Navy head coach Bill Kelley enters his ninth year at the helm of the Navy rifle program, posting an outstanding 84-10 (.894) record. In his short time at Navy, Kelley has transformed the Mids into a national power, competing for the NCAA title all eight years that Kelley has been in charge.

Last year, the Mids placed seventh overall at the NCAA Championships. After a disappointing team performance in the smallbore discipline on day one, Navy rallied on day two to finish fifth in the air rifle discipline. However, senior Josh Albright became Navy's first national champion since 1996, when he won the smallbore competition at the NCAA Championship, rallying in the 10-shot finals. He had entered the finals in second, but surged ahead with his ninth shot in the finals, then held on with his final shot for the victory.

Two years ago, the Mids placed fourth overall at the NCAA Championships, Navy's third consecutive top-five finish. In addition to the high placing at NCAAs, Kelley guided Navy to a 9-2 record and another MAC title. Perhaps the most telling statistic of Navy's resurgence in rifle is its 6-2 record under Kelley against Army.

In 2005, the Mids placed fifth at the NCAA Championship, posted an 11-0 dual-meet record and defeated Alaska-Fairbanks and Army in highly-anticipated dual meets.

In 2004, Navy rifle posted another impressive season, finishing third at the NCAA Championship as five Mids took home All-America honors. Kelley's Mids posted a second-place finish in air rifle.

In his previous five years, Kelley led the Mids to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2002 and a sixth-place finish in the NCAA Air Rifle Championship in 2003.

In his first year on The Yard, Kelley coached Navy to an undefeated season.

Thirteen different athletes have earned All-America honors during Kelley's tenure, including current team members, senior Josh Albright and junior Lisa Kunzelman.

Chris Schneider and Sarah Bergman, both 2007 grads, became just the third and fourth shooters in school history to be named to the All-America squad four times.

In addition to the All-Americans, Kelley has coached several shooters to Junior Olympic and AAU victories. Last summer, he helped a relatively unrecruited shooter, Lisa Kunzelman, earn a spot on U.S. Junior World Team and a top-30 finish at the World Championships in her first international competition.

Prior to joining the Naval Academy family, Kelley served as the rifle coach at Cresap Rifle Club in Frederick, Md. While there, he trained countless highly successful shooters at local, regional and national matches. He also coached the fifth-ranked finalist at the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championship.

In 1992-95, Kelley coached the Maryland resident qualifier in the Junior Olympic Shooting Championship, and in 1995 he co-coached the National Intermediate Junior Champion Rifle Team.

In 1996, Kelley worked on the production staff for shooting events at the Olympic Games and World Cup in Atlanta. He received the Diploma of Honour Award from the Union Internationale de Tir (international Olympic governing body) for service to the shooting sports that same year.

Kelley is certified by the National Rifle Association (NRA) as a smallbore rifle coach. He was selected as one of approximately 30 coaches in the United States to train other coaches as a member of the National Coach Development Staff.

He authored Shooting is Fun...At Least it Used to Be, which addresses the problem of burnout among collegiate shooters and suggests remedies. The NRA Shooting Sports USA and NRA Shooting Education Update accepted the article for publication.

Kelley resides in Frederick, Md., with his wife, Liz. Kelley's youngest son, Josh, is a 2000 graduate of the Naval Academy and was a two-time All-American in rifle. Coach Kelley is the founder and owner of the Gun Center, a full-time retail store in Frederick, Md.

# GO NAVY #