ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The eighth-ranked Navy rifle team was unable to pull the upset as it dropped a 4681-4672 decision to fourth-ranked Kentucky on Saturday at the
Bancroft Hall Rifle Range.
The Midshipmen (7-3, 3-1 Great American Rifle Conference) suffered their first conference loss of the season as the Wildcats (8-0, 6-0 GARC) edged Navy by four points in smallbore and five points in air rifle.
"We had a very good performance today with a number of solid individual scores," head coach
Mike Anti said. "This was our second highest score of the year and a great way to end the first half of our season. Even though we did not win the match, we competed very well against the defending national champions in Kentucky."
Starting the competition in smallbore, the duo of
Daniel Enger (So. Walla Walla, Wash.) and
Torrance Kang (So., Columbia, Md.) paced the Midshipmen with matching 579s.
Michael Zanti (Fr., Norfolk, Va.) was just behind with a 577 in smallbore, while
Kestrel Kuhne (Jr., Everett, Pa.) rounded out the counting scores for Navy with a 576.
The Midshipmen's 2311 in smallbore was just behind Kentucky with a 2315. Will Shaner guided the Wildcats with a 583 as he was the lone shooter to post a mark over 580 in the field.
In air rifle, Kuhne finished second in the field with a score of 595, which matched her career high set last time out in the President's Trophy Match. Kang followed with a 591 and surpassed the 590 mark for the first time this season.
Mark Amdahl (Fr., Albuquerque, N.M.) was two points shy of 590 mark with a 588 and
Gabriella Mayes (Fr., Rio Rancho, N.M.) followed with the final score towards Navy's 2361 team total with an individual mark of 587.
As a non-starter, Enger posted a 588 in air rifle to finish with an aggregate mark of 1167 to set a new season best.
Kuhne finished second in the field with a combined score of 1171 and Kang was just behind with an 1170. The Navy duo was behind only Shaner who led the field in both disciplines following a 597 in air rifle. Shaner also finished with an 1180 in aggregate scoring.
Navy concludes its 2018 slate and returns to competition on January 18 on the road against Nebraska. The Midshipmen are at home just once more as they will host John Jay in the NCAA Qualifier on February 16.
