Feb. 9, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- All five of Army's smallbore scores were above 575, setting the tone for a 5842-5745 victory over the Navy rifle team in the annual Star Match on Saturday morning. The teams used five scores each, with Army outshooting the Mids in both disciplines. The loss drops Navy to 7-2 overall.

"It was a frustrating day for us, and Army shot very well obviously," said Navy head coach Bill Kelley. "We didn't shoot nearly as well as we have in the last few weeks. We just had a tough time finding any consistency."

Army jumped out to a nearly-insurmountable 73-point advantage after the smallbore discipline. The Black Knights shot a 2910, while Navy tallied a 2837. All five of Army's scores in smallbore were at 575 or better, while Navy had just one in Josh Albright's 582. Monica Amagna added a 573, freshmen Chris Burleson and Alison Lankes shot a pair of 562s and Lisa Kunzelman scored a 558. Army's Chris Abalo tallied a 588 to win medalist honors.

The Black Knights then recorded five scores above 580 in air rifle to take that discipline as well, 2932-2908. However, the highlight of Navy's day was Kunzelman, garnering medalist honors with a stellar 594, ranking second on the all-time list at Navy. Albright followed with a 582, Burleson scored a 580 and Amagna and Christina Schade rounded out the scoring with a 577 and 575, respectively.

"Obviously, Lisa's score is very, very good and she has really been shooting well lately," added Kelley.

The Black Knights have won three in a row over the Mids after Navy won the previous 12 seasons.

Navy will face John Jay next Saturday at the NCAA Qualifier in Annapolis. The match will go a long ways towards determining Navy's fate for an NCAA Tournament berth in mid-March.

# GO NAVY #