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When the average fan hops online to check the results of a bass fishing tournament, most eyes land only on the names of the winners. But during the 2008 Under Armour College Bass National Championship, many collegiate anglers overcame serious obstacles to simply cast a line in the tournament. And regardless of their final positions in the standings, these students proved their stories should also be heard and recognized.
Voting for the 2008 Under Armor Undeniable Performance Award ends Friday, January 11th, 2009.
Make sure to check back and see who won!
Securing a boat was last on Kyle Connelly and Tim Endruschat's list of worries while preparing for their school’s first UACBNC appearance. But as it turned out, it became their biggest nightmare. With everything ready to go before the 1000- mile-plus trip to Arkansas, a fierce Florida thunderstorm caused a tree to fall on their boat and crack its hull through the middle. Unsure of how to proceed, Connelly and Endruschat identified the host marina for the tournament, Jolly Roger’s Marina, and rented a boat for the duration of the event.
Unbeknownst to the FAU team, the rental boat did not feature a working livewell—a crucial requirement for any bass tournament to avoid penalties—and given this reality, the resourceful anglers soon fashioned their own creation from a cooler and an aerator pump. This homemade livewell helped the team avoid penalties. The Florida Atlantic University finished the tournament in 42nd place.
Northwestern State University’s Paul Rini and Zack Gagnard were heading out for a second practice day when suddenly they saw a problem. Smoke was pouring from the boat’s console and then the engine seized and quit. After an hour-long, two-mile trek back to Jolly Roger’s Marina, powered only by the trolling motor, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission service crews diagnosed the big engine’s problem and repaired it onsite. Fishing in their school’s first UACBNC, it looked like tragedy had been averted.
On the first official day of the tournament, the NSU team caught 7.65 pounds and decided to return to the weigh-in ramp when lightning struck twice. A blown lower unit ended the team’s chances of finishing the tournament out of their vessel. Unsure of what to do, Gagnard called his grandmother and asked her to bring a spare boat. With no questions asked, she hopped in a truck and made the trip from Louisiana to Little Rock with a new boat in-tow. Grandma arrived at 10:30 p.m. that evening and the NSU anglers cruised to a sixth-place finish in the tournament on Day Two.
Alex Sahliyeh and Drew Sanford of Drury University didn’t know they would be fishing together in Little Rock until a week before the championship. Having experienced some bad weather during their qualifying season, the DU team was forced to push their qualifiers back to the last weekend in June. But once the team arrived at the UACBNC, the second-straight appearance for Drury University, Sahliyeh and Sanford realized their trolling motor wouldn’t work. And since their first day of practice came on a Sunday, it meant all the marinas and mechanic shops were closed.
The DU team found a solution at the local hardware store. Sahliyeh and Sanford bought a 12-foot piece of PVC pipe and created their own push-pole. This homemade pole would get them through practice until they could get their trolling motor fixed. Drury University finished in 41st place in the tournament despite spending most of their practice time inside the walls of a hardware store.
Four days before the UACBNC started, Auburn University’s Richard Peek was in Valdosta, Georgia with no plans to go to Little Rock. But one phone call to fellow AU angler Adam Murphree changed everything. Murphree learned his original partner would not be able to compete in the tournament and immediately called his advisor in hopes of contacting Richard to substitute.
But with only a few days to spare before the tournament began, Murphree needed to leave for Maumelle—with or without a new partner. Fishing alone, Murphree located the deep hole that eventually produced the largest sack on the Arkansas lake at 14.08 pounds.
On Sunday evening, Peek arrived in Little Rock after receiving word from his advisor and making the long drive. The recent arrival also brought along his ‘lucky lawn chair’— a standard lawn chair in which he fished from the front of the boat— and Murphree and Peek quickly gelled on the water before the tournament began. The timely duo finished Auburn’s first UACBNC in fifth place.
With three top-ten finishes in three years, Eastern Kentucky University has been by far the most consistent school competing in the UACBNC. Beaming with pride about his school’s record, Richard Cobb V or “RC-5” as he’s more commonly-known made it clear throughout the year that he would stop at nothing to compete in the 2008 tournament.
Earlier in the year, however, Cobb had taken a summer job at a local country club in Richmond, Kentucky. Before he was hired, the EKU student handed his management a list with all of his fishing tournaments and their respective dates—he wanted to make it clear when he needed time off of work. According to Cobb, an agreement was reached.
When the time rolled around for him and partner Tyler Moberly to leave for Little Rock, Cobb’s management suddenly told him he couldn’t take off for “a stupid little fishing tournament.” So the proud EKU student angler immediately quit the job and headed west on the highway. The EKU team, featuring a jobless RC-5, managed to put together a seventh-place finish.
