ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy rifle team (9-9) is slated to return to action 9:00 a.m. Saturday as it welcomes John Jay (3-8) to the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range for an NCAA Championship qualifying match. Competition is scheduled to get underway at 9:00 a.m., with free, live results being provided on NavySports.com.
 
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
The NCAA Qualifier Match will be pivotal over the weekend as the match accounts for 50 percent of each team's score toward qualification for the national tournament that is set to be hosted by West Virginia University on March 8-9.
 
The remaining half of a team's NCAA qualification total is made up of the respective team's top-three scores from the season at three different locations. Additionally, the top-eight individual shooters that are not on a qualified roster will earn bids to the NCAA Championship to compete as individuals.
 
Navy enters the weekend in 10th-place in the NCAA in the national standings, moving up one spot after a record-setting performance at The Citadel last weekend and upping its NCAA qualifying score to 4718.33.
 
Nebraska maintains the eighth and final NCAA spot with a qualifying score of 4723.33, setting the mark to beat in order to get into the coveted top 8. Murray State is just ahead of the Midshipmen in ninth with a score of 4720.33.
 
West Virginia (4749.33) is in first place, ahead of TCU (4741.67) and Kentucky (4734.67). Alaska Fairbanks (4732.67) and Air Force (4730.67) round out the top five in the NCAA standings, while Georgia Southern (4729) and Ole Miss (4724.67) are sixth and seventh, respectively.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
The Midshipmen enter the weekend on the heels of a record-breaking performance at The Citadel over the weekend in Charleston, S.C. at the Inouye Marksmanship Center. Navy tallied a school-record score of 2358 in smallbore en route to a program record 4727, topping the record mark set a week prior (4724) in the Army-Navy Star Series match.
 
The Mids have topped the 4700-point plateau seven times in 12 competition dates, counting the season-high 4727 on Saturday. Additionally, Navy has come within five points of the 4700-mark on two other occasions, including 4695 points against reigning champion Alaska Fairbanks.
 
Freshman Isabella Baldwin leads the team in smallbore, air rifle and aggregate. She boasts a smallbore average of 588.3 and an air rifle tally of 593.3. The rookie has a team-high 1181.5 in aggregate scoring to lead all Midshipmen.
 
Marleigh Duncan ranks second on the season in smallbore and aggregate, while coming in third in air rifle. The junior holds a 587.1 average in smallbore, while notching a 1179.1 in aggregate. Duncan has an air rifle average of 592 through the 12 competition dates of the 2023-24 season.
 
Clarissa Layland is second on the team in air rifle, while coming in third among Navy shooters in aggregate scoring. The senior holds a 592.6 mean score in air rifle, while notching a tally of 1170.3 in the combined average. Additionally, Layland is fifth on the squad with a 577.8 average in smallbore scoring.
 
Freshman Ryan Wee is fourth on the team in smallbore and aggregate scoring. The rookie has a smallbore total of 579.1, while averaging 1165.2 through 12 competitions in aggregate. Wee is just outside of the top five in air rifle (586.1), ranking sixth on the team.
 
Junior Stephanie Milvain is third on the team in smallbore with a score of 580.6, while holding an average score of 1162.9 in aggregate to place fifth on Navy's team standings.
 
Senior Deonte Hayes is fourth air rifle with an average of 587.6. Additionally, he is just outside the top five in aggregate (1160.5), ranking sixth on the team in the category.
 
Junior Joshua Potts has notched a mean score of 586.3 in air rifle to rank fifth on the team, while posting a 573.7 in smallbore to place sixth. He is 0.6 points back of Hayes in aggregate scoring with a tally of 1159.9 on the year.
 
Sophomore Catherine Dely (1146.9), sophomore Devin Uhrich (1146.2), senior Mark Dely (1131.5), sophomore Grace Shepard (1128.0), and freshman John Dely (1098.3) round out the aggregate scoring for the Midshipmen. Freshman Chelsie Glover has turned in an air rifle average of 581.0 in five competitions of the season.
 
Scouting the Opposition
John Jay: The Bloodhounds enter the weekend with a 3-8 overall record. John Jay is 1-0 at home, but 2-8 away from the John Jay Rifle Range, including an 0-4 mark in true road competitions. The Bloodhounds have not competed since falling to Ole Miss on Jan. 28, in West Point, N.Y. at the Tronsrue Marksmanship Center. The team had a competition scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 10, against Akron that was canceled.
 
Last season, Navy posted a 4701-4292 victory over John Jay in the NCAA Qualifier at the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range.
 
Up Next
Following the match against John Jay, Navy will return to action Feb. 24-25 as it travels to West Point, N.Y. for the annual GARC Championship. Competition from the Tronsrue Marksmanship Center is slated to begin at 8:00 a.m. each day.