STATESBORO, Ga. – For the fourth straight season, the No. 20 University of North Georgia rifle team has claimed the Georgia State Championship, as the Nighthawks finished ahead of Georgia Southern and Georgia Military in a three-team event on Saturday at GSU's Shooting Sports Education Center.

North Georgia posted a 4,499 (2,215 smallbore and 2,284 air rifle) to finish 34 points ahead of the host Eagles. Georgia Military was third with a 4,089.

Ruthanne Conner was the event's top performer with an aggregate score of 1,145 (560 smallbore and 585 air rifle).  Tobin Sanctuary (1,124 – 564 smallbore and 560 air rifle) and David Turner (1,121 - 554 smallbore and 567 air rifle) also posted top-five finishes for North Georgia.

Sanctuary's smallbore score was the top mark out of 18 shooters, while Conner's air rifle score set the benchmark for the field.

Conner and Turner finished on Sanctuary's heels to give North Georgia the top three finishers in smallbore.

The first place finish is the second of the season for the Nighthawks.

North Georgia returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 18 when the Nighthawks travel to Charleston, S.C. to take part in a SoCon event hosted by The Citadel.