MEMPHIS, Tenn. – No. 7 Navy fired a season-high smallbore score during the first day of the Great American Rifle Conference Championship to sit in third place overall in the nine-team field. The Midshipmen racked up 2,318 points in smallbore to sit just eight points behind first place and No. 1-ranked Kentucky.
 
Navy's 2,318 bested their previous season-high of 2,317, which it set on Jan. 17 at home against Nebraska.
 
"It was a good day. We shot our highest team score of the season in smallbore," head coach Mike Anti said after the first day of competition. "Michael Zanti led the team with a 582 and was followed closely by Kestrel Kuhne, Mark Amdahl and Torrance Kang, all of whom shot solid scores. We look forward to the air rifle event tomorrow."
 
Michael Zanti (So., Norfolk, Va.) shot a team-best 582 for the Midshipmen and he just missed a top-10 finish and placed 11th in the 66-person field. Navy also counted a pair of 579s with Mark Amdahl (So., Albuquerque, N.M.) and Kestrel Kuhne (So., Everett, Pa.) both just missing the 580 mark and finished tied for 21st.
 
The final counting score for Navy came from Torrance Kang (Jr., Columbia) who shot a 578 to place 28th in the field. The Midshipmen also had Gabriella Mayes (So., Rio Rancho, N.M.), Lucas Figi (Sr., Bozeman, Mont.) and Luke Knollinger (Jr., Valley Grove, W. Va.) compete in smallbore. Mayes was Navy's final starter and posted a 568 with Figi and Knollinger shooting as non-starters in the event with scores of 573 and 563, respectively. 
 
Emily Cheramie of Nebraska won the smallbore title after placing seventh in the relays and then posting a finals total of 460.2. Kentucky's Mary Tucker shot a 591 to lead all individuals in the relays and then finished second in final with a score of 454.3.
 
Kentucky leads the championship after the first day of competition with a score of 2,326 and No. 3 West Virginia sits in second with a 2,323. Following third-place Navy is No. 5 Akron in fourth with 2,315 points while No. 4 Nebraska rounds out the top five with 2,313 points. 
 
The air rifle portion of the competition is set for 9 a.m. on Saturday morning from Memphis, Tenn.