ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy rifle team (4-6) returns to action for the first time in 2024 as the Midshipmen welcome defending national champion Alaska Fairbanks (4-2) to Annapolis for a pair of dual matches at the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 20-21. Both matches are slated to begin at 9:00 a.m. and live results will be available.
 
Accessing the USNA
The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is closed to all vehicles without a Department of Defense-approved identification card. All other visitors are encouraged to park downtown and walk through the security gates at Gate 1. When walking on, those ages 18 and over must present a photo identification card (driver's license) to gain access and those ages 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
 
National Standings
Alaska Fairbanks enters the weekend fourth in the NCAA in the national standings, while Navy currently sits in 13th. The Nanooks are averaging 4729.67 points, which is five points back of Kentucky who sits in third. Despite having a 4700.33 average, the Midshipmen are five spots back of the top 8 to qualify for the 2024 NCAA Championship. Navy is just over 16 points back of the coveted top 8.
 
Family Tradition
The match between Navy and Alaska Fairbanks will pit father against son as the Mids' head coach Mike Anti will square off against his son Will Anti, who is the head coach of the Nanooks.
 
Last season, Alaska Fairbanks won the NCAA National Championship and Navy's Anti was asked to present his son with the first-place trophy.
 
Additionally, Mike's father and Will's grandfather, Ray Anti, led the Midshipmen for 12 years from 1986 through the 1998 season following a distinguished 30-year career with the United States Marine Corps.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
The Midshipmen enter the weekend after a break for the holidays. The last time out, Navy shot a school-record performance, 5856, to finish second against its service academy counterparts at the President's Trophy Match that was held at the Tronsrue Marksmanship Center in West Point, N.Y. on Nov. 4, 2023. Additionally, the Midshipmen shot an NCAA four-count score of 4697 points.
 
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.
 
Air Force won its 10th-straight President's Trophy Match after posting a collective score of 5892 points, finishing ahead of Navy (5856). Match-host Army was third with 5853, while Coast Guard rounded out the team scores with 5118. Navy tallied 4697 points according to the NCAA scoring, while Air Force finished with 4716. Army was third with 4692 and Coast Guard closed out the scoring with 4277 points.
 
Freshman Isabella Baldwin and junior Marleigh Duncan are first or second among the Navy shooters in the fall portion of the season.
 
Baldwin leads the team in smallbore, air rifle and aggregate, with Duncan holding onto second place. Baldwin boasts a smallbore average of 589.3 and an air rifle tally of 592.5. The rookie has a team-high 1181.8 in aggregate scoring.
 
Duncan ranks second on the season in all three shooting categories. The junior holds a 585.2 average in smallbore, while finishing the fall portion of the season with a 591.8 in air rifle. Duncan has an aggregate average of 1177.0 through the first six competition dates of the 2023-24 season.
 
Clarissa Layland is third on the team in air rifle and aggregate scoring. The senior holds a 591.5 mean score in air rifle, while notching a tally of 1166.2 in the combined average. Additionally, Layland is fifth on the squad with a 574.7 average in smallbore scoring.
 
Freshman Ryan Wee has moved into the top five for the Midshipmen in each scoring category. Wee is third in smallbore with a score of 579.5, while ranking fourth on the team in air rifle (585.2) and aggregate (1164.7).
 
Junior Stephanie Milvain is fourth on the team in smallbore (578.5) and fifth in aggregate (1159.8), while holding an average score of 580.7 in air rifle.
 
Senior Deonte Hayes and junior Joshua Potts split the next two spots in each discipline. Hayes has a 573.0 average in smallbore, just ahead of Potts' tally of 571.7. In air rifle, Potts has the edge with a mean score of 583.8, a fraction of a point higher than Hayes' score of 583.0. Hayes has an aggregate score of 1156.0, while Potts has a 1155.5 clip in combined scoring.
 
Sophomore Catherine Dely (1144.8), sophomore Devin Uhrich (1133.3), sophomore Grace Shepard (1130.8), senior Mark Dely (1126.6), and freshman John Dely (1068.5) round out the scoring for the Midshipmen. Freshman Chelsie Glover turned in an air rifle score of 567 in her one competition of the season.
 
Scouting the Opposition
The Alaska Nanooks rifle team ended the 2023 part of their NCAA schedule with a win at Air Force on Wednesday, Dec. 6. Alaska outshot the Falcons 4719-4709 to move to 4-2, 3-2 PRC on the season.
 
Individually, the Nanooks are led by Rachael Charles who boasts a team-best aggregate score of 1185.3. Additionally, she leads the squad with a 589.7 clip in smallbore. Sara Karasova is second on the team with a combined score of 1182.8, while leading Alaska Fairbanks with an air rifle tally of 596.0. Akihito Shimizu and Katrina Demerle are tied with an aggregate score of 1177.3, while Elijah Spencer rounds out the Nanooks' top five with a combined score of 1173.3.
 
Up Next
Following the matches against Alaska Fairbanks, Navy will host Akron and West Virginia in a match at the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range on Saturday, Jan. 27. Competition is slated to begin at 9:00 a.m.