Four-Peat, GSU Captures fourth straight SoCon Rifle Championship

NCAA scorecard 
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Georgia Southern surpassed its air rifle score from last year by two points, en route to winning its fourth SoCon team title. The air rifle victory marks the second time in program history that the Eagles have won all three titles in the same year. 
The Eagles followed their smallbore portion from Saturday with a 2,384 in the air rifle portion on Sunday to claim the SoCon title with a 4,718-aggregate score. 

GSU’s head coach Soren Butler was named SoCon Co-Coach of the Year. 

North Georgia finished second to GSU in aggregate with a score of 4,616, claiming runner-up honors over UAB (4,573). SoCon Co-Coach of the Year Lt. Col. Bill Bither’s VMI Keydets finished at fourth with 4,541, followed by VMI’s women’s team (4,512), The Citadel (4,494), The Citadel’s women’s team (4,447), and Wofford (4,429).  

GSU’s Bremen Butler fired at 598 in the air rifle relay matching the championship record set by former GSU’s Rosemary Kramer in 2019, to lead the contingent of eight finals qualifiers.  

In the finals, Butler was joined by teammates, Ella Goldfaden, Emma Pohlmann, Emme Walrath, and Tori Watts. Rounding out the eight finalists were The Citadel’s Braden Michalak, UNG’s Maya Cameron, and VMI’s Alexander Pohlman.  

Goldfaden, who won the Pinnacle Award as the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team, finished fifth in the air rifle finals.    
North Georgia’s Alison Sutherlin, was named Co-Freshman of the Year.  

Georgia Southern’s Walrath recorded three air rifle scores of 598 or above during the regular season leading to the SoCon Championship, and finished third in the air rifle finals, was named Co-Freshman of the Year.  

2025 SoCon Rifle Championship team scores 
Team    SB    AR    Agg 
1. Georgia Southern    2334 2384 4718  

2. North Georgia 2272 2344 4616 

3. Alabama Birmingham 2260 2313 4573 

4. VMI 2233 2308 4541 

5. VMI (W) 2213 2299 4512  

6. The Citadel 2214 2280 4484 

7. The Citadel (W) 2200 2247 4447  

8. Wofford 2148 2281 4429  
 
Overall team champion 
Georgia Southern  
Smallbore team champion 
Georgia Southern  

Smallbore individual champion 
Tori Watts, Georgia Southern  

 
Air rifle team champion 

Georgia Southern  

Air rifle individual champion 
Tori Watts, Georgia Southern  

SoCon Co-Coaches of the Year

Soren Butler, Georgia Southern   
Lt. Col. Bill Bither, VMI  

SoCon Co-Freshmen of the Year
Emme Walrath, Georgia Southern   

Alison Sutherlin, North Georgia 

Smallbore individual final (Saturday) 

1. Tori Watts, GSU 456.2  

2. Emma Pohlmann, GSU 456.1  

3. Bremen Butler, GSU 446.3  

4. Emme Walrath, GSU 436.2  

5. Ella Goldfaden, GSU 422.9
6. Emrie Fast-Clarke, CIT 409.1
7. Maya Cameron, UNG 396.2
8. Meghan McLaughlin, UAB 391.1

Air rifle individual final (Sunday) 

1. Tori Watts, GSU 248.9 

2. Emma Pohlmann, GSU 248.4 

3. Emme Walrath, GSU 226.4 

4. Bremen Butler, GSU 204.8 

5. Ella Goldfaden, GSU 184.2 

6. Alexander Pohlman, VMI 161.6  

7. Maya Cameron, UNG 139.7 

 8. Braden Michalak, CIT 119.9