Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
NCAA Championships - Air Rifle/Team Finals
Rifle Places Sixth At NCAA Championships
March 09, 2013 | Rifle
March 9, 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Junior Richard Calvin led Army for the second straight day at the NCAA Rifle Championships as the Black Knights finished sixth overall with a two-day combined total of 4644 points after shooting a 2336 in air rifle Saturday at host Ohio State's French Field House.
No. 1 West Virginia captured its 15th national title after outshooting the field in air rifle with a 2363 in overcoming a one-point first-day deficit in smallbore (2316) to post a 4679 aggregate. No. 2 Kentucky, in fourth place (2315) after smallbore in trailing leader TCU by two points, fired a 2355 in air rifle to finish runner-up to the Mountaineers with a 4670. West Virginia and Kentucky, along with Army and Nebraska, are members of the Great America Rifle Conference.
Defending champion TCU, in first place the opening day after winning the smallbore title with a 2317, dropped out of contender status in air rifle with a 2347 the final day to earn the bronze with a 4664 team aggregate. The Frogs edged Alaska by three points for third place as the Nanooks, in second place the first day, settled for fourth place (4661) in rounding out the top half of the standings. Air Force was fifth (4658) followed by Army (4644), Nebraska (4643) and Jacksonville State (4621).
Calvin fired a 588 in air rifle in the relay scoring to finish 15th among a field of 44 shooters. His score was just three points shy of qualifying for the individual finals (top eight). Calvin finished 10th in smallbore the first day and his team-best 579 was just one point off the mark recorded by the eighth shooter.
Joining Richard on Army's four-man unit were juniors Joseph Todaro (585) and Michael Matthews (583), along with senior captain William Mengon (580).
The Black Knights closed out 2012-13 with a 10-3 mark, and two of those losses were to West Virginia and Kentucky, in posting their highest win total since 2007-08. They defeated Navy for the fourth straight year, and earned their 10th straight bid to the NCAA Championships.
Players Mentioned
