As summer ends and a new school year begins, attention turns to the upcoming football season—and even to volleyball, basketball, soccer and the many other sports in which local students compete.

But an accomplishment by the Briarwood Christian School bass fishing team should not be overlooked.

The BCS team consisting of Grayson Morris and Tucker Smith, along with boat captain J.T. Russell, won the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series National Championship presented by DICK’s Sporting Goods at Kentucky Lake on Aug. 2-4.

A successful season by any measure for local athletic teams includes winning a state championship, yet the BCS anglers brought home a first-place trophy from a national competition.

A press conference and celebration of the achievement was held on Aug. 9 at Briarwood. Though students had yet to resume classes, the school’s library was packed with family, friends, well-wishers and media representatives.

“None of us would have ever believed this could even be possible,” Briarwood Athletics Director and Bass Team Coach Jay Mathews said.

Mathews’ amazement is understandable considering anglers in 337 boats representing 256 institutions competed in the tournament, which Morris and Smith won with a three-day combined weight of 50 pounds, 2 ounces.

They won by about 10 pounds but said they avoided updates on the final day and did not know they were the likely winners until they pulled in to the weigh-in.

“We had no idea what other boats had caught,” Smith said. “We were blown away to win it.”

A young sport and Briarwood program when compared to other traditional high school sports, bass fishing’s future at the school and in the state seems bright.

Russell’s involvement—as a Briarwood graduate now attending the University of Montevallo who fills a role similar to a coach on the boat with the anglers—is evidence of the willingness of former team members to come back and help.

Briarwood anglers have reached the pinnacle of high school bass fishing. Who knows where they, the team and the sport can go from here?

Stephen Dawkins is a staff writer for the Shelby County Reporter. He can be reached at 669-3131 ext. 524 or by email at stephen.dawkins@shelbycountyreporter.com.