COLUMBUS, Ohio – Michael Zanti (Jr., Norfolk, Va.) finished the 2020-21 season for the Navy rifle team with a 36th-place finish at the NCAA Smallbore Championship on Friday at Converse Hall in Columbus, Ohio. Zanti finished the day with 575 points in the event, which was 14th overall during the morning relay.
 
With the 575 on Friday, Zanti finishes the season with an average of 580.6, which ranks third in program history during the 60/60 era.
 
Zanti got off to a strong start in the event with an opening 10-shot kneeling segment of 99 points. Following a 95 in his second kneeling segment, the junior rattled off back-to-back perfect 100-point prone segments to continue his strong start to the championship. In his final two segments, both in the standing position, Zanti posted an 87 and then closed out the championship with a 94 to cap off his 575 in the smallbore national championship.
 
"I am really proud of Mike's performance today," head coach Mike Anti said following the competition. "I know he is not happy with it but he had a really strong kneeling and shot a perfect 200 in prone. Unfortunately, standing did not come together for him today. He finished strong in that position, which is important, and showed he never gave up. This experience will make him a much stronger competitor next season."
 
During the morning relay with Zanti, Nebraska's Emily Cheramie led the way with a 589 and she finished sixth overall following the two relays. Mary Tucker of Kentucky led all shooters in the field with a 594 and TCU's Liz Marsh was second with a 591. The trio of Kyle Kutz of Army, Stephanie Grundsøe of TCU and Jared Eddy of West Virginia rounded out the top five after each finished with a score of 590. The final two individuals to qualify for the eight-person final included Leah Horvath of Ole Miss (588) and Alaska's Rylan Kissell (587).
 
In the final, Tucker capped off her strong day and won the individual national title in smallbore with a total score of 463.3 over 45 shots. Grundsøe finished in second and Horvath placed third.
 
In the team standings, Kentucky led the field with a score of 2,352 points followed by TCU and Ole Miss with scores of 2,342 and 2,337, respectively.