COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The seventh-ranked Navy rifle team (9-7, 3-4 in the GARC) concluded its 2021-22 season Saturday by posting 2,378 points in the air rifle portion of the 2022 NCAA Championship meet. Overall, the Midshipmen recorded 4,681 points, led by the effort of team captain Michael Zanti (Sr., Norfolk, Va.) who was the top-performing shooter for the Mids with 1,176 points.
 
The 2,378-point air rifle score marked its best tally in the event at the NCAA Championship, along with tying the second-highest air rifle total in program history.
 
The score was the fifth-best mark in the discipline among teams at the national championship meet, the best finish for the Mids in air rifle at the NCAA Championship since finishing second in 2009.  Overall, Navy tallied a score of 4,681 points, a new program record for an aggregate score at the NCAA Championship.

"After a tough day in smallbore yesterday, we came back strong in the air rifle event today," said head coach Mike Anti. "All five of our athletes had a great performances. Marleigh Duncan shot one of her highest scores of the season with a 596. Clarissa Layland and Stephanie Milvain also had an awesome day, exceeding their season averages. It was a very emotional event, with two of our athletes ending their collegiate career at the championships. Michael Zanti and Mark Amdahl have given the team four years of outstanding performances on the range and setting the standard for others to follow. Their performance today was amazing, as both posted a 595. We are defintely going to miss their skill and leadership, but they are leaving this team better than when they joined it four years ago. That is a testament to their commitment and love for the team." 

Marleigh Duncan (Fr., Wake Forest, N.C.) was the top-performing shooter in air rifle for the Midshipmen on Saturday, totaling 596 points. The 596-point mark by Duncan finished tied for the third-highest score in the discipline at the national championship meet, as the newcomer narrowly missed a berth to the air rifle finals. In the aggregate category, Duncan posted the second-highest score for the Mids at 1,172 points.
 
Zanti followed Duncan in the air rifle portion of the championship, posting 595 points en route to his aforementioned overall total of 1,176. Fellow senior standout Mark Amdahl (Albuquerque, N.M.) joined Zanti in posting a 595-point score on Saturday, finishing with an aggregate mark of 1,167.
 
Clarissa Layland (So., Granbury, Texas) added 592 points to Navy's air rifle total, in addition to posting an overall mark of 1,166 points, while Stephanie Milvain (Fr., Matthews, N.C.) recorded a 588-point score to round out the starting five for the Mids, compiling 1,159 points overall.

Kentucky claimed its second-consecutive national title, finishing three points ahead of second-place TCU with 4,739 points. The Wildcats' Mary Tucker garnered recognition as the top-individual performer of the competition with 1,191 points. 
 
Navy finishes its 2021-22 season having broken the team scoring record in all three categories, including new program-best totals of 2,346 in smallbore, 2,382 in air rifle and 4,719 in aggregate. Additionally, the Midshipmen cracked the 4,700-point plateau for the first time in program history, hitting the mark three times this season.
 
Among the individual rankings of the program record book, Duncan set a new scoring record for an individual in smallbore at 592 points and was crowned the GARC smallbore champion. The newcomer hit the mark twice this season, first in the Mids' Star Match victory over Army, before tallying 592 points at the GARC Championship meet.

In the air rifle discipline, Amdahl, Duncan and Zanti each posted a score of 599 points, a new individual scoring record for the discipline that was just one-point shy of a perfect score.
 
Zanti tallied the first 599-point mark of the season for the Mids against Memphis, prior to Amdahl accomplishing the feat against Kentucky. Duncan added the final 599 of the season for Navy in a highly-contested match against West Virginia.
 
In the overall scoring category, Duncan bested the previous high score of 1,187 by a single point, tallying a 1,188-point mark in the Star Match against Army that led the Mids to their third victory over the Black Knights in the last three seasons.
 
For their efforts in leading Navy to its record-breaking campaign, Amdahl, Layland and Zanti garnered All-GARC recognition, while Anti was named the GARC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.