Eagles Knock Off Top-Ranked West Virginia

Sunday, October 18

Statesboro, GA

8 AM

Georgia Southern University

4740

4738

West Virginia

NCAA Box Score

10/18/2026 6:15:00 PM | Women's Rifle

Team posts first ever win over #1 team

NCAA SCORECARD

STATESBORO - For the first time in program history, the Georgia Southern rifle team knocked off the top-ranked team in the country as the Eagles beat two-time defending national champion West Virginia 4,740-4,738 Sunday at the Shooting Sports Education Center. The fourth-ranked Eagles also picked up wins over #19 UAB and Georgia Military College in the four-team event.

In smallbore, three Eagles placed in the top as Emme Walrath led the way with a 591 to take second. Bremen Butler shot a season-high 590 to place fourth and Zahra Gonzalez Mazo tied her career high with a 588 to place sixth.

In air rifle, the Eagles trailed by three points late, but got a pair of 100 series from both Carlee Valenta and Emma Pohlmann, in addition to five dropped points from WVU's top two shooters to pull ahead late and clai the win. Georgia Southern had six of the top seven shooters in the discipline, led by Butler (598; 2nd) and Pohlmann (598; 3rd). Walrath (4th), Valenta (5th) and Matilda Eylander (6th) all shot 597s to help the Eagles post a strong 2,390 team score.

In aggregate, five players finished in the top 10, with both Walrath (2nd) and Butler (3rd) posting 1,188s. Gonzalez Mazo shot an 1,180 to place sixth while Pohlmann shot an 1,179 to take eight and Valenta's 1,178 placed her 10th.

The 4,740 is the third-highest team score ever posted in SSEC history and is the Eagles' highest score of the year. Georgia Southern owns four wins over teams ranked third in the country (TCU once and Alaska twice last year) and Ole Miss in 2023. That was the previous mark for highest-ranked team beaten in program history.

Words From Coach Soren Butler: "Really proud of the girls for putting together a great weekend of shooting. Today's performance was pretty special just seeing the girls completely present and focused on our match. West Virginia is an elite team and very hard to beat, so this is a big step for our team in belief. I cannot wait to see where they go from here. Hail Southern over and over and over again. This was awesome to be a part of."

THE SCORES
#4 Georgia Southern: 4,740 (2,350 smallbore; 2,390 air rifle)
#1 West Virginia: 4,738 (2,358 smallbore; 2,380 air rifle)
#19 UAB: 4,568 (2,261 smallbore; 2,307 air rifle)
Georgia Military College: 4,566 (2,264 smallbore; 2,302 air rifle)

THE INDIVIDUALS (Alphabetical Order)
Bremen Butler
Fourth Year - Fort Wayne, Ind.
Smallbore - 590 (4th)
Air Rifle - 598 (2nd)
Aggregate - 1,188 (3rd)

Matilda Eylander
Second Year - Adelaide, South Australia
Smallbore - 566 (20th)
Air Rifle - 597 (6th)
Aggregate - 1,163

Zahra Gonzalez Mazo
Fourth Year - Logroño, Spain
Smallbore - 588 (6th)
Air Rifle - 592 (13th)
Aggregate - 1,180

Chloe Parish
First Year - Conway, Ark.
Smallbore - 568 (19th)
Air Rifle - 591 (15th)
Aggregate - 1,159

Emma Pohlmann
Fifth Year - Nentershausen, Germany
Smallbore - 581 (12th)
Air Rifle - 598 (3rd)
Aggregate - 1,179 (8th)

Hailey Singleton
Third Year - Bellevue, Ohio
Smallbore - 580 (13th)
Air Rifle - 585 (18th)
Aggregate - 1,165

Carlee Valenta
Third Year - Harrison City, Pa.
Smallbore - 581 (11th)
Air Rifle - 597 (5th)
Aggregate - 1,178 (10th)

Emme Walrath
Third Year - Kenosha, Wisc.
Smallbore - 591 (2nd)
Air Rifle - 597 (4th)
Aggregate - 1,188 (2nd)

Leyi Xu
First Year - Beijing, China
Smallbore - 568 (18th)
Air Rifle - 584 (19th)
Aggregate - 1,152

UP NEXT: at #2 Ole Miss; Saturday, Oct. 25