ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy rifle team (2-1) opened up the 2023-24 season by topping the 4,700-plateau at the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range in Annapolis, Md. Behind top-five performances by freshman Isabella Baldwin and junior Marleigh Duncan, the Midshipmen tallied 4,702 points. The Mids fell to TCU (3-0) who compiled 4,738 points, while besting VMI's men's (1-2) and women's (0-3) teams, who notched 4,509 and 4,360, respectively.
 
"I feel we had a great match to start the season," head coach Mike Anti stated. "This is our highest score we have ever shot for a season opener. It is always great to break that 4,700 barrier, but this year we are going to have to look past the 4,700 mark to be competitive against the top schools.
 
"I was really pleased with our team's smallbore score – a 2,338 is outstanding. Our air rifle score was good but we can do much better if we just clean up a few mistakes. We have a couple of weeks before our next match to make those corrections."
 
TCU's Stephanie Allen, who shot a perfect 600 in air rifle, claimed first overall with an 1,189 aggregate score, one point ahead of teammate Katie Zaun's 1,188 (589 SB; 599 AR).
 
Competing in her first collegiate match, Baldwin posted a team-high 1,182 points to finish third overall. Her score was one point better than Duncan, who carded a score of 1,181 to finish fourth place. Baldwin was second in smallbore with a Navy-best tally of 590, while Duncan was fifth with 588 points. In air rifle, Duncan tied for fourth with 593 points, while Baldwin finished just outside the top five with a score of 592.
 
Junior Stephanie Milvain, who was listed as a starter for the Midshipmen in smallbore only, finished just outside of the top five in the event, taking sixth place with a score of 586. Senior Clarissa Layland notched a score of 574, while senior Deonte Hayes posted a score of 567 to round out the Mids' top five starters in the smallbore competition.
 
In air rifle, Layland matched Duncan's performance with a score of 592, while junior Joshua Potts, who was a starter in air rifle only, followed with a score of 587. Hayes registered a score of 581 to close out the starting five in the discipline.
 
Layland finished with 1,166 aggregate points, while Hayes closed out the day with 1,148. Milvain added a 578 in air rifle for 1,164 combined points, while Potts shot a 566 in smallbore to tally 1,153 points aggregate.
 
Freshman Ryan Wee, competing in his first collegiate match was 10th in smallbore with a tally of 578, while adding an air rifle score of 578 for an aggregate score of 1,156. Sophomore Catherine Dely was second among the nonstarters with scores of 567 (SB) and 585 (AR) to close the day with 1,152 total points. Sophomore Devin Uhrich finished with 1,135 points (559 SB, 576 AR), while senior team captain Mark Dely notched scores of 564 (SB) and 560 (AR) to start his final campaign with an 1,124. Sophomores Grace Shepard (545 SB; 574 AR; 1,119 Agg) and Isabelle Zantow (538 SB; 571 AR; 1,109), along with freshman John Dely (535 SB; 543 AR; 1,078 Agg) rounded out the scoring for the Midshipmen.
 
Navy will return to action Saturday, October 14 as it hosts fellow GARC member Akron. The match is set to get underway at 9:00 a.m.