PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Navy rifle team began the second half of its 2015-16 schedule with a 4,601-4,079 victory over the University of the Sciences on Saturday. Shooting at the Colonel Shea Rifle Range, the Mids won wire-to-wire by compiling a 2,277 result in smallbore before coming back in the air rifle portion of the event with 2,324 score. Junior Dan Jonas (Allentown, N.J.) was the meet's top performer with a 1,160 aggregate total courtesy of 578 in smallbore and 582 in air rifle.

"Today wasn't the worst and it wasn't the best," remarked head coach Bill Kelley. "We showed a lot of rust coming back from break. This is the earliest we've shot in terms of time on the range after the break and it showed that we only had four days of work.

"Individually, Jodi Cull-Host had an outstanding result in air rifle with a 592. That's a great number and definitely an All-American caliber performance. Dan was pretty solid today, as well with a 578 in smallbore, but what was really impressive with him was his sling scores. The potential is there with Dan to put together a really great smallbore score if all three positions are on the same page. I'm very optimistic about his potential in the second half of the year for us.

Jonas' match-high score in smallbore was built on the strength of a perfect 200-point shoot in the prone position. Zach Gibson (Sr., Montrose, Colo.) was the second-highest scoring Mid with a 569 result. Jodi Cull-Host (Sr., Los Alamos, N.M.) and Thomas Sarant (So., Massapequa, N.Y.) rounded out Navy's counting lineup with identical 565 outcomes.

In the air rifle competition, Cull-Host finished with top honors as the senior posted a 592 score. Saturday's performance was the second 590-plus result that Cull-Host had shot this season, behind only her 593 at Memphis on Nov. 14. Jonas was the second-best Navy shooter as he notched a 582. Following Gibson's 580 score, Brandon Pippin (Jr., Nashville, Tenn.) and Sarant tied for the fourth counting score with respective 570-point marks.

The Mids will get back to Great American Rifle Conference action next Saturday with a home matchup versus the first-ranked Mountaineers of West Virginia. The contest is slated to begin at 8 a.m. at the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range.