ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The quartet of Clarissa Layland (So., Granbury, Texas), Stephanie Milvain (Fr., Matthews, N.C.), McKenzie Shedd (Fr., Burke, Va.) and Michael Zanti (Sr., Norfolk, Va.) will represent the eighth-ranked Navy rifle team (6-6, 2-3 in the GARC) at the USA Shooting Winter Airgun Championships beginning Wednesday at Camp Perry in Port Clinton, Ohio.  

The Midshipmen will take part in the men's and women's air rifle portion of the Winter Airgun Championships that will begin Wednesday and continue through Sunday. Competition is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. each day. Live results will not be provided for the competition. 

The event also serves as a designated match used to qualify athletes for the USA Shooting Team and for the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup slated to be held in the summer of 2022.

Layland is averaging 586.6 points per match in air rifle this season, highlighted by a career-best 592-point mark against Ohio State earlier this season. The sophomore has score 590 or more points in the discipline twice this season en route to totaling 5,279 points in the event through nine matches.

A newcomer to the program in 2021, Milvain has made an immediate impact for the Mids over her four appearances. The freshman posted a career-high 582 points in air rifle against national powerhouse Kentucky earlier this season.

Shedd, also a newcomer to the Navy rifle team this season, has been a mainstay in the starting lineup in addition to being one of the top performers for the Midshipmen. In the air rifle discipline, Shedd has totaled 5,332 points over nine matches including scoring a career-high 596 points against Kentucky. The freshman has totaled at least 590 points nine times along with eclipsing the 595-point landmark twice. 

Zanti has proven to be a consistent presence for Navy in the air rifle competition this season, posting a team-best 595.7 average score in the event. Additionally, the senior tallied a world-class 599-point score against Memphis earlier this season and has eclipsed 595 points five times.

Earlier this fall, Layland, Shedd and Zanti helped the Midshipmen break the program record for best air rifle score with a total of 2,380 points against Kentucky. Zanti posted the fourth-highest air rifle score in the event while Shedd and Layland finished fifth and 10th in the discipline, respectively.

On the season, Navy has averaged 2,370.1 points in air rifle which stands as the seventh-highest such average in the nation this season.

UP NEXT
Following its participation in the USA Shooting Winter Airgun Championships, Navy is slated to return to action January 15 as it hosts a Junior Olympics Qualifier prior to resuming its 2021-22 season with a match against West Virginia on January 22 in Annapolis.