PARIS, Ky. -- Christopher Newport sophomore Sara McCaskill stayed hot on the course for women's golf as a historic second round performance helped lift CNU to the team championship finish at the 2026 Transylvania Women's Fall Classic. McCaskill shaved three strokes off a personal low scoring record after setting the mark in the season opening tournament a week ago and finished the second round with a one-under 71 to capture third place on the individual leaderboard. 

The Captains secured the 11th team title in program history and the first win in a Fall tournament since the Alvernia Fall Invitational on October 15-16, 2024. CNU finished with a 619 (307-312) for a 43-over par finish and edged out second place Rose-Hulman by one stroke. A congested leaderboard also featured Denison (+46) and Piedmont (+46) tied for third just three strokes behind the Captains' winning score. 

McCaskill proved to be the difference as she fired one of only three rounds under par in the 36-hole tournament and became just the seventh player in program history to record a round under par in her career. The one-under performance on the Par 72 track included four birdies and 11 pars in a dominant overall performance. It is tied for the fourth finest single-round performance in CNU Women's Golf history relative to par and tied for the fourth best single round score overall. 

The CNU sophomore trailed only medalist Lauren Paige Slatton (-4) from Rose-Hulman and Sasha Belova (E) from Kenyon. McCaskill sprinted up the leaderboard and finished in third place with a five-over 149 (78-71).

Needing every positive result in the second round to capture the team title, the Captains also got strong second-day performances from Maddie Cameron and Taylor Davis. Both players finished day two at seven-over par while rookie Madeleine Smith was 11-over to round out the second-round scoring. 

Cameron birdied the 324-yard par four 14th and Davis added a birdie on the 289-yard par four 16th. Smith finished with a birdie on the first hole, a 405-yard par five. Cameron tied for 9th with a 155 (76-79) and Smith ended the two-day tournament in 17th place with a 159 (76-83). Davis tied for 23rd with a 161 (82-79) while Gabi McGehee rounded out the performance with a 170 (77-93). 

CNU will return to action on September 28-19 as they travel to the Tartan Invitational hosted by Carnegie Mellon University.