ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The #9 Navy rifle team (0-0) is set to open its 2025-26 campaign at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27 as it hosts #3 TCU (0-0) and VMI (0-0) in a meet at the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range.
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.
Team Captain
Navy rifle head coach
Mike Anti announced that senior
Catherine Dely has been selected by her teammates to serve as the Mids' team captain for the 2025-26 season. Dely, a three-year letter winner, has appeared in 33 matches over her first three seasons at Navy during which she has compiled averages of 567.8 in smallbore, 583.6 in air rifle, and an aggregate average of 1151.1.
Along with her efforts on the range, Dely has been recognized for her efforts in the classroom, as she was named a Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) Scholastic All-American the last two seasons (2023-24 and 2024-25).
Last season, Dely proved to be a solid contributor. She appeared in 11 contests, recording season averages of 573.4 in smallbore, 586.2 in air rifle, and 1159.0 in aggregate.
Scouting the Midshipmen
Navy finished the 2025 season with a 14-5 record, including a 3-2 mark in GARC matches. The 14 victories secured the Midshipmen's sixth winning season in the last seven years.
The Navy rifle team posted 5878-5839 victory against Army in the annual Star Match at the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range in Annapolis. The win gave the Midshipmen their fourth straight win and the sixth in the last seven Star matches. In addition, the Midshipmen shot topped the 4700-point plateau in the NCAA scoring format, notching a team score of 4709. The Mids claimed the top three performances with seven Navy shooters finishing in the top 10 in on the day.
Isabella Baldwin, who led all scorers, earned the Josh Watson Memorial Trophy for being the Midshipmen's top finisher.
The Midshipmen completed competition in the 2025 GARC Championship, placing third overall in the competition. As a team, Navy finished with an aggregate score of 4705 to finish behind match host West Virginia (4738) and Kentucky (4728). The Mids finished ahead of Akron (4699), Army (4686), and Memphis (4676). The Mids opened up the competition with a smallbore score of 2339 to finish third in the discipline. In air rifle, Navy was fourth with a team score of 2366.
At the GARC Championship, Baldwin led the Mid with an aggregate score of 1188. Her score topped a pair of West Virginia shooters – Griffin Lake and Gavin Barnick – by one point for the top individual finisher. The sophomore opened competition by tying WVU's Jacob Wisman for the top smallbore score with a 591. Baldwin had a 20-shot standing score of 198 (of a possible 200) to earn the High Standing Shooter award. On the second day of competition, she registered a 597 to tie for fourth in the discipline.
Marleigh Duncan and
Parker Haydin followed with aggregate scores of 1177 and 1170, respectively.
Ryan Wee and team captain
Stephanie Milvain rounded out Navy's starters. Wee finished with an aggregate score of 1169, while Milvain posted a combined score of 1161.
The GARC announced its postseason awards and a pair of Midshipmen – Baldwin and Duncan – combined for five All-Conference honors for shooting, while Wee was selected as Navy's Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Additionally,
Lou MacKenzie was named Assistant Coach of the Year. Baldwin was tabbed Second Team All-GARC in smallbore, air rifle, and combined. Duncan earned second-team distinction in smallbore, while being named honorable mention in aggregate. Academically, Wee recorded a 3.95 grade point average in the fall to represent the team as Navy's Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the GARC.
The NCAA Rifle Committee announced the teams and individual qualifiers for the 2025 National Collegiate Men's and Women's Rifle Championships inside Historic Memorial Coliseum on the campus of the University of Kentucky and Navy's Duncan qualified as an individual in smallbore. She shot a score of 579 at the NCAA Championship. The 2025 NCAA Rifle Championship marked the fourth time in her career that Duncan competed in the NCAA Tournament. She competed as part of the Navy teams that qualified in 2022 and 2024, while taking part as an individual in 2023 and 2025.
Baldwin and Duncan were selected as CRCA All-Americans. The pair combined for four All-American accolades. Baldwin was a first-team honoree in air rifle, while being named second team in smallbore, and third team in aggregate. For the third straight year, Duncan was recognized as a Second Team All-American in the smallbore discipline.
In the classroom, Baldwin was selected as a College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American, being named to the second team. Baldwin became the second Navy rifle student-athlete to earn Academic All-American, joining Michael Miller ('05) who earned second-team honors during the 2003-04 season.
Following the season, Baldwin notched a first-place finish at the 2025 USA Shooting Junior Olympics in the women's air rifle. Baldwin finished second among the 210 competitors in the women's air rifle event to advance to the finals. In the finals, Baldwin shot a 251.2 to win the women's event by 1.2 points to earn a spot to represent the United States in the Junior Pan-American Games in Paraguay. At the Pan Am Games, Baldwin won two gold medals, securing a first-place finish in the women's air rifle individual event and a gold in the mixed air rifle team event.
Scouting TCU
For the fifth straight season, TCU will open the season at Navy. Last season, the TCU rifle team concluded action at the 2025 NCAA Rifle Championships in Lexington, Ky., finishing sixth among the eight participants at the event. TCU's smallbore score of 2,335 was fourth while its 2,377 in air rifle was sixth. Katie Zaun's aggregate score of 1,188 was fifth among all competitors.
Once again, TCU sent its three All-Americans to the line in the first relay. Zaun's 599 topped all shooters in the opening relay. Mikole Hogan fired a 594 and Christina Hillinger a 589. In the second relay, Rylie Passmore contributed a 594 and Micah Hames a 590. Zaun finished sixth in the individual finals after shooting a 164.9.
Scouting VMI
VMI rifle heads to Annapolis for the first match of the season. For the second consecutive year, Lt. Col. Bill Bither was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year, this time after leading the men's squad to a fourth-place finish and the women's team to a fifth overall finish at the 2025 SoCon Rifle Championships at the Shooting Sports Education Center in Statesboro. Collectively, the VMI mixed team placed fourth with an aggregate of 4541 while the women finished fifth, firing a 4512. The finishes top last year, in which the teams placed fifth and sixth, respectively. The 4512 by the women's team upped last year's total of 4494.
Individually, Alexander Pohlman highlighted the final day for the Keydets, qualifying for the air rifle finals and placing eighth overall. Pohlman posted a strong score in the early relay before ending with a 586 and 41 centers – just one point shy of seventh. Pohlman's 1146 aggregate was just five points shy of 10th place overall. Ryan Harlow had the program's second-best finish in the air rifle, shooting a 580 with 33 center tens to place 17th overall for that discipline. Wuyue Xie and Adrianna Sanders led the women's squad, placing 19th and 21st with air rifle scores of 579 and 578, respectively. Victoria Phillips (575) and Darian Tweedell (573) round out the top 25 in the air with Emma Cameron, Elizabeth Stann, Kyle Kemp and Michael Annesi all competing for the Keydets.
Up Next
Following its opening-weekend, Navy will return to action Saturday, October 18 as it hosts 2025 NCAA-runner-up and fellow GARC member Kentucky. The match is set to get underway at 9:00 a.m.
