November 02, 2009

Contact:   Marc Gignac, Director of Sports Information, 704/894-2123

DAVIDSON, N.C. - National Guard FLW College Fishing is heading to Lake Norman Nov. 7-9, for its $100,000 Northern Regional Championship, hosted by Davidson. As part of the regional championship, college teams will compete for a top award of $50,000.

Davidson will also host the Reel Life Festival on Saturday, Nov. 7, from noon to 4 p.m. in conjunction with the Northern Regional Championship. The free festival, located on the Davidson Village Green, will feature the National Guard Warrior Challenge ropes course, rock-climbing wall, paintball range, geocaching, music and a variety of other activities. Davidson athletics will be participating with promotional basketball giveaways, including tickets for the upcoming season.

Fans are encouraged to drop by the festival before the Wildcat men's basketball team hosts Lenoir-Rhyne in an exhibition game in Belk Arena at 7 p.m.

During the championship, teams representing 12 universities will take off from Blythe Landing located at 15901 NC Highway 73 in Huntersville, N.C., at 7 each morning. Weigh-ins will be held daily on the Davidson Village Green beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public. On Sunday and Monday, Nov. 8 and 9, the Reel Life Festival will run in conjunction with the tournament weigh-in from 4 to 7 p.m.

Teams will fish for a top award of $25,000 for their university plus a 177TR Ranger wrapped in school colors and powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard for their bass fishing club.

The top five teams from each of five National Guard FLW College Fishing Regional Championships will advance to the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship April 10-12, 2010, on the University of Tennessee campus. The winning team at the national championship will qualify for the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.

Teams slated to compete in the Northern Regional Championship are:
Army
Charlotte
Chestnut Hill College
Fairmont State University
Hampden-Sydney College
Longwood University
North Carolina State University
Penn State
Plattsburgh State
Shepherd University
Vermont Technical College
Virginia Tech

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also has taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports.

###