MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Head coach of the Navy rifle team, Mike Anti, was named to the West Virginia University Athletics Department Mountaineer Legends Society for Olympic Sports.
 
Anti was one of 49 individuals to make the initial entrance into the Mountaineer Legends Society for Olympic Sports. Anti competed on the West Virginia rifle team from 1984 to 1987, where he was an All-American each of his four seasons with the Mountaineers and also won an individual national championship.
 
"I feel very honored to be inducted into the WVU Legends Society," Anti said about the honor. "Being a part of the WVU Rifle Team was an amazing chapter in my athletic career. The team provided me the coaching and experience I needed in order to accomplish my ultimate goal of representing the United States in the Olympic Games. Without WVU that goal would have been much more difficult to achieve."
 
He garnered a total of eight All-American recognitions during his collegiate years and became the second Mountaineer to earn first-team All-American four times in both air rifle and smallbore. During the 1986 season, Anti captured the NCAA smallbore national championship.
 
During his time in Morgantown, he earned four varsity letters and was named team captain in his final collegiate season. Anti helped WVU to a record of 38-2 during his four seasons and a pair of NCAA Team National Championships. Anti graduated from WVU in 1987 with a B.S. in business. In 2004, Anti was inducted into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame. 
 
Anti -- who is set to begin his second season at Navy -- helped the Midshipmen place third at the GARC Championships, which was the highest finish in program history, during his first season in 2017-18. Anti also helped Kestrel Kuhne and Torrance Kang qualify for the NCAA National Championship. Kuhne finished 29th in the smallbore competition and Kang placed 30th in the air rifle.
 
Following a standout collegiate career, Anti joined the United States Army and served for 20 years and retired at the rank of major in 2009. Initially stationed in Korea with the 1/503 IN before being assigned to the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) at Fort Benning, Ga. as an international rifle shooter from 1991 to 1994. While at Fort Benning, Anti received his Airborne Badge and Ranger Tab. In 1994, he was assigned to the 1st CAV DIV at Fort Hood, Texas and his assignment included Bde and Bn S-3 Air, Bradley Company Commander and a Headquarters/Headquarters Company Command (HHC). Anti was reassigned to the USAMU in 1998.
 
While serving with the U.S. Army, Anti was also assigned to the World Class Athlete Program and was given the opportunity to teach and ply his skills on the international level. A four-time Olympian, Anti first appeared at the premier global competition in 1992 in the men's 50-meter prone rifle event. Eight years later in 2000, Anti competed for the United States in the men's three-position event. Anti made his way onto the medal stand in the next Olympics in 2004 at the Athens Games as he earned a silver medal in the men's 3x40 rifle event. He rounded out his Olympic career in 2008 as an athlete in the men's prone event. In addition to his success at the Olympics, Anti is also a two-time World Cup champion, as well as a silver medalist at the 2000 World Cup Finals. He has also competed at the Championships of Americas Games, three World Championship Games and two Pan American Games with a host of team and individual titles to his name.
 
Anti joined the collegiate coaching ranks in August of 2009 as an assistant coach at the Air Force Academy. During his time in Colorado Springs, he helped the Falcons grow into a consistent national and service academy power. Over his eight seasons, Air Force competed in the NCAA Championships in four years and won the President's Trophy Match four times, including his final three years with the program. Air Force qualified for and competed in the NCAA Championship in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The 2016 team finished in fourth place with 4,669 points, the program's highest finish at the national event since 1996. In 2017, Air Force won the President's Trophy Match and competed at the NCAA Championship, where it finished eighth overall.
 
Individually, eight different Air Force student-athletes earned All-American status under Anti's coaching. He closed out his career in Colorado Springs in 2017, with four Falcons garnering national accolades, including a spot on the NRA First Team Air Rifle for Spencer Cap. Another individual highlight for Anti and the Falcons during his time with the program was David Higgins (USAFA '16) earning a spot on the 2016 United States Olympic Team and competing in Rio in the men's prone event.
 
The Mountaineer Legends Society serves as one of three ways the WVU athletic department recognizes its past great student-athletes. The WVU Sports Hall of Fame serves as the first step in recognizing greatness in Mountaineer athletics. A former student-athlete must first be inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame to be considered for the next phase of recognition.
 
After induction into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame, the second step to honor Mountaineer greatness is Legends Society distinction, if the student-athlete meets the criteria for his or her sport. Specific criteria for Legends Society status has been established for all 18 current varsity sports, along with former sports, so that each program can recognize its past great student-athletes.
 
The Mountaineer Legends Society program has replaced the retirement of a jersey honor, which had previously served as the second form of recognition. The ultimate honor for greatness in a Mountaineer uniform is still to have a number retired. Currently, only three numbers in football and two in men's basketball have been retired.
 
The initial class of 49 members joins 41 football legends and 22 men's and women's basketball legends in the Mountaineer Legends Society.
 
Anti was recognized with this distinction this past weekend during WVU's Hall of Fame weekend.