Auburn dominates winning FLW College Fishing Southeastern Conference Championship

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Auburn University team of Jordan Lee and Shane Powell, both of Auburn, Ala., won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Southeastern Conference Championship presented by Evinrude on Lake Wylie Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 8 ounces. Their three day total weight of 35 pounds, 14 ounces beat the University of North Carolina – Charlotte by 5 pounds, 1 ounce. For their victory the team from Auburn won a Ranger Z117 bass boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a berth in the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship.

“We were really blessed this week,” said Lee a senior in business marketing. “We caught so many fish all week; our hands are just tore-up. We killed `em! We came close to winning a conference title so many times and came in second, this win feels really good.

“We stayed deep all day today, we didn’t even go shallow,” Lee went on to say. “The shallowest fish we caught was probably 20 feet deep. Our key bait was probably the swimbait; we were using a 1-ounce head so that we could get it deep. We caught a lot using crankbaits too, but the big ones came off the swimbait, Berkley’s Hollow Belly.”

Covering a lot of water the team from Auburn said they probably fished the entire lake, however, above the bridge in South Fork was by far their most productive area. Electronics played a big role in their win as well. The team indicated that the fish would reposition every day and they used their graph to locate the fish and then take 10 to 20 minutes idling to key in on the bass.

“We hit one spot today where we were catching a fish on every cast for 20 minutes solid,” said Powell, a senior in fisheries. “It was awesome! We caught doubles about six times, it was sick.

“We were long-lining,” continued Powell. “You can really dig the bottom doing that and this lake is perfect for it; there is no cover, no rocks, no brush, no wood.

“Today was”t a struggle. We had our limit by 9 a.m., the earliest limit we have had all week. We caught so many fish my hands are bloody. This really has been an awesome week. I didn’t know we won a boat, that’s a bonus! I can’t wait to get to Nationals.”

Top-five final results:

1st: Auburn University – Jordan Lee and Shane Powell, both of Auburn, Ala., 15 bass, 35-14

2nd: University of North Carolina-Charlotte – Shane Lehew, Charlotte, N.C., and Adam Waters, Denver, N.C., 15 bass, 30-13, $5,000

3rd: Indian River State College – Kyle Monti and Mike Cornell, both of Okeechobee, Fla., 15 bass, 29-3, $3,000

4th: University of Alabama – Dustin Connell, Clanton, Ala., and Logan Johnson, Tuscaloosa, Ala., 15 bass, 29-1, $3,000

5th: University of Central Florida – Miles Burghoff, Orlando, Fla., and Casey O’Donnell, Bradenton, Fla., 15 bass, 27-3, $3,000

Four regular-season qualifying events were held in each conference – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southern and Western – the top five teams from each regular-season event qualified for one of five conference championships. The top five teams from each conference championship advance to the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship.

College Fishing is free to enter and FLW provides boats and drivers for each competing team along with travel allowances. All participants must be registered, full-time undergraduate students at a four-year college or university and members of a fishing club recognized by their college or university.

Coverage of the Southeastern Conference Championship will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network when “FLW” airs Dec. 23 from 1-2 p.m. EST. “FLW” is hosted by Jason Harper and is broadcast to more than 559 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.

TBF along with FLW held the High School Southeastern Conference Championship on Saturday in conjunction with the FLW College Fishing Southeastern Conference Championship. Eight teams from across the region were competing and K.J. Queen and Chelsey Queen, both of Catawba, N.C. representing Bandys High School, won the tournament, which was also held on Lake Wylie, with a five-bass limit weighing 10-7.

The team beat their closest competitor, TL Hanna High School out of South Carolina by a mere 14 ounces.

“We stayed shallow all day, mostly targeting docks and rip rap with floating worms and jigs,” said K J Queen, a junior at Bundys. “But it was more tough than anything today.”

Fishing Lake Wylie is not new for the brother and sister team from North Carolina. They both had won tournaments on Wylie in the past, each fishing with their dad.

“I couldn’t ask for a better partner than my brother,” said Chelsey Queen a graduated senior of Bandys. “It can be painful and stressful (referring to her brother’s earlier comment) but we motivate each other and work well together as a team.”

After winning several tournaments during high school, the older Chelsey Queen was recruited by Bethel University in Tennessee and is now attending college on a bass fishing scholarship.

Final High School results:

1st: Bandys High School – Kristopher Queen and Chelsey Queen, both of Catawba, N.C., five bass, 10-7

2nd: TL Hanna High School – Hampton Anderson and Eli Roland, both of Anderson, S.C., five bass, 9-9

3rd: Murray High School – Ian Heskett and Chaz Lucas, both of Murray, Ky., five bass, 9-9

4th: Baconton High School/Westwood Academy – Kyle Parks, Albany, Ga., and Tyler Classon, Baconton, Ga., five bass, 8-6

5th: Thompson High School – Austin Herring, Alabaster, Ala., and Colby Yessick, Maylene, Ala., four bass, 7-9

6th: Oliver Springs High School – Dustin Mayton and Hayden Everett, both of Oliver Springs, Tenn., three bass, 4-8

7th: Pine Ridge High School – Trevor Brown, Deltona, Fla., and Austin Murray, Deland, Fla., one bass, 3-6

8th: Potts Camp High School/Hickory Flatts High School – Garrett Riles, Potts Camp, Miss., and Preston Wilkinson, Hickory Flat, Miss., one bass, 1-11

High School Fishing Tournaments are open to all ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students, including home schooled students that are members of the Student Angler Federation. The winning team from each state championship advances to a High School Fishing Conference Championship. Boats are provided upon request at all Conference Championships. The winning team from each Conference Championship will receive trophies and commemorative jerseys, and advance to the 2013 High School Fishing National Championship, held in conjunction with the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship in the spring.

Each member of the winning National High School Fishing Championship team will receive a $5,000 scholarship to use at the University of their choice. Teams participating in the conference championships and National Championship will also receive a travel allowance to help offset their expenses.

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