Georgia Southern University
Southern Conference Championships
Eagle Rifle Set For SoCon Championships This Weekend
3/5/2021 11:00:00 AM | Women's Rifle
Event takes place at VMI
STATESBORO - Georgia Southern rifle closes out the 2020-21 season this weekend at the Southern Conference Rifle Championships, a two-day event hosted by VMI in Lexington, Virginia.
The SoCon will crown team champions in both the smallbore and air rifle disciplines as well as an overall champion. In addition, individual champions will be crowned in each discipline. Smallbore competition will take place Saturday, followed by air rifle on Sunday.
The Schedule *
Saturday, March 6 (Smallbore)
8-9:45 am - Relay 1 (Bella Gamez; Amelia Pierce)
10:30 am-12:15 pm - Relay 2 (Kinsley Hannon; Brianne Staton)
1-2:45 pm - Relay 3 (Ashley Judson)
4 pm - Smallbore finals (Top 8 scorers)
Sunday, March 7 (Air Rifle)
7:45-9 am - Relay 1 (Anna Mayo; Brianne Staton)
9:45-11 am - Relay 2 (Ashley Judson)
11:45 am-1 pm - Relay 3 (Kinsley Hannon; Gabby Morrow)
2:15 pm - Air Rifle finals (Top 8 scorers)
3:15 pm - Awards Ceremony
Eight teams will be competing for the 2021 title. UAB, The Citadel (co-ed and women's teams), Georgia Southern, North Georgia, VMI (co-ed and women's teams) and Wofford will compete this weekend.
Spectators will not be permitted.
The 2021 Southern Conference Rifle Championship will be contested at VMI's Kilbourne Hall for the first time since the league resurrected rifle as a sponsored sport in 2016-17. The championship was contested in Lexington, Virginia, 10 times from 1974-85 during the SoCon's first stint sponsoring the sport, from 1956-85.
UAB won its second consecutive SoCon Rifle Championship in 2020. The Blazers' Amy Kohan was named the freshman of the year while Georgia Southern head coach Sandra Worman and VMI's head coach Lt. Col. Bill Bither were named co-coaches of the year. Smallbore champion Kimberlee Nettles of North Georgia was named the Smallbore Athlete of the Year and Air Rifle Co-Athlete of the Year. Wofford's Dan Wesson earned the individual air rifle championship honor, while Georgia Southern's Ashley Judson garnered Air Rifle Co-Athlete of the Year honors. UAB's Jordan Blankenship earned the Pinnacle Award as the student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team.
UAB won the smallbore title on the first day of the championship before North Georgia claimed air rifle the following day.
Rifle returned to the SoCon in 2017, adding to the conference's rich rifle history. Current members The Citadel have won a league-best 10 team titles and VMI claimed two titles during the league's first incarnation (1956-85). West Virginia's John Writer, the 1965 and 1966 SoCon individual champion, won a gold medal in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games and a silver in 1968 in Mexico City, both in rifle three positions. ETSU became a player on the national scene from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, winning seven straight SoCon titles and placing third at the inaugural NCAA Championships in 1980. The Bucs finished no worse than fourth at the NCAA Championships each year from 1980-85. North Georgia won the first two team titles since the return of SoCon rifle before UAB and GS cracked the podium last year.Live scoring will be available through MegaLink.
Players Mentioned
