CHARLESTON, S.C. - The duo of Kestrel Kuhne (So., Everett, Pa.) and Torrance Kang (Fr., Columbia, Md.) concluded the 2017-18 season for the Navy rifle team this weekend at the 2018 NCAA Rifle Championships. Competing as individuals, Kuhne stepped to the line in the smallbore championship on Friday and posted a score of 577 that ranked 29th overall before Kang tested herself in the air rifle portion of the national event on Saturday. Kang recorded a score of 587 that placed her 30th in the field.

Competing at McAlister Field House on the campus of The Citadel, Kuhne, a first-time participant in the NCAA Championship, got off to a solid start as she shot identical 96's in kneeling before hitting her stride in the prone position and tallied 199 of a possible 200 points. Down the stretch in the standing portion of the three-position competition she shot a 92 and 94 for a grand total of 577 points. She tied with Alaska's Luke Johnson and UT Martin's Joseph Martin with a score of 577, though she took 29th place via tie-breaker. 44 individuals shot in the smallbore competition. Kuhne came into the championship with a 13-match season average of 577.5 points in smallbore.

Kentucky's Henrik Larsen was the top individual from the team smallbore shoot with a score of 592. In the individual finals, West Virginia's Morgan Phillips won with a 459.2-point effort.

"Kestrel really had a good performance on Friday," remarked head coach Mike Anti. "She got off to a decent start in kneeling and then shot great in the prone position with a 199. Standing didn't go as well as she would have liked, but she still had a solid score. She did great on the biggest stage in collegiate shooting."

Following Friday's action, it was Kang's turn to compete in the air rifle championship event. The freshman opened Saturday with an up-and-down first 10 shots for a score of 94. After that initial hiccup, Kang was able to get locked in and dropped just one point out of her next 30 shots for 299 points. She closed out her shoot with back-to-back 97s in the fifth and sixth frames for a total of 587. Kang tied with Memphis' Leighton Dempster, Army's Payne Nunn and Kentucky's Billy Azzinaro for 29th place. Following the tie-breaker, Kang was officially announced in 30th. 44 individuals participated in the air rifle event. Kang's season average over the 13 meets prior to Saturday was a 589.5 for air rifle.

TCU's Mindy Miles and West Virginia's Milica Babic topped the scoreboard in the team air rifle shoot with matching results of 598. Kentucky's Henrik Larsen took the individual crown with a score of 249.4.

"Torrance had a bit of a rough start on her first 10 shots, but had an amazing comeback, dropping only seven points over her next 50 shots," said Anti. "She was able to keep her composure and finish the match with a very respectable score."

After two days of team competition, the University of Kentucky took home the 2018 NCAA Championship with an aggregate score of 4,717. The Wildcats were first in smallbore at 2,345 before coming back with a 2,372 in air rifle to upend the top-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers by nine points. WVU came into the weekend as the five-time defending NCAA Champions.

Both Kentucky and WVU compete with Navy in the Great American Rifle Conference.

Saturday's air rifle match wrapped up the 2017-18 season for the Navy rifle program. In the first year under the direction of Mike Anti, the youthful Mids squad re-wrote the school record books with a blazing 4,683-point score versus North Carolina State before closing the regular season with 4,673 points versus John Jay in the NCAA Qualifying Match. Navy finished 10th overall in the standings for NCAA Championship qualifying, just outside the top-eight cutoff.

"This was a very important weekend for our young athletes," remarked Anti. "This was the biggest match that either Kestrel or Torrance had ever competed in. They will be able to take this positive experience into next season. I expect them to continue to improve and be even stronger competitors for our team next year."