LEESBURG, Fla. — The Catawba Valley Community College bass fishing team posted a strong showing during the Major League Fishing (MLF) Southeastern Conference tournament this past Friday on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Florida.

Competing against 189 teams teams at the event, each of the five competing Red Hawk duos caught a five-bass limit during the one-day tournament.

"Our teams worked really hard this week," said Catawba Valley head bass fishing coach Angela Mayo. "They spent a lot of hours on the water trying to locate better fish. Unfortunately, they could not find the bigger bite they needed on tournament day, but I am happy that all of our teams brought a limit to the scales. We definitely have some good things to build on for the B.A.S.S. tournament next week."

Nathan Dellinger and Cabe Mackey were the highest-finishing Red Hawk tandem. They caught five bass for a total weight of nine pounds, 15 ounces and finished in 73rd place overall.

CVCC's Spencer Black and Caleb Lonca were the second-best finishers for the Red Hawks, catching exactly eight pounds of bass.

Catawba Valley's Lane Bailey and Justin Eggers were just two ounces ahead of teammates Carson Eckard and Hunter Keller for third-best performance on the team. Bailey and Eggers caught five fish weighing seven pounds, 11 ounces, while Eckard and Keller caught a limit weighing seven pounds and nine ounces.

The Red Hawks' Grant Harris and Wes Smith also caught a limit at the tournament. Their total weight was six pounds even.

Two former Red Hawk anglers — Jeremy Dellinger and Adam Seagle, who signed this past summer to continue their academic and athletic careers at Erskine College — finished ninth at the tournament.

"I was happy to see Jeremy and Adam do well in this tournament and see them qualify for the MLF Championship," Mayo said.

The Catawba Valley Community College bass fishing team returns to the water again in Florida on Jan. 21-22 for the Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops.