Southern Conference Rifle Championships Set for this Weekend

SoCon Championship information page


SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The 2024 Southern Conference Rifle Championships will be contested this weekend at The Citadel’s Inouye Marksmanship Center in Charleston, South Carolina, with two-time defending overall champion Georgia Southern looking to win its third consecutive title.

Smallbore competition will begin Saturday at 8 a.m., with the finals scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Air rifle follows on Sunday with the first relay at 7:45 a.m. and the finals scheduled to start at 2:15 p.m.
 
The Eagles claimed their first overall team title two seasons ago, while winning their second straight smallbore championship with a score of 2,266 and finishing second in air rifle with a score of 2,337 for a tournament-record aggregate score of 4,603.
 
Georgia Southern followed by recording its’ second consecutive championship-record aggregate score of 4,657 en route to winning its second straight conference team rifle title at the 2023 SoCon Rifle Championships.
   
Georgia Southern’s Amy Visconti won the smallbore individual title, while North Georgia’s Elysa Walter claimed the air rifle crown the following day. GSU’s Addy Burrow was named the SoCon Smallbore and Air Rifle Athlete of the Year, with the Nighthawks’ Walter also earning SoCon Freshman of the Year accolades.
 
This year’s Georgia Southern squad is ranked No. 6 in the latest Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association poll and narrowly missed earning its first-ever trip to the NCAA Championships. The Eagles were followed by North Georgia at No. 17, while UAB and VMI each shared the 20th spot.   

The Eagles lead the SoCon in smallbore (2,337.615), air rifle (2,378.538) and aggregate (4,716.153) this season, while owning the top-10 scores in all three categories this season. North Georgia is second in the SoCon in smallbore (2290.400), air rifle (2,349.500) and aggregate (4,639.900), while The Citadel is close behind in smallbore (2278.615), air rifle (2321.538) and aggregate (4600.153).

GSU sophomore Emma Pohlmann leads the league in both categories and aggregate, while sharing the top score in smallbore (592) with Walter this season. The Citadel’s James Hart IV and the Eagles’ Ella Goldfaden have each notched two of the top-five smallbore scores. Pohlmann swept SoCon smallbore and air rifle shooter of the month honors twice this season, with Walter, Goldfaden and VMI’s Christopher Hicks and Victoria Phillips each claiming the accolade once.

Pohlmann averages a league-best 587.000 in smallbore and 595.154 in air rifle for a season average aggregate score of 1,182.154. She owns four of the top 12 scores fired in the SoCon in smallbore this season and half of the top 10 in air rifle. The native of Nentershausen, Germany, owns or shares six of the top 11 aggregate showings.
 
Pohlmann is the third Georgia Southern student-athlete to qualify for the NCAA air rifle championships later this month, while The Citadel’s Hart is just one of three men selected as an individual for smallbore.
 
Hart, the only SoCon student-athlete other than Pohlmann and Walter Burrow to shoot at least 590 this season, is fourth in the league in the discipline with an average of 583.538. The NCAA Rifle Championships will be held 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.
 
Since the league began sponsoring the sport again in 2016-17, North Georgia owns the most SoCon Championship titles with three (2017, 2018, 2021), while UAB (2019 and 2020) and Georgia Southern (2022 and 2023) have each claimed two championships.


 
2024 SoCon Championship schedule
Saturday, March 2 – Smallbore
8:00–8:15 a.m.         Preparation and sighting
8:15– 9:45 a.m.             Small Bore Relay #1
10:15– 10:30 a.m.         Preparation and sighting
10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.     Small Bore Relay #2
12:30–12:45 p.m.         Preparation and sighting
12:45–2:15 p.m.         Small Bore Relay #3
3:15 p.m.            Report
3:30 p.m.             Small Bore Finals
 
Sunday, March 3 – Air rifle
7:30 – 7:45 a.m.         Preparation and sighting
7:45– 9 a.m.             Air Rifle Relay #1
9:30– 9:45 a.m.             Preparation and sighting
9:45– 11 a.m.             Air Rifle Relay #2
11:30– 11:45 a.m.         Preparation and sighting
11:45 a.m.–1 p.m.         Air Rifle Relay #3
2:15 p.m.             Air Rifle Finals