ohio)

Teeing off from Hole 1 - 10:10 a.m. with Jasmine Leovao (Eastern Michigan) and Sophie Korthuijs (Ball State)

Goyette returns to the championship with a score to settle. The 2025 First Team All-MAC and MAC All-Tournament Team selection finished tied for second a year ago, one stroke off medalist honors, and has built on that finish with one of the steadiest seasons on the roster: 29 counting rounds, 22 of them under 75, and the team's second-best spring scoring average at 73.93. Her solo fourth-place finish at the Therese Hession Buckeye Invitational on OSU's Scarlet Course was the headline spring performance. One stroke closer this time around, and the medalist conversation changes.

#4 Petra Babicová (Sophomore | Ocová, Slovakia)

Teeing off from Hole 1 - 10:00 a.m. with Savannah de Bock (Eastern Michigan) and Sarah Gallagher (Ball State)

Babicová has been a fixture in the Kent State lineup, playing 26 counting rounds across the fall and spring. Her spring average of 75.33 represents a more than two-stroke improvement over her fall mark, a trajectory the Flashes will be leaning on at Firestone. A 19th-place finish at the Lady Luck Invitational and a 20th at the Clemson Invitational against a power-conference-heavy field suggest she is peaking at the right moment.

#5 Gracie Larsen (Sophomore | Melbourne, Australia)

Teeing off from Hole 1 - 9:50 a.m. with Erina Tran (Eastern Michigan) and Jasmine Driscoll (Ball State)

The reigning MAC Freshman of the Year returns to the championship with unfinished business. Larsen was one of three Golden Flashes to finish tied for second at last year's championship, one stroke off medalist honors, and she opened this season with a top-five finish at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational. Twenty-three counting rounds of championship-environment experience and a Freshman of the Year nod on her résumé, Larsen arrives at Firestone as one of the most credentialed sophomores in the MAC.

Alternate Aryn Matthews (Sophomore | Little Britain, Ontario, Canada)

Matthews is the third Golden Flash returning from last year's runner-up trio, a group that finished one stroke off medalist honors at the 2025 championship. The 2025 Second Team All-MAC and MAC All-Tournament Team selection brings a top-10 finish at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational and a season-low 67 at the Wolverine Invitational - the lowest single round of any Kent State player outside of Kedronová - into a Firestone week as a battle-tested presence in the Kent State traveling roster.

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