WEST POINT, N.Y. - The No. 13 Navy rifle team had a strong showing in the annual President's Trophy Match on Saturday at West Point's Tronsrue Marksmanship Center. In a matchup versus two other top-15 squads, the Mids finished third overall with a five-counter score of 5,781. The No. 6 team from Air Force won and retained the President's Trophy with a score of 5,839, while No. 15 Army totaled 5,815 points to finish second. The Coast Guard Academy was fourth at 5,575.

Zach Gibson (Sr., Montrose, Colo.) led a Midshipmen side that increased its aggregate team total by 20 points from the 2014 event. Gibson was the top scorer for Navy on Saturday with a 574 in smallbore and a career-high 592 in air rifle for a 1,166 aggregate total.

"Overall today was a very good day for us," remarked head coach Bill Kelley. "Now, while our third place result in the match isn't what we wanted, I was very encouraged with the steps the team made in their level of performance. Zach [Gibson] was outstanding today and led the team, while Josh Watson, a plebe was strong in both guns in his first-ever President's Trophy match. We went head-to-head versus two very good teams in Air Force and Army, but still a third-place finish is disappointing at the end of the day."

Using an eight-shooter, five-counter lineup, the Mids scored 2,849 points in smallbore with Watson (Fr., Enterprise, Ala.) posting a team- and career-high 580 result. Dan Jonas (Jr., Allentown, N.J.) and Gibson gave Navy two more shooters in the top-10 with scores of 575 and 574, respectively. The final two counters for the Mids were sophomores Erika Hoffman (Stuttgart, Germany) and Thomas Sarant (Massapequa, N.Y.), who each notched 560 scores.

Army won the smallbore portion of the team event at 2,895, while Air Force was second at 2,881.

In the second half of the match, air rifle, Navy once again placed three of its shooters in the top-10 as Gibson was fourth overall with a 592-point effort. Jodi Cull-Host (Sr., Los Alamos, N.M.) and Jonas tied for seventh-place with identical scores of 589. Watson and Hoffman rounded out the Mids' counting lineup with scores of 583 and 579.

Air Force was tops in team air rifle with 2,958 points, 26 clear of Navy's 2,932. Army was third at 2,920.

For the purposes of the NCAA's four-counter scoring, the final results were as follows, Air Force with 4,679 points, Army with a 4,655-point total, Navy with 4,642 points and Coast Guard with a 4,495. Both the totals for the Midshipmen and Black Knights were season-highs. Navy's previous best in 2015 was a 4,627-point total.

"In terms of NCAA scoring, I'm extremely pleased that we posted a season-high score," said Kelley. "We're definitely heading in the right direction and I look forward to our final two matches before the holiday break."

Navy will be back in action next Saturday on the road at the University of Memphis. The action between the Mids and Tigers is set for 9:00 a.m.