RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Competing in its first tournament of the fall, the Catawba Valley Community College bass fishing team had three solid finishes during this past weekend's AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open on Lake Dardanville.

Competing in a field of 215 boats, all three Red Hawk duos finished among the top 75 percent of the field, including two Catawba Valley teams inside the top 80 boats.

"I am really please with our team's performance at this tournament," said Red Hawk bass fishing head coach Angela Mayo. "This was the first college tournament for most of our anglers. They really stepped up and fish well under very tough conditions."

The freshmen tandem of Hunter Keller and Grant Harris were the highest-placing Red Hawks, finishing in 52nd place. Keller and Harris were in 26th place after the first day of competition, catching 9.61 pounds of bass.

Sophomore Justin Eggers and freshman Carson Eckard, who was competing in his first collegiate tournament, finished not far behind Keller and Harris in 79th place with 6.89 pounds of bass.

Also both competing in their first tournament, Red Hawk anglers Wes Smith and Cabe Mackey finished in 151st place.

Although this was the first tournament for five of the six Red Hawk anglers who competed, Mayo is proud of her anglers' performance.

"We are still working on parings for this season because we are such a young team so this tournament was the first time these guys have fished together," Mayo said. "They all worked well together and fished hard. I'm really looking forward to the season and watching these anglers grow."

The Catawba Valley Community College bass fishing team returns to the water on Friday, Oct. 22 for the 2021 Major League Fishing (MLF) Southeastern Conference tournament on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tenn.