Americana Outdoors E-Magazine - July 2018 Edition

accomplishment. The second member of the tandem, Cole Sands , understands the magnitude of this moment for his team, ” We’re ecstatic and extremely blessed to have this finish.” UNA HAS NO COMPLAINTS TAKING THIRD Rounding out the top three for the BoatUS Colle- giate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Cabela’s is a pair of anglers from the University of North Alabama. Triston Crowder and Lake Blas- ingame weighed in 18.10 pounds to finish with a two day total of 40.70 pounds. The pair of local anglers entered today just 0.03 pounds outside of first place. Of the field entering today, they had the smallest margin to make up in order to claim first place. Although they would have liked to win, Crowder has no complaints about finishing in third, “I’ll lose to Nathan and Cole from Bryan, and I’ll lose to Cole and Carter from Bethel. They’re re- ally good fishermen. It just don’t bother me that they beat me.” Last year, the UNA team of Sloan Pennington and Hunter McCarty won this very tournament. There has never been a school repeat back to back as champion in this event, and these two entered to- day looking to capitalize on the opportunity. “We definitely wanted to win. Not only to keep the tro- phy here in Florence, but just because it’s been a dream of both of ours for a long time,” said Blas- ingame. Once the weights were finalized, Crowder and Blasingame fell shy of accomplishing their dream and making history, but they are pleased with their third place showing.

Triston Crowder of UNA picks up his trolling motor to head to their primary spot after making a quick stop in the morning of Day 2.

Lake Blasingame (left) and Triston Crowder (right) go home with $2,500 worth of contingencies along with a Cabela’s Gear Package.

To view the complete standings, click here .

University of North Alabama pose with their winnings as they take 2nd Place in the Race for the Cabela’s School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.