ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy rifle team (10-5) is set to travel to the NCAA National Championships on Friday and Saturday this week in Morgantown, West Virginia. Smallbore competition will take place on Friday starting at 9:45 a.m., followed by air rifle on Saturday at 10 a.m. Each discipline will have two relays, followed by individual finals to determine individual national champions. Both days of competition will take place inside the WVU Coliseum.
 
The Midshipmen are set to make their 27th appearance in the NCAA Championships, which is the fourth-most all-time in NCAA history. Only host West Virginia (36), Alaska (33) and Murray State (33) have more appearances in the national championship and each of the three are set to join Navy at the 2019 NCAA Championships.
 
Navy is slated to have two individuals return to the national championship for the second-straight season as Kestrel Kuhne and Torrance Kang qualified as individuals last season. Kuhne placed 29th in smallbore while Kang posted a 30th-place finish in air rifle last year. Joining Kuhne and Kang at the 2019 NCAA Championships for Navy is senior captain Josh Watson, Daniel Enger and Michael Zanti -- all who are making their first appearances at the national championship.
 
Coming into the weekend, the Midshipmen finished fifth overall at the GARC Championships with an aggregate total of 4,652 points. The conference championship carried a similar format to the NCAA Championships with the two disciplines contested on different days, but the GARC Championship featured three relays, while the NCAA Championship will have two relays. Both events also feature final rounds to crown individual champions.
 
Navy qualified sixth overall into the national championship field with a qualification total of 9,344.7. The Midshipmen averaged 4,674.7 points at its three highest events at three different locations, while shooting a 4,670 against John Jay in their NCAA Qualifying Match in February. Navy's three counting scores included a 4,680 against Army in a Star Match victory in West Point, N.Y., along with a home score of 4,676 against North Carolina State and Akron. The final score toward Navy's qualification came at Ole Miss with a score of 4,668 points.
 
Kuhne has led Navy this season with an aggregate average of 1,166.2 points and she has the best season average in both disciplines with a 576.5 in smallbore and 589.7 in air rifle. Kuhne was also selected to the All-GARC Air Rifle Second Team and was an honorable mention honoree by the league in combined.
 
Zanti has produced a strong freshman campaign with an average of 588.5 in air rifle, to go along with a 1,164.5 in combined scoring -- both are second-best on the team. Zanti also qualified for the individual final in air rifle at the GARC Championship and finished seventh overall.
 
On the season, Navy has four shooters averaging at least 1,160 points this season with Kang (1,163.4) and Enger (1,161.8) joining Kuhne and Zanti with that mark.
 
This is going to be the Midshipmen's first national championship appearance since 2011 when they finished seventh overall. Navy has recorded a pair of second-place finishes in its first 26 appearances after finishing as the national runner-up in 1990 and 1999.
 
Joining Navy at the national championship this season is: TCU, defending national champion Kentucky, Air Force, West Virginia, Murray State, Army and Alaska Fairbanks.
 
Smallbore individual qualifiers include Brandon Bryer of Morehead State, Levi Clark of Memphis, Andre Gross of Akron and Mitchell Van Patten of Nevada. The individual qualifiers for air rifle are Rosemary Kramer of Georgia Southern, Alec Patajo of Nevada, Alexa Potts of Morehead State and Hanna Virga of Nebraska.
 
The 2019 NCAA National Championships begin on Friday morning at 9:45 a.m. with smallbore competition, followed by air rifle at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The championship is being held inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W. Va.