UNC Charlotte students Andrew Helms and Jake Whitaker recently won the 2015 Bassmaster College Classic, held on Lake Keowee in South Carolina.
Helms, a marketing major from Monroe, said, “There were only eight teams invited to this event, and we qualified by winning the national championship (2014 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship). Though the field was small, we were able to weigh in right before the pros on the biggest stage in bass fishing. This was huge for us, as there were thousands in attendance and also many more watching live online.”
The 2015 Bassmaster College Classic was held in conjunction with the professional Bassmaster Classic, considered the biggest event in the sport of bass fishing.
The UNC Charlotte duo, members of the University’s Bass Fishing Club known as the Bass Rats, edged the team from Clemson University. Helms and Whitaker caught five bass that weighed a total of 9 pounds and 6 ounces. Eight collegiate teams competed at Lake Keowee, an 18,500-acre impoundment located not far from Lake Hartwell, site of the Bassmaster Classic.
UNC Charlotte’s sport club program is open to all enrolled students. Unlike intramural sports, which compete on campus, sport club teams travel and play against other university club teams. The clubs are organized and run by students, giving them opportunities for leadership and personal growth as well as the pursuit of their specific sport skills.