YPSILANTI, Mich. – SCAD Savannah (Ga.) edged Dalton State (Ga.) on the final day of the 31st-Annual NAIA Women’s Golf National Championship, claiming the second Red Banner in program history — and first since 2018 — as the Bees captured the 2026 NAIA Women’s Golf National Championship by one stroke at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti, Mich.
SCAD Savannah had to vault both Dalton State and British Columbia to win the title, coming into the final day two back and in third place. The Bees were balanced, making eight birdies and an eagle as a team, led by Yunyi Luo, who finished third individually with a 2-over par 74. Jiahui Shan matched Luo’s final-round 74, and Jiayin Wang shot 75 to help the Bees secure the Red Banner. Luo finished third, individually, Wang fifth, and Shan seventh.
The Bees shot 919 as a team (310-301-308), followed by Dalton State’s 920 (301-307-312), and Keiser (Fla.) third at 922 (310-309-303). The Seahawks’ final-round 303 was Friday’s best team score.
Texas Wesleyan’s Makena Junkin claimed individual medalist honors, starting the day under par through her first five holes and finishing the championship 4-over par to edge Dalton State’s Jia Kataria by one stroke.
The final round started with defending national champion UBC and top-ranked Dalton State knotted atop the team standings, two shots in front of SCAD Savannah. All three teams led during Friday’s final round, and four more teams – Cumberlands (Ky.), Keiser (Fla.), Indiana Wesleyan and SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) – stayed within 10 shots of that grouping until the final three holes of the championship, creating final team standings that separated the top eight teams by only 18 strokes.
Dalton State’s lead grew to as many as four strokes during the day, but SCAD Savannah stayed steady and the Roadrunners made four double bogeys as a team over the final three holes.
On the individual leaderboard, Junkin started the day with the lead and extended it, making a pair of birdies in her first five holes, but she would have to watch the leaderboard after a bogey at No. 6 and two more on the back nine. Kataria and Luo and closed in and both pulled even, Luo through 15 holes and Kataria through 12 for the day. Luo suffered a double bogey on the final hole to drop to 6-over, and with Junkin in the clubhouse, Kataria had a chance to secure a title.
Kataria made two front-nine birdies without a bogey to shoot 34, and on the back nine, she surrounded a bogey at the 11th with birdies at No. 10 and No. 13. But a double bogey at the 18th, a hole that had given Kataria trouble all week, put Junkin back in front, marking the first individual national champion in Texas Wesleyan women’s golf history.
Junkin was also steady throughout the championship, winning with only four birdies on the week, two in the final round. She made 42 pars in the 54-hole tournament, including four straight to secure a national championship onFriday.
| Pos. | Student-Athlete | School | Score |
| 1 | Makena Junkin | Texas Wesleyan | 74-74-73–220 |
| 2 | Jia Kataria | Dalton State (Ga.) | 74-76-71–221 |
| 3 | Yunyi Luo | SCAD Savannah (Ga.) | 75-73-74–222 |
| 4 | Holly Lau | SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) | 76-72-77–225 |
| T-5 | Herry Ji | Keiser (Fla.) | 77-73-76–226 |
| Jiayin Wang | SCAD Savannah (Ga.) | 76-75-75–226 | |
| 7 | Jiahui Shan | SCAD Savannah (Ga.) | 78-75-74–227 |
| 8 | Renee Crooks | Pikeville (Ky.) | 75-74-79–228 |
| T-9 | Cindy Koira | Victoria (B.C.) | 77-74-78–229 |
| Linda Stamm | Keiser (Fla.) | 80-77-72–229 | |
| T-11 | Sara Burger | Dalton State (Ga.) | 75-73-82–230 |
| Claire Dubois | Indiana Wesleyan | 76-76-78–230 | |
| Atchariya Thanaudomkul | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 78-77-75–230 | |
| Kylee Purdy | Indiana Wesleyan | 79-77-74–230 | |
| T-15 | Sadaly Campbell | Southeastern (Fla.) | 75-75-81–231 |
| Jasmine Points | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 79-74-78–231 | |
| Sophia Sindersberger | Keiser (Fla.) | 75-80-76–231 |
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