Georgia Southern claims smallbore title at SoCon Rifle Championship

LEXINGTON, Va. – Georgia Southern claimed the 2021 Southern Conference smallbore crown with a score of 2,278 on Saturday at the SoCon Rifle Championship hosted by VMI at Kilbourne Hall. North Georgia’s Morgan Frank took home gold in the discipline with a final score of 449.1, while her teammate Kimberlee Nettles was named the Smallbore Athlete of the Year. 
 
Georgia Southern’s 2,278 is the second-highest smallbore score posted at the conference championship since the league resurrected rifle as a sponsored sport in 2016-17. The current record of 2,289 was set at the 2018 championships by North Georgia.
 
The Eagles paced the field during finals with three shooters in Ashley Judson, Brianne Staton and Bella Gamez. Judson placed second with a final score of 445.6, while Staton and Gamez placed sixth and eighth, respectively. 
 
North Georgia took home second with 2,270 points. Freshman Jaden-Ann Fraser joined Frank in the final with a fourth-place finish. Frank qualified for the final after posting a score of 574 earlier in the day, which was the third-best score in the field. Nettles, the smallbore athlete of the year, averaged a conference-best 573.333 points throughout North Georgia’s nine matches this season. 
 
UAB finished in third with 2,254 points and The Citadel came in fourth with 2,246 points. The Blazers’ Amy Kohan took home fifth in the finals, while the Bulldogs’ Cameron Bates placed seventh. 
 
VMI (2,240), VMI women (2,159) and Wofford (2,151) finished in fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. The Citadel women rounded out team smallbore scores with 2,095 points. Jessica Hankin of the Keydets was the last of eight athletes to qualify for the smallbore final with a score of 567. However, she persevered through out her final round shots and took home bronze in the discipline. 
 
The top-10 smallbore athletes of the regular season earned All-SoCon honors for their performances throughout the 2020-21 season. UAB placed a league-best five athletes on the All-SoCon squad in Kohan and Zoe Lum, who earned first-team honors, while Jordan Blakenship, Sophia Flores and Maggie Vonderau earned second-team honors. Georgia Southern’s Staton was the only Eagle to earn second-team honors. North Georgia’s Frank and Nettles both earned first-team honors. The Citadel’s Bates rounded out the first team for the Bulldogs, while teammate Max Brabston earned second-team honors.
 
The championship concludes on Sunday with the air rifle competition, where the SoCon will name the individual and team air rifle champions, along with the overall team champion. Action begins at 7:45 a.m. ET with the first of three air rifle relays. 
 
Smallbore team scores

1. Georgia Southern   2278
2. North Georgia         2270
3. UAB                        2254
4. The Citadel             2246
5. VMI                         2240
6. VMI (W)                  2159
7. Wofford                   2151
8. The Citadel (W)      2095

 
Smallbore individual final

1. Morgan Frank, North Georgia
2. Ashley Judson, Georgia Southern
3. Jessica Hankin, VMI
4. Jaden-Ann Fraser, North Georgia
5. Amy Kohan, UAB
6. Brianne Staton, Georgia Southern
7. Cameron Bates, The Citadel
8. Bella Gamez, Georgia Southern

 
Smallbore Athlete of the Year
Kimberlee Nettles, Sr., North Georgia
 
All-Southern Conference Smallbore
First team
Amy Kohan, UAB
Zoe Lum, UAB
Cameron Bates, The Citadel
Morgan Frank, North Georgia
Kimberlee Nettles, North Georgia
 
Second team
Jordan Blankenship, UAB
Sophia Flores, UAB
Maggie Vonderau, UAB
Max Brabston, The Citadel
Brianne Staton, Georgia Southern