Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Coast Guard
Army’s Unbeaten Rifle Team Off to 4-0 Start
October 21, 2023 | Rifle
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point unbeaten rifle team extended its winning streak to 4-0 following a pair of wins Saturday at the Tronsrue Marksmanship Center. The Black Knights outpointed the Norwich Cadets (4255) and the Coast Guard Bears (4111) behind a season-best 4674.
It is Army's best start since claiming its first seven matches during the 2007-08 season en route to a 10-1 mark, winning its conference title and finishing runner-up at the NCAA Championships.
Senior Claudia Siegel, who set season highs in all three disciplines, was the individual leader in smallbore (588) and the aggregate scoring (1176), along with a second in air rifle (588) to set the pace.
Classmate Anusha Pakkam fired a season-high 592 taking top honors in air rifle and claimed the silver in smallbore (581) and aggregate scoring (1173).
In rounding out Army's top five finishers in smallbore, Chris Jennings' 579 edged Kyle Kutz by a point (578) for third. Briggs Moore earned the fifth spot behind a season-best 577. Ashton O'Connell set a season-high 574 followed by plebe Ashton Arlington (569) in closing out Army's sweep of the top seven spots in that discipline.
Moore's 586 mark in air rifle equaled his season best and earned third-place honors. Just a point behind tying for fourth place where Jennings and O'Connell tied with identical 585s. Arlington (583) and Kyle Kutz (580) rounded out Army's top seven contingent. Setting season highs among that group were O'Connell and Arlington.
Army recorded a season-best 2326 topping the field in smallbore along with a 2348 mark in air rifle, just four points off its top score this season, in sweeping the field (4674).
Coach's Corner
"We are seeing progress from everyone," commented head coach Leighton Dempster. "We just need to clean up a few things as we head into the All-Academy match. I'm happy with our depth as a team, we were able to pull up a few of our lower scores today and definitely made some improvements in our process."
"Heading into the All-Academy match, we are looking to improve our air rifle performance as a team and overall transition from practice to matches. We are getting better, but nowhere near what we are capable of. It's encouraging to see progress and know we still have a lot left in the tank."
UP NEXT
Army hosts the President's Trophy Match on Saturday, Nov. 4, when it welcomes Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard to Tronsrue. The Black Knights will look to improve upon last year's third-place finish as they take on the reigning champion Falcons and runner-up Navy.
Players Mentioned
