Feb. 7, 2009

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Led by Lisa Kunzelman's (Sr./Constantia, N.Y.) school-record-tying effort in the air rifle, the Navy rifle team defeated Army in the Star Meet, 5782-5776, on Saturday at West Point's Tronsrue Marksmanship Center.

The Midshipmen improved to 15-1 on the year, while the Black Knights fell to 6-6. Navy snapped Army's three-match winning streak in the annual series and improved its all-time record to 19-16 in West Point. Each of Navy's last-three victories over Army, all of which have come at Army, has been decided by six points or less.

Kunzelman racked up 595 points in the air rifle to match the school record held by Matt Albright against Alaska-Fairbanks in 2005. With the help of Kunzelman, Navy outshot its hosts in the event, 2921-2914. Chris Burleson (So./St. Augustine, Fla.) delivered 584 points, followed by Alex Karacsonyi's (Sr./North Haven, Conn.) 583 points, Alison Lankes's (So./Clarence, N.Y.) 581 points and Kenan Wang's (So./St. Augustine, Fla.) 578 points.

In the smallbore discipline, Navy scored 28 points more than its only previous five-person scoring match of the year - the President's Trophy - but was nipped by one point, 2862-2861. Burleson led all shooters in the event with a score of 582 points, tying his season-high performance from the MAC Tournament. Kunzelman placed third with 574 points to give her a solid showing of 1169 points among the two events. Lankes scored 569 points in the smallbore, followed by Wang and Liz Leckie's (Jr./Washington, Pa.) 568 points apiece.

The Midshipmen will close out their regular season next Saturday, Feb. 14, when they host John Jay in the Bancroft Rifle Range at 9 a.m.