March 1, 2015 OXFORD, Miss. - The Navy rifle team concluded competition at the 2015 GARC Championships with a 2,340-point effort in the air rifle shoot on Sunday at Ole Miss' Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center. Starting the day standing ninth of nine teams, the Mids fought back on Sunday and rallied for a sixth-place ranking in the overall team standings with 4,610 total points. Dan Jonas (So., Allentown, N.J.) led Navy for the second straight day with a 588-point effort that tied his career-best mark.
"This was real fight today. The fifth through eighth positions were separated by just five points," remarked head coach Bill Kelley. "The competition was really tight and I'm pleased with the results that we posted. Our score was really good and just one behind Memphis for fourth-best on the day. After a rough Saturday, our counters stepped up and responded with a gritty performance today."
Jonas highlighted Navy's strong effort on Sunday with a 588 score. The sophomore connected for scores of 98 or better in five of his six frames. A 96 in the fifth set was the only outlier on his extremely consistent day. Amongst a field of 74 total shooters, Jonas tied for 18th overall.
Alex Berry (Sr., Greensboro, N.C.) and Zach Gibson (Jr., Montrose, Colo.) provided strong backup for Jonas on Sunday with identical scores of 586. The duo finished tied for 23rd in the overall field.
Jodi Cull-Host (Jr., Los Alamos, N.M.) was Navy's final counter in the championship. The third-year shooter recorded a 580-point effort to rank 43rd.
On the strength of a new NCAA record of 2,386 points in air rifle, the West Virginia Mountaineers secured the team GARC title. West Virginia's effort on Sunday helped the nation's top-ranked team to pull away from Kentucky in the final standings by a 38-point margin, 4,709 to 4,671. Both teams were tied atop the standings after smallbore on Saturday at 2,323.
In their rise from ninth place to sixth, the Midshipmen jumped North Carolina State (9th-4,584), Akron (8th-4,608) and Army (7th-4,609). Navy fell just four points shy of surpassing Ole Miss (4,613) for fifth place.
"This is a conference that tests you every weekend during the regular season and then to come out in the championships and be in the running is quite the accomplishment," exclaimed Kelley.
The team portion of Navy's season is now complete. Dan Jonas' campaign will continue two weeks longer as he will shoot at the NCAA Championships in the smallbore competition as an individual qualifier. Jonas will shoot at the University of Alaska Fairbanks on Friday, March 13.
Final Team Standings
1. West Virginia - 4,709
2. Kentucky - 4,671
3. Nebraska - 4,664
4. Memphis - 4,649
5. Ole Miss - 4,613
6. Navy - 4,610
7. Army - 4,609
8. Akron - 4,608
9. North Carolina State - 4,584
