BIRMINGHAM, Ala.,-July 26, 2002-While the 52 B.A.S.S. pros competed on Lay Lake for the sport's world title, ten aspiring young anglers went casting for championship titles of their own at the Bassmasters CastingKids National Finals.
The two champions are Benjamin Tawney, 10, of Parkton, N.C., and Rex Rodanas, 12, of Bedford, N.H. Tawney scored a total of 130 points to win the 7-10 age division while Rodanas scored 140 points to gain the 11-14 championship.
Tawney, a two-time North Carolina state CastingKids champion, was in his element at the championship held concurrently with the Classic. He wants to one day become a professional angler and compete alongside the pros when he grows up.
Rodanas has already reached pro status in the CastingKids program. In 1998, he lost the championship title in a tie-breaking cast-off when he was 8 years old. Since 1997, he has won six New Hampshire state championships and qualified five times for the national semifinals.
"It feels good to finally win it," he said. "I really worked hard to get here and am glad my sister was here to see me win it. It's really neat that we were the first two siblings to make it this far in the B.A.S.S. organization."
Rodanas' sister Vanessa competed in the 7-10 age division and placed fifth with a score of 90 points. Both siblings are spirited competitors in the sport of fencing as well.
The champions in each division earned $5,000 scholarship awards for their achievements. Overall, $20,000 in academic scholarship funds was awarded at the national championship.
Taking second place in the 7-10 division was Arkansas' Sara Paxton with a score of 120 points. Jeffrey Reeder of Washington State and Minnesota's Joshua Erickson both scored 110 points but Reeder won the tie breaker to place third.
Former CastkingKids national champion C.J. Shirey of Alabama scored 130 points to earn second place in the 11-14 division. After three finalists tied with 120 points, Gregory Gutierrez Jr. of California took third. Kody McCollam, another former national champion, was fourth. Missouri's Chris Smreker was fifth.
CastingKids competitions divide youngsters into two age groups, 7-10 and 11-14. The events, which are set up similar to the NFL's Pass, Punt and Kick contests, have the youngsters compete in the fundamentals of flipping, pitching and casting a hookless lure into a bull's-eye-style target. Points are awarded based on distance from the center. Each competitor is given two chances to flip, pitch and cast, with the highest score from each attempt added together for a total score. The highest possible total is 150 points.
CastingKids began in 1991 as a means of promoting fishing to youths. Since then, the B.A.S.S. program has reached more than 1 million kids and awarded $2 million in scholarships to the winners.