Three-Peat; GSU captures third straight SoCon Rifle Championship

Eagles' Emma Pohlmann sweeps Athlete of the Year honors

NCAA scorecard
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Georgia Southern won its third straight Southern Conference Rifle Championship on Sunday at The Citadel’s Inouye Marksmanship Center in Charleston, South Carolina. GSU sophomore Emma Pohlmann was named the SoCon Smallbore and Air Rifle Athlete of the Year as all-conference awards were announced at the conclusion of the two-day event.

The Eagles, who shot a championship-record 2,343 in smallbore on Saturday, followed that with a 2,382 in the air rifle portion on Sunday to claim the SoCon title with a championship-record 4,725 aggregate score.

Georgia Southern outscored defending champion, The Citadel, en route to winning its third SoCon team title in air rifle and first since 2019 with a score of 2,382. The air rifle victory marked the first time in program history that the Eagles have won all three titles in the same year.

The Citadel finished second to Georgia Southern in aggregate with a score of 4,618, narrowly claiming runner-up honors by just two points over UNG, which matched last year’s score of 4,616. UAB was fourth at 4,605, followed by SoCon Coach of the Year Bill Bither’s VMI Keydets (4,590), VMI’s women’s team (4,494), Wofford (4,449) and The Citadel’s women’s team (4,383).

GSU’s Addy Burrow fired a 598 in air rifle for the second consecutive year on Sunday, again matching the championship record set by Georgia Southern’s Rosemary Kramer in 2019, to lead the contingent of eight finals qualifiers. In the finals, both Burrow and Pohlmann shot 247.1, with Pohlmann claiming the individual title following an extra shot.

Burrow, who won the Pinnacle Award as the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team, finished second in the air rifle finals and claimed first-team all-conference honors in both smallbore and air rifle.

Pohlmann, the Eagles’ Ella Goldfaden and North Georgia’s Elysa Walter also earned first-team All-SoCon honors in both smallbore and air rifle.

Pohlmann, who became the fourth shooter to sweep smallbore and air rifle athlete of the year honors, led the SoCon in both disciplines this season. She averaged 587.000 in smallbore and 595.154 in air rifle for a league-best 1,182.154 aggregate average.

GSU’s Pohlmann and The Citadel’s Hart will compete at the NCAA Rifle Championships in Morgantown, West Virginia, at the WVU Coliseum, March 8-9. Georgia Southern freshman Zahra Gonzalez Mazo is the first alternate in air rifle should a competitor not be able to compete.

2024 SoCon Rifle Championship team scores
Team   SB   AR   Agg
1. Georgia Southern   2343   2382   4725
2. The Citadel   2281   2337   4618
3. North Georgia   2279   2337   4616
4. UAB   2287   2318   4605
5. VMI   2271   2319   4590
6. VMI (W)   2198   2296   4494
7. Wofford   2209   2240   4449
8. The Citadel (W)   2142   2241   4383

Overall champion
Georgia Southern

Smallbore champion
Georgia Southern

Air rifle champion
Georgia Southern

Smallbore individual final (Saturday)
1. Emma Pohlmann, Georgia Southern (461.5)
2. Maya Cameron, North Georgia (452.8)
3. Ella Goldfaden, Georgia Southern (443.1)
4. Zahra Gonzalez Mazo, Georgia Southern (432.1)
5. James Hart IV, The Citadel (421.9)
6. Ryan Harlow, VMI (409.7)
7. Addy Burrow, Georgia Southern (398.7)
8. Charlotte Welsh, The Citadel (397.9)

Air rifle individual final (Sunday)
1. Emma Pohlmann, Georgia Southern (247.1)
2. Addy Burrow, Georgia Southern (247.1)
3. Bremen Butler, Georgia Southern (226.4)
4. Katelyn Grochalski, VMI (203.7)
5. Ella Goldfaden, Georgia Southern (183.6)
6. James Hart IV, The Citadel (163.2)
7. Zahra Gonzalez Mazo, Georgia Southern (141.1)
8. Charlotte Welsh, The Citadel (120.3)

Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Addy Burrow, 5th, Georgia Southern

SoCon Smallbore Athlete of the Year
Emma Pohlmann, GSU

All-Southern Conference Smallbore
First team
Emma Pohlmann, Georgia Southern
Elysa Walter, North Georgia
Ella Goldfaden, Georgia Southern
Addy Burrow, Georgia Southern
James Hart IV, The Citadel

Second team
Zahra Gonzalez, Georgia Southern
Bremen Butler, Georgia Southern
Amy Visconti, Georgia Southern
Maya Cameron, North Georgia
Charlotte Welsh, The Citadel

SoCon Air Rifle Athlete of the Year
Emma Pohlmann, GSU

All-Southern Conference Air Rifle
First team
Emma Pohlmann, Georgia Southern
Ella Goldfaden, Georgia Southern
Addy Burrow, Georgia Southern
Zahra Gonzalez, Georgia Southern
Elysa Walter, North Georgia

Second team
Bremen Butler, Georgia Southern
Amy Visconti, Georgia Southern
James Hart IV, The Citadel
Maya Cameron, North Georgia
Brooklynne Weatherford, Georgia Southern

SoCon Coach of the Year
Lt. Col. Bill Bither, VMI

SoCon Freshman of the Year
Christopher Comstock, UAB