AKRON, Ohio – Freshman Michael Zanti (Norfolk, Va.) qualified for the air rifle final on Saturday and finished in seventh as Navy rifle completed the Great American Rifle Conference Championship in fifth place following the conclusion of the event on Saturday afternoon at the Stile Athletics Field House.
 
In air rifle, Navy finished tied for third with Kentucky after both teams scored 2,354 points. However, Navy's total score of 4,652 over the two days placed the Midshipmen fifth overall in the field.
 
Zanti was the lone shooter for Navy to qualify for the finals in air rifle after he finished with the seventh-best score in the field at 593, which matched his career high he set last week in the NCAA Qualifying Match.
 
In the finals, Zanti fired a 49.2 over his first five shots and was in seventh, then during shots six through 10, the freshman moved into a tie for sixth to push his finals score up to 101.2. With the elimination portion of the finals underway, Zanti staved off elimination during the first two shots and was in seventh with a total of 119.8 points. However, Zanti's conference championship came to a close with a two-shot score of 20.1 over shots 13 and 14, where he posted a total score of 139.9 to finish seventh overall in the final.
 
Torrance Kang (So., Columbia, Md.) continued her strong event with an air rifle score of 591 and finished tied for ninth and just missed the air rifle final. Daniel Enger (So., Walla, Walla, Wash.) just missed the 590 mark as a non-starter after firing a 588 for the Midshipmen and placed tied for 23rd.
 
Navy had a trio of shooters finish tied for 40th after firing 585s on Saturday. Gabriella Mayes (Fr., Rio Rancho, N.M.), Kestrel Kuhne (Jr., Everett, Pa.) and Mark Amdahl (Fr., Albuquerque, N.M.) all finished at 585, with two of those scores counting towards the Midshipmen's team score of 2,354 in air rifle. Josh Watson (Sr., Enterprise, Ala.) was the final Navy competitor in the field and he finished with a 578 and placed 65th.
 
West Virginia had four shooters qualify for the finals after its top four individuals finished in the top six. In the finals, the Mountaineers had all four shooters finish in the top four with Ginny Thrasher winning the air rifle final. 
 
West Virginia captured the 2019 GARC Championship with a score of 4,715 points. The Mountaineers recorded the highest smallbore and air rifle scores over the championship. Nebraska's strong first day paced it to a second-place finish with a total of 4,666 points. Kentucky finished third with a score of 4,655 and host Akron finished fourth with a score of 4,655 – just three points ahead of the Midshipmen.
 
Ole Miss placed sixth and was just behind Navy at 4,648 points, followed by Army with a score of 4,647 points. Rounding the final standings was Memphis (4,643) and North Carolina State (4,622).
 
Navy now shifts its focus to the NCAA Championship on Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9. The national championship is being hosted by West Virginia in the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W. Va.