Arklahoma Cup
University of Arkansas Wins Arklahoma Cup
Stakes couldn't have been higher for the University of Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and University of Oklahoma bass teams this past weekend as they participated in the first ‘Arklahoma Cup' on Grand Lake. Trash talking was immense between the friendly rivalries as they took to the water on Saturday. "Nothing is worse than losing to your own friends," said Jerid Jones, member of the UA bass team. "I basically told the team this is a must-win."
There were a total of 16 teams from the schools. Arkansas had the most with eight, OSU followed with seven, and OU had one. The format was designed to make it more of a school versus school event. The top two limits per day per school were used for each school participating. "This way everyone can contribute," said Orie Chambers, president of the OSU bass team. "If you blank on the first day, you can come back on the second day and catch 15 lb's and contribute to your team." There were also individual team standings but the majority of the pride rode on the school standings.
Arkansas was able to conquer the field for the first, of hopefully many future cups. "It's great to win the first one," said Turner Hall, president of the UA bass team. "I know this means a lot to our guys to be able to say we are the Arklahoma Cup champions." The team totaled an impressive 66 pounds, 27 one-hundredths for the two days of competition. OSU followed with 52 pounds, 91 one- hundredths. OU was third with 36 pounds, 64 one-hundredths.
Individual winners Jerid Jones and Taylor Denniston bested the field by over 10 pounds. The two brought in an impressive two day total 41 pounds, 25 one-hundredths. "We caught fish on a lot of different things," Denniston said, "our best two baits though were War Eagle spinner baits and Bass-X jigs from Hook Line & Sinker." The two took big bass honors with a 7 pound, 15 one-hundredths hog. In second were James Elam and Orie Chambers from OSU followed by Turner Hall and Stephen Mouton of Arkansas.
All of the schools that participated in the cup hope to make this an annual event. "We would like to get all of the schools from Arkansas and Oklahoma involved," said Chip Porche, president of the OU bass team. "This was kind of our trial run, and I think it was a huge success."
