The University of North Alabama Takes Home the Cabela’s School of the Year Title

The University of North Alabama capitalized on their season by taking home the much sought after Cabela’s School of the Year title with a vicious lead over the rest of the field. After winning the title last year, the University of Louisiana-Monroe came in second place this season, followed by the recent B.A.S.S. Wild Card victor, Bethel University.

The Cabela’s School of the Year program offers college anglers the chance to compete at the highest level in over thirty collegiate fishing events each year and counting. The Association of Collegiate Anglers created this program to both rank and reward collegiate fishing teams based on their performance in the Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing Series, Carhartt College B.A.S.S., FLW, and select school-hosted events.

When asked just how prestigious this title is, the Director of College Operations, Wade Middleton, said that “this is the ultimate trophy of college fishing and most people don’t quite understand the significance of the competition and the title. In order for a school to win the Cabela’s School of the Year title, schools have to perform at their very best all year round, and not just one event, which is not easy by any means.”

The UNA team had two of their teams finish in the top fifteen in the recent B.A.S.S Wild Card which gave them a total of 201 points to add to their overall points, now standing at 2,289 points. The staggering 133 point lead over the second place team and previous Cabela’s School of the Year champions, the University of Louisiana-Monroe, was exactly what the UNA team expected by the end of the season.

Being his first season with the team, UNA junior, Cody Harrison, didn’t know what to anticipate from college fishing. Harrison transferred to the university with hopes of being part of one of the best college angling teams in the nation, and is now very pleased to take home the Cabela’s School of the Year title.

“I came to this school with hopes of becoming the Cabela’s School of the Year. I didn’t know what to expect or if it was as serious as the rest of the guys on the team made it to be, but they were right,” Harrison stated. “I’ve fished other big tournaments and this series this was no cake walk. There are some things I didn’t get to accomplish, but winning this title makes up for it all. I’m more than happy to have won the Cabela’s School of the Year title in my first year as a part the University of North Alabama Bass Team. Now we have to work even harder to make sure this title stays with us!”

Robb Young, now alumnus of the University of North Alabama, past president of the UNA team, and last remaining founder of the team, will be handing over the responsibility of the team to the current team president, Dawson Lenz. Young was pleased that all of his hard work that he put into the UNA Bass Team finally rendered the prestigious Cabela’s School of the Year title.

“I’ve been through it all with this team and honestly this title means everything to me,” Young said. “From the first stages of building this team to winning the Cabela’s School of the Year title, it is really a dream come true to win the biggest title in college fishing and just the way I wanted to pass this legacy off to Dawson and the rest of the team.”

Middleton added, “Winning this title is the one of the biggest trophies you can win in the sport of college fishing and throughout the year the University of North Alabama proved that they can bring their ‘A’ game to every event.”

With future seasons in mind, Lenz took ownership of the team throughout this past season as he personally recruited many new members with the intention of growing a stronger team capable of winning the Cabela’s School of the Year title for years to come.

“Robb handed off the responsibility of the team and we did a lot of recruiting last year. It has been a true rebuilding year as our team has doubled in size and everyone is very passionate about winning this title in particular,” Lenz said. “Now that we have such a skilled team, our expectations are to keep on this path and continue to grow as a team and win the 2015 Cabela’s School of the Year title.”

Rounding out the Top Ten teams in the Cabela’s School of the Year title are as follows:

University of North Alabama – 2,289 points
University of Louisiana Monroe – 2,156 points
Bethel University – 2,103 points
Murray State University – 1,860 points
University of Alabama – 1,832 points
University of Tennessee – 1,711 points
Mississippi State University – 1,671 points
Georgetown College – 1,514 points
Clemson University – 1,482 points
Kansas State University – 1,467 points

For more information and complete standings of the School of the Year visit: www.collegiatebasschampionship.com

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