SoCon Announces 2026 Postseason Rifle Awards

SPARTANBURG, SC – Southern Conference champion Georgia Southern captured both major Rifle awards Tuesday, with Emme Walrath earning SoCon Rifle Smallbore Athlete of the Year and Bremen Butler repeating as SoCon Air Rifle Athlete of the Year.

Walrath was dominant at the 2026 SoCon Rifle Championships in early February, claiming both the Smallbore and Air Rifle individual trophies. She had high scores of 593 in a pair of matches this season in Smallbore and scored 590 at the SoCon Championships. Walrath established a SoCon Championship record with an aggregate score of 1,188 this season, just ahead of Butler’s 1,186 aggregate record set in 2025.

Butler earned her second Athlete of the Year honor after shooting scores of 599 at three different locations during the regular season and a 597 at the SoCon Championships. Butler posted a 1,179 aggregate at Saturday’s NCAA Qualifier in Lexington, KY, helping the Eagles to a strong team showing that vaulted the team into the national championship field.

An All-SoCon Rifle first and second team in both Smallbore and Air Rifle were also announced on Tuesday.

Georgia Southern earned a bid to the 2026 NCAA Championships when the field was announced Monday night, the second bid in a row for Coach Soren Butler’s fast-rising program. VMI sophomore Alexander Pohlman earned an alternate spot in the field as an individual after a strong showing at the NCAA Qualifier in Morgantown, WV, last weekend.

The 2026 NCAA Rifle Championships will be held on March 13-14 at the Covelli Center in Columbus, OH.

SoCon Smallbore Athlete of the Year

Emme Walrath, Georgia Southern

All-SoCon Smallbore First Team

Emme Walrath, Georgia Southern

Bremen Butler, Georgia Southern

Emma Pohlmann, Georgia Southern

Tori Watts, Georgia Southern

Zahra Gonzalez Mazo, Georgia Southern

All-SoCon Smallbore Second Team

Holly Visconti, UAB

Corbin Jockers, North Georgia

Piper Wentland, UAB

Bri Walter, North Georgia

Hailey Singleton, Georgia Southern

SoCon Air Rifle Athlete of the Year

Bremen Butler, Georgia Southern

All-SoCon Air Rifle First Team

Bremen Butler, Georgia Southern

Emma Pohlmann, Georgia Southern

Emme Walrath, Georgia Southern

Matilda Eylander, Georgia Southern

Tori Watts, Georgia Southern

All-SoCon Air Rifle Second Team

Zahra Gonzalez Mazo, Georgia Southern

Braden Michalak, The Citadel

Abby Swain, North Georgia

Piper Wentland, UAB 

Hailey Singleton, Georgia Southern