Skip To Main Content

Naval Academy Athletics

Schedule

2019-20 Rifle Roster

Matthew A. Smith

Kestrel Kuhne

  • Class Senior
  • Hometown Everett, Pa.
  • High School Everett Area

Biography

SENIOR (2019-20): Kuhne captained Navy during the 2019-20 season … She averaged 585.1 in air rifle and 575.3 in smallbore during her senior campaign … Kuhne fired her season-best smallbore score to start the season with a 584 on Sept. 28 against TCU and VMI … Her best air rifle mark came on the road against Ohio State on Oct. 20 with a 592, which was three points shy of her career-best … She also totaled her season-best aggregate score against Ohio State with a 1,173 … Kuhne was also slated to take part in her third-straight NCAA National Championship this season.

JUNIOR (2018-19): Named Honorable Mention All-American in air rifle … Second Team All-GARC in air rifle … Honorable Mention All-GARC in combined … Started all 13 competitions and led Navy in season averages in all three categories … Finished with a 576.4 average in smallbore and posted season-bests of 582 against Akron and North Carolina State and then again in the 2019 Star Match at Army … Notched her career best in air rifle in the President’s Trophy Match and then against Kentucky with a pair of 595s … Kuhne finished with a 589.2 average in air rifle and 1,165.5 in aggregate … Her best aggregate score of the year came in both service academy competitions against Army and the President’s Trophy Match at 1,176 … In her second appearance at the NCAA Championship, she fired a 575 in smallbore and followed with a 583 in air rifle to finish at 1,158 overall

SOPHMORE (2017-18): Kuhne competed at the NCAA National Championships in the smallbore discipline, where she placed 29th with a score of 577 … in 14 appearances in smallbore, she averaged 577.7 with her season-best mark of 587 came at the John Jay – NCAA Qualifier on Feb. 17 … during her 13 competitions in air rifle, she averaged 587.6 and hit a season-high of 594 against North Carolina State on Jan. 21.

FRESHMAN (2016-17): Posted the fifth-highest aggregate average for Navy as a first-year collegiate shooter with a 1148.8 per match average ... shot in 11 of the Mids' 12 competitions and posted a smallbore average of 568.1 and air rifle average of 580.7 ... showed tremendous growth during the season as she posted an 1129 aggregate in her first match before starting to consistently shoot in the 1160's by the second half of Navy's schedule ... reached the 570 mark in five smallbore matches with a season-high 577 coming twice, versus Nebraska on Jan. 21 and at the GARC Championships on Feb. 24 ... posted 580 or better scores in air rifle on seven occasions (five 585+) and shot a season-high 591 against Ole Miss and Akron on Jan. 28

PRIOR TO NAVY: A two-sport athlete at Everett Area High School, Kuhne participated on the rifle and track & field (100, 300m hurdles) teams … two-time captain for Everett’s rifle team … led the 2015-16 team to the 2016 Pennsylvania Interscholastic State Air Rifle Championship … individually, she finished third in the air rifle and fourth in the smallbore portion of the 2016 state championship … earned All-County honors for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons … outside of school, shot with the Antietam Junior Rifle Club in Hagerstown, Md. … Antietam finished in first place in the JROTC – Junior division of the 2016 Indoor National Championships for smallbore

PERSONAL: Daughter of George of Julie … member of the National Honor Society, as well as Art, Debate, Drama and Envirothon clubs at Everett … teammate of North Carolina State’s Sarah Hickey ’20 and Navy's Torrance Kang '21 with Antietam ... Named to Naval Academy's Commandant's List five times and Dean's List once.

CAREER STATISTICS

Smallbore Apps. Hi Score Avg. Air Rifle Apps. Hi Score Avg.
2016-17 11 577 568.1 11 591 580.7
2017-18 14 587 577.5 13 594 587.6
2018-19 13 582 576.4 13 595 589.2
2019-20 14 584 575.3 14 592 585.1
Total 52 587 574.6 51 595 585.8

Historical Player Information

  • 2016-17Freshman

  • 2017-18Sophomore

  • 2018-19Junior

  • 2019-20Senior