ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The annual President's Trophy Match returns to Annapolis this weekend as the Navy rifle team (3-2) hosts service academy counterparts Air Force (2-5), Army (0-4), and Coast Guard on Saturday morning at the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range. Competition on Saturday morning begins at 9:00 a.m. from the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range. Live results will be available.
 
The President's Trophy Match features eight starters for both teams and the five highest scores among the starters count toward the team score for the President's Trophy. Navy's last victory in this event came in 2008 when it bested the three other service academies in Colorado Springs, Colo.
 
About the President's Trophy
The first President's Trophy Match was contested in 1998 against Air Force, Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and U.S. Merchant Marine. In 1998, Army was the host site for the inaugural event, as Navy won its first of seven titles with a score of 7,601. The Black Knights were the runner up, followed by the Falcons with scores of 7,384 and 7,535, respectively, using the 120/40 shot scoring system. Prior to 2003, scoring for the match was based on the 120/40 shot scoring system for both smallbore and air rifle. The new system was implemented in 2004 with a 60/60 shot system for both rifles. Scores identified are based on the five-counter method. In the 24-year history of the President's Trophy Match, Air Force has won nine titles, including the last eight. Army has won the title eight times, while Navy has seven titles. The match is held annually in November, and is rotated between the three academies.
 
Last Time: at President's Trophy (Nov. 6, 2021)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The ninth-ranked Navy rifle team finished second overall at the President's Trophy Match with a total of 5,850 points, marking its highest score in the competition in program history.  Additionally, the Midshipmen shot an NCAA four-count score of 4,689 points, a new program record for overall scoring.
 
Scoring for the overall President's Trophy Match features eight starters at most for each team in smallbore and air rifle with the top five scores counting toward each team's final score. The NCAA scoring of starting five shooters in each event with the top four scores counting will still be used for NCAA qualification purposes.
 
No. 7 Air Force won its eighth-straight President's Trophy Match after edging the Mids by a narrow margin of 33 points at 5,883 points while 10th-ranked Army finished third with a score of 5,837. Coast Guard also tallied a 2,263-point mark from its two competitors, Berit Bedord and Bryce Sturtz.
 
Michael Zanti ('22) paced Navy with a total score of 1,183, tied for the highest-such mark in the event with Air Force standout Scott Rockett. The senior posted the highest smallbore score in the competition at 589 points in addition to posting a 594-point score in the air rifle discipline. The smallbore mark for Zanti fell just one-point shy of his career-best score in the event, while his 594 points in air rifle marked the sixth time this season that the senior has reached at least 594 points in the discipline.
 
Mark Amdahl ('22) joined Zanti among the top-10 performers in the competition with a 1,173-point overall score on 582 points in smallbore and 591 in air rifle. The senior's smallbore mark proved to be a new season-high score in the event while his overall mark also was a new season high.
 
Marleigh Duncan (Wake Forest, N.C.) turned in a stellar performance in the first President's Trophy match of her career, posting an overall mark of 1,166 points along with scores of 576 in smallbore and 590 in air rifle. The 576 points in smallbore fell just one-point shy of tying her career-high score in the discipline while her 590 points in air rifle matched her career-best score in the event.
 
Clarissa Layland (Granbury, Texas) shot a 1,162-point overall mark, highlighted by a 587-point score in air rifle while McKenzie Shedd (Burke, Va.) finished with an overall score of 1,155 points on a score of 563 in smallbore and a 592-point mark in in air rifle. Brianna Feerick ('22) posted an aggregate score of 1,158, falling just three points shy of her career-best overall mark, on 574 points in smallbore and 584 in air rifle. Rounding out the Midshipmen participants in the President's Trophy Match was Joshua Potts (Ephrata, Pa.) who scored 1,140 points on scores of 565 in smallbore and 575 in air rifle.
 
Last Time Out: at Kentucky (Oct. 29, 2022)
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Navy rifle team dropped a Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) match, 4,742-4,690, to Kentucky inside Barker Hall and the UK Rifle Range. Three Midshipmen posted scores of more than 1,170 as the team notched its second-best performance of the season.
 
As a team, Navy fell six points shy of tying its season high aggregate score of 4,696, which was set at home against Memphis on October 2. The Midshipmen tallied a season-best score of 2,325 in the smallbore competition, while combining for an air rifle score of 2,365.
 
Parker Haydin (Joshua, Texas) led the with an aggregate score of 1,177. The freshman posted a smallbore score of 582, while notching a season-best score of 595 in air rifle. Marleigh Duncan (Wake Forest, N.C.) followed with a combined tally of 1,174. She posted a score of 584 in smallbore, while notching a score of 590 in air rifle. Stephanie Milvain (Matthews, N.C.) scored just four points shy of her career-best finish with 1,172. The sophomore was balanced with season-best performances in both smallbore and air rifle, scoring 586 points in both disciplines.
 
Joshua Potts (Ephrata, Pa.) started in both disciplines, recording an aggregate score of 1,154 with a 573 in smallbore and a 581 in air rifle. Clarissa Layland (Granbury, Texas) was a designated starter in air rifle, finishing one point shy of her season-best performance in the discipline. The junior posted a score of 594 in the air rifle, while notching a score of 563 in smallbore for an aggregate score of 1,157. Rounding out the scoring for Navy was Devin Uhrich (Camp Hill, Pa.). The freshman started in smallbore for the Midshipmen, posting a score of 568 points. Uhrich added a score of 578 in air rifle for a combined score of 1,146.
 
In addition, Catherine Dely (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Mason MacKenzie (Henderson, Md.) both took to the range on the day. Dely posted an aggregate score of 1,146 with a smallbore tally of 561 and an air rifle score of 585, while MacKenzie finished the day with a score of 1,145 with a smallbore result of 576 and an air rifle mark of 569.
 
Up Next
Navy continues the season with a pair of matches next weekend in Charleston, S.C. The Midshipmen square off against GARC opponent NC State on Saturday, Nov. 12 at the Inouye Marksmanship Center on the campus of the Citadel. The Mids close out the weekend with a match against the Citadel on Sunday at the Inouye Marksmanship Center. Both matches are slated to start at 9:00 a.m.