McManus, Hampton win FLW Soldier Appreciation tourney on Lake Harding
AUBURN, Ala. – Spc. Taylor McManus and Sgt. Caleb Hampton won the National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournament held on Lake Harding Saturday. The team, fishing with National Guard FLW College Fishing angler Andrew Gordon of Mississippi State, caught two bass for a total of 3 pounds, 13 ounces to take the title and bragging rights amongst their peers.
“This feels amazing,” McManus said. “I was not expecting to come out and win. I just came out to have fun.”
“It’s nice to get out with the competitors and support the National Guard and the community,” Hampton said. “I just came out to have fun and I didn’t know what to expect. And it was loads of fun.”
Each of the participants in the National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournament are members of the National Guard and most have had at least one tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. In this tournament, each team was allowed to bring in three bass. FLW Outdoors is operating the tournaments in conjunction with the National Guard to show appreciation to our service members of the National Guard.
A total of nine service men and women, five teams, participated in the tournament. Rounding out the teams was:
2nd: SFC (retired) Wayne Robbins and Maj. Stewart Robbins, with Xan Hancock, Mississippi State, 3-5.
3rd: Staff Sgt. Joel Walker, fishing with Andrew Gordon, Mississippi State, 1-15.
4th: PFC Ryan Williams and Pvt. Theodor Aricheta, fishing with John McGraw, South Alabama, 1-12.
5th: MSgt. Mark LaJoye and Sgt. Tywanna Lewis, fishing with Preston Broadhead, University of Montevallo, 0-14.
The Soldier Appreciation Tournament was held in conjunction with the National Guard FLW College Fishing Southeast Division Regional Championship presented by Evinrude.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW Outdoors on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.
About FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors is the best in fishing, on and off the water. Anglers worldwide can compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with the world’s richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing presented by Straight Talk, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player’s Advantage to gain an edge. For more information about FLW Outdoors and FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FLWOutdoors.com or FantasyFishing.com.