A strong opening day in smallbore helped propel the Georgia Southern rifle team to the 2023 Southern Conference Rifle title at The Citadel's Inouye Marksmanship Center. After winning the smallbore title with a conference-record 2,315 on Saturday, the squad took third in air rifle with a 2,342 to post a conference-meet record 4,657 and roll past rivals North Georgia and The Citadel by 41 points and defend the title the Eagles won last year.
In the air rifle preliminaries, Ashley Judson got the Eagles off to a solid start with a 590 in the first relay, which ended up being the third-best-best score. Addy Burrow posted a 592 to finish second and was followed by Amy Visconti (584; 9th), Lillian Herring (576; T-17th) and Bella Gamez (567; 31st).
"I'm really happy for the team and to cap off a great season with a SoCon Championship. We're walking away from this weekend with a few things to work on but I'm really happy with the performance our team gave. We had a lot of great individual performances," said Soren Butler. "I think this team is just getting started and we cannot wait to get to work on next year!"
With their scores, Judson and Burrow advanced to the finals. Burrow would take second place and Judson would take the bronze medal. Both student-athletes medaled in both discipline this weekend.
Burrow was named both the Smallbore and Air Rifle Athlete of the Year. Judson was given the Pinnacle Award, given to the student-athlete on the championship team with the highest cumulative GPA. Earning first-team smallbore all-conference honors were Burrow and Visconti. Burrow earned first-team air rifle all-conference honors while Judson, Mayo and Visconti all earned second-team honors.
The Scores
- Georgia Southern: 4,657 (2,315 smallbore; 2,342 air rifle)
- The Citadel: 4,616 (2,269 smallbore; 2,347 air rifle)
- North Georgia: 4,616 (2,270 smallbore; 2,346 air rifle)
- UAB: 4,572 (2,263 smallbore; 2,309 air rifle)
- VMI: 4,543 (2,234 smallbore; 2,309 air rifle)
- VMI (W): 4,484 (2,199 smallbore; 2,285 air rifle)
- Wofford: 4,419 (2,176 smallbore; 2,243 air rifle)
- Citadel (W): 4,408 (2,167 smallbore; 2,241 air rifle)
THE INDIVIDUALS (Alphabetical Order)
Addy Burrow
Senior - Williamson, Ga.
Smallbore - 585 (2nd; 3rd in Final)
Air Rifle - 592 (2nd; 2nd in Final)
Aggregate - 1,177 (1st)
Bella Gamez
Junior - San Antonio, Texas
Air Rifle - 567 (31st)
Lillian Herring
Senior - York, Pa.
Smallbore - 564 (T-15th)
Air Rifle - 576 (T-17th)
Aggregate - 1,140
Ashley Judson
Senior - Acworth, Ga.
Smallbore - 571 (6th; Runner-Up in Final)
Air Rifle - 590 (3rd; 3rd in Final)
Aggregate - 1,161 (5th)
Anna Mayo
Senior - Lawrenceville, Ga.
Smallbore - 573 (T-4th; Career High; 5th in Final)
Amy Visconti
Junior - Champlain, N.Y.
Smallbore - 586 (1st; Career High; SoCon Champ)
Air Rifle - 584 (9th)
Aggregate - 1,170 (3rd; Career High)
Up Next: Addy Burrow will represent Georgia Southern at the 2023 NCAA Air Rifle Championship next weekend in Akron, Ohio.
