WEST POINT, N.Y. -  A young Army rifle team put together a strong showing late in the year to continue the Black Knights' long tradition of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament after earning its seventh straight berth to the 2010 NCAA Championships being hosted by Texas Christian University this weekend, Friday and Saturday, March 12-13, at the TCU Rifle Range. There will be live scoring at the meet.

The top eight teams for the NCAA Championships are determined on an average of the three highest aggregate (smallbore and air rifle) regular season scores, with no more than one match at any given site. That average score is added to the Qualifier to determine the top eight teams.

With the majority of Army's squad made up of sophomores and freshmen, the Black Knights went through a growing period as the team battled inconsistency during the fall and start of the winter slate. Following a disappointing loss to Ohio State, the Black Knights turned the season around with above-average performances over the final three regular-season matches that saw them jump from No. 9 in the Collegiate Rifle Coaches poll to No. 5 in the latest rankings that enabled Army to clinch a berth to the NCAA Championships.

Army's run began with the NRA Sectionals where the team fired a season high 2334 in air rifle, led by sophomore Kelly Buck and Sara Lehman's personal bests, en route to compiling a 4626 aggregate.

Buck's 592 mark in air rifle shattered her previous high of 584 set in the fall, while Lehman's 590 broke her mark of 585 set against Ohio State the previous week. Rounding out the rest of Army's four-man scoring unit were sophomore Tommy Carr and freshman Chris Malachosky firing identical 576s as the Black Knights broke their previous high of 2328 set in the fall against North Carolina State. 

Army continued its progress defeating host Navy 5770-5738 in the "Star" match. The Midshipmen headed into the meet ranked No. 5 in the CRCA poll while Army listed ninth. It was the third straight year that the Black Knights defeated Navy at its home range to boost their all-time lead in the series to 38-32.

"Our scores today certainly helped us for the upcoming NCAA Qualifier," said Army head coach Ron Wigger following that performance. "It was a confidence builder for our team as Navy has a more senior roster while eight of our 11 shooters are underclassmen. We will be able to be more relaxed now heading into the Qualifier."

Buck's 581 nipped Navy's Chris Burleson by a point for medalist honors in smallbore as the Black Knights claimed three of the top four finishes. Lehman claimed the bronze with a 578 with team captain Charles Ridge finishing fourth behind a season-best 575.  Freshmen Will Mengon and Ian Young rounded out Army's five-man scoring unit with identical 570s as Army outpointed Navy 2874-2843 in that discipline.

After registering medalist honors for the fourth time in smallbore, Buck just missed sweeping both events after being edged by Burleson by a point (585) in air rifle. Ridge (580) and Lehman (580) tied for third place honors with Carr (577) and Malachosky (574) closing out the team scoring as the Black Knights edged Navy by a point, 2896-2895, in that discipline.

It was the second time this season that Army finished ahead of Navy. The first was at the of the President's Trophy Match hosted by the Black Knights in the fall. Army outpointed defending champion Navy 5789-5784 for the title with the Midshipmen beating Army in air rifle (2917-2893) and the Black Knights winning 2896 to 2867 in smallbore.

Next up was the regular-season finale in the NCAA Qualifier against University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. The host Black Knights did not disappoint with Buck earning medalist honors in both disciplines leading Army to a 4627-4404 victory. Ranked at the time No. 6 in the CRCA poll, Army's aggregate and smallbore (2306) scores were its second highest of the season as the Black Knights strengthened their bid for one of the eight berths to the NCAA Championships.

Buck turned in her second highest mark of the season in air rifle (590) and registered a personal best 586 smallbore score for an 1176 career composite in keying the Black Knights' performance.

"Kelly was a lifesaver for us today," noted Wigger following the meet, "and she put us in good shape. I feel pretty confident we will be among the Top 8 for an NCAA bid based on the scores coming in today."

Joining Buck on Army's air rifle firing unit were Ride (578), Lehman (577) and Carr (576) in combining for a 2321 as the Black Knights swept the top eight individual spots. Ridge (579 - second place) and Lehman (570) were also part of the smallbore unit with John Manzano (571) rounding out the scoring. Army's 2306 composite was its second best mark of the season, trailing the 2310 it set in the fall against North Carolina State. Young claimed the bronze with a 574 firing individually in that event as Army swept the top eight spots.

"The team finished the end of the season very strong," noted Wigger. "I felt they were mentally tougher and grew a lot the past few weeks with three solid matches (NRA Sectionals, Navy and NCAA Qualifier) in a row in an important time at the end of the season. The team also performed better on the road as well."

The Black Knights headed to the GARC Championships with high hopes of finishing among the leaders, but  got off to a slow start in its strongest event, smallbore, where the team finished fourth with a 2279 four-man. Army turned in a 2320 in air rifle en route to finishing fifth (4599) in the aggregate scoring for the second straight year. Buck posted Army's top score of 573 in smallbore with Lehman firing a 584 to lead the way in air rifle.

West Virginia claimed the title with a 4565 with 2009 champion Kentucky taking second (4645) followed by Nebraska (4612).

Army has finished among the leaders five of the last six years at the NCAA Rifle Championships and the GARC is well represented as four of its teams (West Virginia, Kentucky, Nebraska and Army) qualified in 2010 to include last year's team champion and runner-up in West Virginia and Kentucky, respectively. The Black Knights finished sixth last year, while Nebraska is making its first trip since 2008 and eighth in 12 years as a program. The Mountaineers claimed an NCAA record 14th title after wrestling last year's crown from Alaska Fairbanks which has 10 championships.    

There will be live streaming of the meet on the TCU website on Tournament Central at http://gofrogs.cstv.com/sports/c-rifle/spec-rel/tcu-10-ncaa-rifle-championships.html.

ARMY AT THE NCAAs the past six years:   

      4th                    2004

      1st                    2005       First NCAA title in school history

      3rd                    2006

      2nd                   2007

      2nd                   2008

      6th                    2009

                Teams Qualifying for 2010 Championships

      University of Alaska Fairbanks, 4th in 2009

      University of Kentucky, Runner-up in 2009

      Murray State, Did not compete in 2009

      University of Nebraska,  Did not compete in 2009

      Texas Christian University, 5th in 2009

      Army, 6th in 2009

      Navy, 7th in 2009

             West Virginia, 2009 Champion

Army, West Virginia, Kentucky and Nebraska are members of the GARC ... the Mountaineers captured the 2010 title followed by the Wildcats with the Black Knights finishing fifth.