WEST POINT, N.Y. – At the President's Trophy Match featuring all four service academies, the No. 7 Navy rifle team (7-4) placed third overall after compiling a five-count score of 5,815 points. The Midshipmen tried to rally for second place following a 2,948 in air rifle but No. 5 Army (3-2) edged out Navy for second place with a total score of 5,817 points and No. 4 Air Force (6-1) won its sixth-straight President's Trophy Match with a total score of 5,845 and No. 20 Coast Guard (2-3) rounded out the competition with 5,675 points.
In NCAA scoring where each team starts five shooters and counts four, the Midshipmen had a total score of 4,664 points, which was five points behind Army and Air Force finished with a total of 4,682 points while the Bears totaled 4,567 points in NCAA scoring.
"I was very proud of our team today," head coach
Mike Anti said. "It seemed everyone was really struggling in smallbore trying to put a score together. But then in air rifle, we had a very good performance. In air, we shot our highest score of the season and set a program record. We just need to get more consistent in smallbore to really put together a great final score."
Navy set a new program record of highest air rifle score after the Midshipmen racked up 2,364 points in the discipline, which was the best among the four teams. Leading the Midshipmen in air rifle was
Michael Zanti (So., Norfolk, Va.) with a total of 594, which set a new career-best and was the second-best score in the field. The 594 from Zanti also ranks fifth all-time in program history and was just one-point shy of tying the program record.
Gabriella Mayes (So., Rio Rancho, N.M.) was just behind in air rifle with a 60-shot total of 593 – one-point shy of her career-high and tied her season-best she set last weekend.
Following the Midshipmen's sophomore duo in air rifle, was
Torrance Kang (Jr., Columbia, Md.) with a 589 and
Mark Amdahl (So., Albuquerque, N.M.) fired a 588 to round out Navy's four-count, record-breaking score. Navy's final score toward the President's Trophy total came from
Laurel Kuhne (So., Everett, Pa.) after her 584 in the event.
The Midshipmen struggled in smallbore after totaling a four-count score of 2,300 points, which was the second-lowest score Navy compiled in the discipline this season. The Midshipmen failed to post a 580 in the event as Mayes led the team with a 579 and Zanti posted a 576 for the top-two scores for Navy in smallbore. The final two scores the Midshipmen counted to their four-count score came from Kang and Amdahl at 574 and 571, respectively. As a non-starter in NCAA scoring,
Brianna Feerick (So., Pembroke, Mass.) notched Navy's final counting scoring for the President's Trophy Match following a 567 in smallbore.
Mayes finished fifth overall in the field in aggregate scoring with a total of 1,172 points, which was one-point away from matching her career-high she set last weekend in South Carolina. Zanti and Kang recorded aggregate scores within the top 10 to help the Midshipmen place third with scores of 1,170 and 1,163, respectively.
Air Force's Peter Fiori led the field with a total of 1,180, which was guided by a field-best of 589 in smallbore. Clayton Hanson of Army was second overall at 1,177 and Logan Ogden from Air Force was third with a total 1,176 and he led the field with a 595 in air rifle.
Navy is back on the road in two weeks for a GARC contest against Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.
