Central Michigan University Athletics
Tuesday, September 15
Sylvania, Ohio / Highland Meadows CC
9 a.m. (18 holes)
Central Michigan University
at
Rocket Classic
CMU freshman Mya Morgan closed with a 2-over 73 to tie for first at the Rocket Classic. Morgan, playing in just her second collegiate event, fell in a one-hole playoff for medalist honors.
Photo by: Andy Sneddon
Back-to-Back: Women's Golf Claims Second Straight Tournament Title
9/15/2026 4:24:00 PM | Women's Golf
Morgan, Niskanen, Fennell post top-six finishes as CMU claims Rocket Classic
SYLVANIA, Ohio – Validation.
Mya Morgan, Rachel Niskanen and Elise Fennell posted top-six finishes as the Central Michigan women's golf team captured its second consecutive tournament championship on Tuesday, closing with a 24-over par 308 to win the Rocket Classic at Highland Meadows Golf Course.
The Chippewas finished at 51-over 903, seven shots ahead of runner-up Oakland. CMU opened the season last week with a 21-shot victory at its own A-Ga-Ming Invitational in Kewadin.
And like at A-Ga-Ming, the Chippewas led wire to wire, leading after each of the three rounds.
"It's pretty special to start the season with two wins in a row," CMU coach Ryan Williams said. "I don't think we've been in this position before, and it feels pretty good to be undefeated right now.
"Really proud of the team. They battled hard today it wasn't easy; it was a tricky setup with some tough pin locations and it was windy to start the day in the morning. You're going to get off to a bit of an uneasy start when you're starting in conditions like that, and it can kind of hit the confidence if you let it. We hung in, we played tough, we grinded all the way through the end and that was really good to see."
Morgan, a freshman playing in just her second collegiate event, closed with a 2-over 73, tying for the second-best score of the day in the 42-player field. She finished at 10-over 223, moving from 10th place at the start of the round and into a tie for first with Ohio State freshman Amalie Tauer, who was playing as an individual.
Tauer birdied the first playoff hole, the 352-yard par-4 10th, to claim medalist honors.
"She battled," Williams said of Morgan, who finished sixth last week at A-Ga-Ming. "Really proud of her. I think it's really good for her to be in that position and to get used to being competitive at the top of leaderboards, for sure.
"She has the game to do that often, and hopefully she takes a little bit of confidence away from this and then also a little bit of hunger to keep chasing those wins. And I think that that's what you'll see out of her."
Morgan led the field with eight birdies over her 54 holes, and she posted the best scoring average on the par 4s (4.24) and was second in scoring average (4.67) on the par 5s.
"She played very mature golf," Williams said. "She hits it well and she hits a lot of greens, plays steady golf, and she makes putts when she needs to. The round that she shot today was huge for us and it was nice to watch her move up the leaderboard and get an opportunity to close one out."
Niskanen, who held the 36-hole lead at 5-under, closed with a 7-over 78 and finished third, two shots back at 225. Fennell also closed with a 78 and finished sixth (227).
Niskanen, a senior who finished T4 a week ago at A-Ga-Ming, was second in the field with 35 pars over her 54 holes.
"She played so well (on Monday), just steady all day, and she played tough today," Williams said. "She started the day with a lead and it's not easy to be chased like that and I thought she played really solid golf.
"She should definitely be proud of herself, and I think she's hungry and motivated to go close one of these out for sure. A third-place finish is always really solid. So really good for her."
Fennell, a junior transfer from Illinois State, posted her second consecutive top-10 finish after her seventh-place tie at A-Ga-Ming.
This week, she was second to Morgan in par-4 average (4.27) and tied for third, playing the par 5s in an average of 4.89.
"She just plays solid golf and even when she's not playing her best you can expect a pretty solid performance out of her and I feel like that's what we got this week," Williams said. "She's going to feel like she left some shots out there, but when the team can win and you can finish in that position, it's a good thing."
The Chippewas' Zoe Dull closed with a 9-over 80 to finish at 18-over 231 and in a tie for 14th; Milly Pantepin shot 7-over 78 on Tuesday and finished T17 at 19-over 232; and Lexi Schulman finished T26, closing with an 8-over 79 for a 23-over 236.
The Chippewas will look to continue their torrid start when they go to the Michigan State Mary Fossum Invitational at Forest Akers West next week.
"I don't think we played our best golf this week, but we did a lot of really good things and I'm happy to see that we were able to piece it together and get it across the line," Williams said. "Managing expectations and how they impact you is one of the toughest things to do in golf.
"Coming off a win last week and you go into the final round with a small lead, we knew we had to play good today and we had to play tough and keep the confidence, keep our heads above water, and I thought that they did well with that.
"I'm extremely happy and proud of the girls for just playing tough and keeping confident and playing one shot at a time out there and not getting ahead of themselves. That's what we talk about and they definitely did that."
Mya Morgan, Rachel Niskanen and Elise Fennell posted top-six finishes as the Central Michigan women's golf team captured its second consecutive tournament championship on Tuesday, closing with a 24-over par 308 to win the Rocket Classic at Highland Meadows Golf Course.
The Chippewas finished at 51-over 903, seven shots ahead of runner-up Oakland. CMU opened the season last week with a 21-shot victory at its own A-Ga-Ming Invitational in Kewadin.
And like at A-Ga-Ming, the Chippewas led wire to wire, leading after each of the three rounds.
"It's pretty special to start the season with two wins in a row," CMU coach Ryan Williams said. "I don't think we've been in this position before, and it feels pretty good to be undefeated right now.
"Really proud of the team. They battled hard today it wasn't easy; it was a tricky setup with some tough pin locations and it was windy to start the day in the morning. You're going to get off to a bit of an uneasy start when you're starting in conditions like that, and it can kind of hit the confidence if you let it. We hung in, we played tough, we grinded all the way through the end and that was really good to see."
Morgan, a freshman playing in just her second collegiate event, closed with a 2-over 73, tying for the second-best score of the day in the 42-player field. She finished at 10-over 223, moving from 10th place at the start of the round and into a tie for first with Ohio State freshman Amalie Tauer, who was playing as an individual.
Tauer birdied the first playoff hole, the 352-yard par-4 10th, to claim medalist honors.
"She battled," Williams said of Morgan, who finished sixth last week at A-Ga-Ming. "Really proud of her. I think it's really good for her to be in that position and to get used to being competitive at the top of leaderboards, for sure.
"She has the game to do that often, and hopefully she takes a little bit of confidence away from this and then also a little bit of hunger to keep chasing those wins. And I think that that's what you'll see out of her."
Morgan led the field with eight birdies over her 54 holes, and she posted the best scoring average on the par 4s (4.24) and was second in scoring average (4.67) on the par 5s.
"She played very mature golf," Williams said. "She hits it well and she hits a lot of greens, plays steady golf, and she makes putts when she needs to. The round that she shot today was huge for us and it was nice to watch her move up the leaderboard and get an opportunity to close one out."
Niskanen, who held the 36-hole lead at 5-under, closed with a 7-over 78 and finished third, two shots back at 225. Fennell also closed with a 78 and finished sixth (227).
Niskanen, a senior who finished T4 a week ago at A-Ga-Ming, was second in the field with 35 pars over her 54 holes.
"She played so well (on Monday), just steady all day, and she played tough today," Williams said. "She started the day with a lead and it's not easy to be chased like that and I thought she played really solid golf.
"She should definitely be proud of herself, and I think she's hungry and motivated to go close one of these out for sure. A third-place finish is always really solid. So really good for her."
Fennell, a junior transfer from Illinois State, posted her second consecutive top-10 finish after her seventh-place tie at A-Ga-Ming.
This week, she was second to Morgan in par-4 average (4.27) and tied for third, playing the par 5s in an average of 4.89.
"She just plays solid golf and even when she's not playing her best you can expect a pretty solid performance out of her and I feel like that's what we got this week," Williams said. "She's going to feel like she left some shots out there, but when the team can win and you can finish in that position, it's a good thing."
The Chippewas' Zoe Dull closed with a 9-over 80 to finish at 18-over 231 and in a tie for 14th; Milly Pantepin shot 7-over 78 on Tuesday and finished T17 at 19-over 232; and Lexi Schulman finished T26, closing with an 8-over 79 for a 23-over 236.
The Chippewas will look to continue their torrid start when they go to the Michigan State Mary Fossum Invitational at Forest Akers West next week.
"I don't think we played our best golf this week, but we did a lot of really good things and I'm happy to see that we were able to piece it together and get it across the line," Williams said. "Managing expectations and how they impact you is one of the toughest things to do in golf.
"Coming off a win last week and you go into the final round with a small lead, we knew we had to play good today and we had to play tough and keep the confidence, keep our heads above water, and I thought that they did well with that.
"I'm extremely happy and proud of the girls for just playing tough and keeping confident and playing one shot at a time out there and not getting ahead of themselves. That's what we talk about and they definitely did that."
Players Mentioned
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