<div class="article-headline"> <h1>Meet the MSU fishing team, already nationally recognized</h1> </div> <p class="ratingbyline">Bobby Cleveland • [email protected] • May 11, 2008</p>
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<span class="art_photo_credit">Brian Broom/The Clarion-Ledger</span> <div class="art_photo_caption" style="padding-top: 5px;"> Cal Clark, captain and founder of the MSU bass fishing team, pulls out a chunky bass he caught on Oktibbeha County Lake.
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</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div class="out_body"> STARKVILLE - Mississippi's newest collegiate sports team is a collection of guys who don't pass, punt or kick, shoot free throws or play zones, or swing awkwardly at offspeed pitches. </div>
<div class="out_body"> They do jump hurdles, but only when it comes to financing their travels. </div>
<div class="out_body"> And in under two years, they have already earned a No. 3 national ranking. </div>
<div class="out_body"> Meet Mississippi State University's bass fishing team, a collection of eight graduate and undergraduate students. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "I couldn't believe it when I found out they had started a tournament circuit for college bass fishing," said Cal Clark, a senior accounting student from Pulaski, Tenn. "I was sitting around watching TV and this college fishing tournament came on. I knew right then we had to have a team at State. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "I've been tournament bass fishing since I was 5 with my dad so it was natural. So I made a few calls and we got it going." </div>
<div class="out_body"> Forming a team was an easy sale to close friend and fishing partner Sam Lawrence, a graduate student in agribusiness from Jackson, Tenn. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "Heck, yeah, I was happy about the opportunity," Lawrence said. "It hasn't always been easy. It's expensive, but I was here in graduate school and I had the time." </div>
<div class="out_body"> Six others have joined the group, including Bradley Sartain of Madison and his partner Harry Haliwell of Hattiesburg, who joined Clark and Lawrence for a day of fishing at Oktibbeha County Lake with The Clarion-Ledger's Week on the Water team. </div>
<div class="out_subhead"> EXPENSIVE HABIT </div> <div class="out_body"> "You have to love it or you wouldn't do it," said Sartain, who got his love for fishing from his dad Brian Sartain. "It's expensive. We don't get any support from MSU at all. We pretty much have to provide our own funding, and that means gas, food and hotels when we travel and most of our equipment." </div>
<div class="out_body"> And, as Haliwell points out, just operating a boat is a burden. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "We went on a recent run of tournaments from Arkansas to Alabama pulling a boat, and the gas bill alone was over $800," said Haliwell, who is the only member of his family, close or expanded, to fish. "I hope one day we can get some help from the school. That'd certainly help." </div>
<div class="out_body"> Because the sport is not an NCAA-sanctioned activity, there is no funding, the team's faculty advisor Whit Waide said. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "It's considered a club-level or intramural sport," Waide said. "But you have to give these guys credit. They've worked hard and they've found a sponsor." </div>
<div class="out_body"> The sponsor is the Lake Fork Trophy Lure Company of Texas, owned by an MSU grad. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "One of my pro staff members told me about the Mississippi State team," said Charleston native Ron Parker, who has two daughters enrolled at MSU. "There was a tournament going at Livingston, Texas, and MSU had a team. I got interested and decided I could help them." </div>
<div class="out_body"> On his next visit to Starkville, Parker tracked down Clark and the team and offered assistance. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "I can't tell you how good Mr. Parker has been to me and our team," Clark said. "He's given us so much tackle in the last year and arranged other contacts." </div>
<div class="out_subhead"> TALENTED BULLDOGS </div> <div class="out_body"> It only takes a few hours of observation to see these guys can fish. Clark and Lawrence quickly figured out a workable pattern on a very windy day on Oktibbeha County Lake. By our arrival, they already had a picture fish. </div>
<div class="out_body"> Haliwell is a study in finesse fishing, handling a spinning rod like a pro. He could skip a whacky worm under a pier with precision. Sartain is the non-traditional member, unafraid to pull out a radical lure idea. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "He's all the time picking up something like a Cockahoe Minnow grub and throwing it like he would for a redfish, and he catches bass when nobody else is," Haliwell said. </div>
<div class="out_body"> Sartain laughed. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "Harry's all about finesse, so I figure I'd do something else," he said, adding that the salt water lures work on bass. </div>
<div class="out_body"> That kind of collective ability helped the team ascend to national rankings in a hurry last fall. </div>
<div class="out_body"> Clark and Lawrence finished fifth in the ESPN Under Armour National College Bass Championship and the team took 15th in the Fox College Sports National Championship, the top two events in college fishing. Each school is allowed to enter a certain number of two-man pairs, usually three, in each event. </div>
<div class="out_body"> The high finishes at the ESPN and Fox events combined to earn MSU a No. 3 national ranking behind No. 1 Virginia Tech and No. 2 Texas A&M. </div>
<div class="out_body"> Clark is hoping the successes continue and lead to more financial support. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "We're getting involved in some things to help," he said. "One of the things we're trying to do is hold a fundraising tournament on Barnett Reservoir to benefit Catch-A-Dream Foundation. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "Any help we can get is nice." </div>
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<span class="art_photo_credit">Brian Broom/The Clarion-Ledger</span> <div class="art_photo_caption" style="padding-top: 5px;"> Cal Clark, captain and founder of the MSU bass fishing team, pulls out a chunky bass he caught on Oktibbeha County Lake.
</div> </td> <td width="10">
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div class="out_body"> STARKVILLE - Mississippi's newest collegiate sports team is a collection of guys who don't pass, punt or kick, shoot free throws or play zones, or swing awkwardly at offspeed pitches. </div>
<div class="out_body"> They do jump hurdles, but only when it comes to financing their travels. </div>
<div class="out_body"> And in under two years, they have already earned a No. 3 national ranking. </div>
<div class="out_body"> Meet Mississippi State University's bass fishing team, a collection of eight graduate and undergraduate students. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "I couldn't believe it when I found out they had started a tournament circuit for college bass fishing," said Cal Clark, a senior accounting student from Pulaski, Tenn. "I was sitting around watching TV and this college fishing tournament came on. I knew right then we had to have a team at State. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "I've been tournament bass fishing since I was 5 with my dad so it was natural. So I made a few calls and we got it going." </div>
<div class="out_body"> Forming a team was an easy sale to close friend and fishing partner Sam Lawrence, a graduate student in agribusiness from Jackson, Tenn. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "Heck, yeah, I was happy about the opportunity," Lawrence said. "It hasn't always been easy. It's expensive, but I was here in graduate school and I had the time." </div>
<div class="out_body"> Six others have joined the group, including Bradley Sartain of Madison and his partner Harry Haliwell of Hattiesburg, who joined Clark and Lawrence for a day of fishing at Oktibbeha County Lake with The Clarion-Ledger's Week on the Water team. </div>
<div class="out_subhead"> EXPENSIVE HABIT </div> <div class="out_body"> "You have to love it or you wouldn't do it," said Sartain, who got his love for fishing from his dad Brian Sartain. "It's expensive. We don't get any support from MSU at all. We pretty much have to provide our own funding, and that means gas, food and hotels when we travel and most of our equipment." </div>
<div class="out_body"> And, as Haliwell points out, just operating a boat is a burden. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "We went on a recent run of tournaments from Arkansas to Alabama pulling a boat, and the gas bill alone was over $800," said Haliwell, who is the only member of his family, close or expanded, to fish. "I hope one day we can get some help from the school. That'd certainly help." </div>
<div class="out_body"> Because the sport is not an NCAA-sanctioned activity, there is no funding, the team's faculty advisor Whit Waide said. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "It's considered a club-level or intramural sport," Waide said. "But you have to give these guys credit. They've worked hard and they've found a sponsor." </div>
<div class="out_body"> The sponsor is the Lake Fork Trophy Lure Company of Texas, owned by an MSU grad. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "One of my pro staff members told me about the Mississippi State team," said Charleston native Ron Parker, who has two daughters enrolled at MSU. "There was a tournament going at Livingston, Texas, and MSU had a team. I got interested and decided I could help them." </div>
<div class="out_body"> On his next visit to Starkville, Parker tracked down Clark and the team and offered assistance. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "I can't tell you how good Mr. Parker has been to me and our team," Clark said. "He's given us so much tackle in the last year and arranged other contacts." </div>
<div class="out_subhead"> TALENTED BULLDOGS </div> <div class="out_body"> It only takes a few hours of observation to see these guys can fish. Clark and Lawrence quickly figured out a workable pattern on a very windy day on Oktibbeha County Lake. By our arrival, they already had a picture fish. </div>
<div class="out_body"> Haliwell is a study in finesse fishing, handling a spinning rod like a pro. He could skip a whacky worm under a pier with precision. Sartain is the non-traditional member, unafraid to pull out a radical lure idea. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "He's all the time picking up something like a Cockahoe Minnow grub and throwing it like he would for a redfish, and he catches bass when nobody else is," Haliwell said. </div>
<div class="out_body"> Sartain laughed. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "Harry's all about finesse, so I figure I'd do something else," he said, adding that the salt water lures work on bass. </div>
<div class="out_body"> That kind of collective ability helped the team ascend to national rankings in a hurry last fall. </div>
<div class="out_body"> Clark and Lawrence finished fifth in the ESPN Under Armour National College Bass Championship and the team took 15th in the Fox College Sports National Championship, the top two events in college fishing. Each school is allowed to enter a certain number of two-man pairs, usually three, in each event. </div>
<div class="out_body"> The high finishes at the ESPN and Fox events combined to earn MSU a No. 3 national ranking behind No. 1 Virginia Tech and No. 2 Texas A&M. </div>
<div class="out_body"> Clark is hoping the successes continue and lead to more financial support. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "We're getting involved in some things to help," he said. "One of the things we're trying to do is hold a fundraising tournament on Barnett Reservoir to benefit Catch-A-Dream Foundation. </div>
<div class="out_body"> "Any help we can get is nice." </div>