GHSA Riflery State Championship Preview

The GHSA Three-Position Riflery State Championship will take over the Shooting Education Sports Education Center at Georgia Southern University this Saturday. The fifteen team winners of the GHSA Semifinal competition plus two individual place teams will compete for the state team Championship. Saturday will be both a team and individual competition for all the participants. Each five-person team will count the top four scores for the team tally and the athletes that fire the highest eight scores will qualify for the individual finals.

This past year, Colin Haskins’ 296-point performance led Georgia Military its first ever state title—fueling their team total of 1160 points to edge Northside-Columbus (1154) and dethrone three-time defending champion Ware County. During the Gators’ three-year state championship run from 2017-19, Ware County etched its name in the state record-books. The 2018 team of Laci Jewell, Ben Smith, Tyler Hanson and Raine Riggins shot a phenomenal 1169 score and then Jewell set the individual state championship and finals record with scores of 298 and 401. Haskins’ was just two points shy of the all-time record last year.

As for this year’s field, Woodward Academy (1158), Georgia Military (1157-64), Ware County (1157-63), and Lumpkin County (1155), East Coweta (1153) and North Gwinnett (1146) posted the top team scores in the semifinals and Social Circle (1143), Wilcox County (1141) and Kennesaw Mountain (1140) were also very successful. Ware County and North Gwinnett, narrowly lost in the semifinals to Georgia Military and East Coweta, respectively, but advanced as the two highest scoring losing teams from the semifinals to round out the championship field. Woodward Academy and Social Circle both had all five shooters score 280 points or higher and they will need that depth to earn the state title. Woodward’s last team championship came in 2004 and Social Circle is in search for its first-ever.