Nov. 2, 2008

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Navy rifle team opened a tight lead after the smallbore discipline then poured it on in the air rifle discipline to claim the 2008 President's Trophy with an overall score of 5754, outdistancing second-place Army (5704) by 50 points. Coast Guard was third with a 5688 and Air Force was fourth with a 5421.

The title is Navy's first in the event since the 2004 campaign.

"Obviously, we are very pleased to win the title. It has been a long time coming," said Navy head coach Bill Kelley. "We had a good day. The smallbore scores were a little lower than normal, but we dominated in the air rifle discipline. I was pleased with our effort."

The Mids took a two-point lead over the Black Knights after the smallbore discipline, 2833-2831. Chris Burleson and Liz Leckie each scored a 571 for Navy. Lisa Kunzelman totaled a 568, Alex Karacsonyi scored a 566 and Allison Paulson rounded out Navy's scoring with a 557.

Navy then dominated the air rifle discipline, outpointing Army by 48 points, 2921-2873, to easily cruise to the team title. Navy produced the top three scores in the discipline, led by Burleson's score of 589 to earn medalist honors. Kunzelman scored a 588 and Karacsonyi tallied a 587 to cap off the top three spots in the discipline. Lankes scored a 581 and Leckie fired a 576.

The event closed out Navy's fall portion of the schedule and the Mids' next competition will come on Jan. 17, 2009, against Coast Guard.

# GO NAVY #