STATESBORO - Freshman Emme Walrath of the Georgia Southern rifle team will represent the United States of America at the ISSF Junior World Championships from Sept. 26 to Oct. 7 at the Las Palmas Shooting Range in Lima, Peru. The Kenosha, Wisconsin, native will be making her second appearance at the prestigious event as she shot in Egypt in 2022, taking sixth in air rifle.

"Going to Junior World Championships representing Team USA and Georgia Southern will be such an incredible experience as I'll have the opportunity to test myself against the best," Walrath said. "It means so much to me to compete and bring pride to the United States and Eagle Nation. I can't wait to show everyone how proud I am to be an Eagle and to compete for Team USA!"

Walrath will depart for her flight to Lima on Sept. 25 and meet up with 39 other USA junior teammates who will shoot in various events such as pistol, trap, and skeet. She will compete in three events: 10m mixed team junior air rifle on Sept. 29 (50 teams of two), 10m air rifle women junior on Sept. 30 (100 participants) and 50m rifle 3-position junior (smallbore outdoors; 100 participants) on Oct. 2. 

She will then return home in time for the Eagles' season-opening weekend on Oct. 5 and 6 to make her collegiate debut.

"We're super excited to have Emme represent Georgia Southern and the USA down in Lima," Georgia Southern head rifle coach Soren Butler said. "It's truly a world-class event, and I know Emme has been working hard since qualifying last spring after winning the Junior Olympics. We're looking forward to cheering her on there. Obviously, it's great for our program to have that representation at an event like this, and it shows the direction the program is headed. She'll have a solid week of competitions before returning in time for our first two matches, so it'll be a good test to start the year."

Walrath earned a spot on the team through a qualification process. She first competed at the Olympic Training Center in April, where she took first place in smallbore and second place in air rifle at the USA Junior Olympics. She then followed that up with a strong performance at Fort Benning in June at the USA Shooting Nationals, where she took second place in junior smallbore and third place in the open division air rifle.

Five females and five males earned spots on Team USA in rifle, most of whom also compete at the NCAA level. 

Walrath is the first Georgia Southern shooter to qualify for this event while on the GS rifle team. To be eligible for the team, competitors must be 21 or younger at the time of qualification.