FLW Tour Fujifilm pros finish atop 2002 year-end team standings

Strader, Richardson, Thomas, Blaukat, Swett and Stickler win share of bragging rights heading into 2003 FLW Tour season

It wasn’t exactly a photo finish, but it sure was darn close. By the time the final chapter of the 2002 Wal-Mart FLW Tour season was in the books, Team Fujifilm had edged out Team Kellogg’s by a mere 1.3 points to grab top honors in this year’s FLW Tour sponsor team standings race. But while there are presently no official awards for winning the sponsor team competition, Team Fujifilm anglers were nonetheless pleased that their collection of strong individual performances was enough to best some of the most competitive pro teams in the nation.

“It really makes you feel good because there are some real heavy hitters on the other teams,” said Wesley Strader, who led all Fujifilm team members with 922 points. “I think we all really improved from last year. Our team really excelled. Everybody stepped up this year.”

Fujifilm team member Wes Thomas, known for his trademark Fuji logo-decorated sunglasses, comedic wit and easygoing demeanor, seemed equally proud of the accomplishment.

“I’m tickled to death that we won the team competition,” said Thomas. “We kind of followed the standings unofficially all year, so it feels pretty good that at the end of the season, we came out on top. I’m pleased for the guys as well as for Fuji.”

Although Strader paced Team Fuji with an FLW Tour victory at Lake Ouachita and a ninth-place finish on Lake Wheeler, each team member played a crucial role in the overall victory. Wes Thomas (23rd-place finish at Lake Okeechobee), Randy Blaukat (a 14th-place finish at Lake Wheeler as well as four top-35 finishes throughout the season), Joel Richardson (two top-25 finishes including a 14th-place finish at Lake Champlain), Sam Swett (a 31st-place finish at Lake Wheeler) and Sean Stickler (a 59th-place finish at Lake Wheeler) turned in a string of clutch performances throughout the year. And with a margin of victory of less than two points, it was clear that every contribution was crucial.

Competitors gearing up for rematch

Fuji’s victory has already served to galvanize the rest of the competition. In fact, Clark Wendlandt, who spearheaded Team Kellogg’s second-place finish, said that he fully expects to give Team Fujifilm members all they can handle next year.

“First of all, I’d like to congratulate Team Fuji on their accomplishment,” said Wendlandt, who finished the year with 1,007 points, the highest point total of any team-sponsored angler in the competition. “But I think the Kellogg’s guys definitely want to come out on top next year. I’ve spent a lot of time with our team recently, and I think everyone is going to be ready for next season. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Team Castrol members also argued that Fujifilm anglers better start looking over their shoulders come 2003.

“If there’s a challenge to be had, we’re going to meet it,” said David Dudley, who lead fourth-ranked Team Castrol with 990 points. “I look for us to do a lot better next year. As a team, we’re going to do everything we can to come out on top.”

To calculate the final standings, sponsor team anglers received the same point totals that they received for the FLW Angler-of-the-Year competition – 200 points for every first-place tournament finish, 199 points for second place, 198 points for third, and so on. However, because some sponsor teams have more anglers than others, the outcome of the team competition is determined by the overall team average. In short, each team’s total points were added up and then divided by the number of anglers on that team to compute an overall team average. After the final calculation, Fuji’s team average ranked first with 777.5 points, barely edging out Team Kellogg’s 776.2 points.

Team Coleman earned third-place honors with 763.3 points, while Team Castrol and Team Stanley rounded out the top five with 694.8 and 686.3 points, respectively. Team Snickers finished in sixth place with 615 points, followed by Team Conseco (611.4 points), Team Alpo (603 points) and Land O’ Lakes (601.8 points).

The Fujifilm family

Fujifilm team anglers weren’t the only ones sporting big smiles after the final team standings were announced. Cindy Bogan, Fujifilm’s national account manager, and Bruce Fleming, Fujifilm’s vice president of national accounts, said they couldn’t be any more proud of their team right now.

“Obviously, we’re thrilled,” said Bogan. “We always want our anglers to place as high as they can because they’re such great guys. But as far as we’re concerned, we don’t need them to come in first place to know they’re special. They visit the kids in schools. They help promote programs like, ‘Fish, Photo and Release,’ and ‘Take a Kid Fishing.’ They’re just great guys. Overall, this year was such a bonus.”

“We’re just so proud of these guys,” said Fleming, who actively follows his team’s exploits throughout the season. “They root for each other and they represent Fuji very well. They had some real tough competition this year, so they really had to put it all together. It was a real team effort.”

Team Fuji anglers said that the feeling was mutual.

“Everybody associated with Fuji is great,” said Strader. “We’re more like a family than a team. Everyone helps each other out, and we all relate to each other very well. I can’t thank our sponsors enough. They’re really dedicated to our sport and they do everything possible to make sure we have whatever we need to remain competitive. I can’t say enough good things about them.”

Although Fuji team members acknowledged that they earned a hard-fought victory in 2002, they also saw no reason why they couldn’t duplicate the feat next year.

“I really enjoyed the whole year,” said Thomas. “Fuji has been really good to us and they’ve given us tremendous support. The guys all get along and we’re always willing to help each other out. Hopefully, we can win the competition next year as well.”

Related links: Final 2002 FLW Tour sponsor team standings