Tourney sets new records

By Andy Brown

Published: June 16, 2008

It was another record year for the Lee King Benefit Bass Tournament.

The tournament, which had a record payout of $11,250, featured a record 153 teams eclipsing the tournament record of 147 teams set in 2007.

“We are very pleased with the turnout,” Lee King Foundation founder Sam Williams said. “… The tournament was a great success. God blessed us with good weather and there was a good number of fish caught. When you have hot, humid weather and it takes 22-plus pounds to win a tournament, that’s a success, and I want to thank all the volunteers that made it possible.”

The team of Derrick Millirons and Ronald Terry claimed the tournament title with a catch of 22.17 pounds – the highest total since 2003 when David Cole and Jimmy Hines won the tournament with a catch of 23.94 pounds.

Jason Smith and Garret Jones earned a second-place finish with a catch of 19.87 pounds and Neil Stillwell and John Lee finished in third place with a catch of 19.54 pounds.

Don Thomas and Todd Sims finished fourth with a catch of 19.17 pounds and Jack Tibbs and Skip Jackson rounded out the top five with a catch of 18.98 pounds.

While Williams and the rest of the tournament’s organizers were certainly pleased to see a record catch win the tournament, they hope the anglers who participated in the event take home more than just a good fish tale.

“The most important thing I hope and pray that people take away from this event is knowing we do all of this first and foremost to honor and glorify Jesus Christ,” Williams said. “If any of our crowd does not have a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior, (I hope) they will want to have one with Him before the weekend is over. Brother Jeff Hines and Brother Eddie Watson provided some strong testimonies over the weekend and I pray for those who responded.

“I also hope people realize what an important part of our mission each and every one of them is. If they did not participate, we would not have an event.

“They have each become a partner for a cure with us, and together we will make a difference in the lives of these precious, terminal children.”

The Lee King Benefit Bass Tournament was founded by Williams to help secure funds for Niemann-Pick Disease research after he met Eufaula native Lee King.

King, now 16 years old, was diagnosed with Type C Niemann-Pick Disease as a young child. Type C is part of a group of rare, deadly hereditary diseases that affect metabolism.

The illness has no cure, and Type C, which causes excessive amounts of cholesterol to accumulate within the liver, spleen and brain, is always fatal. Most patients die before the age of 20.

According to Williams, one of the highlights of the weekend’s event was King’s appearance at Friday night’s pre-tournament safety meeting.

“We were so blessed that God allowed Lee to have the strength to come and be with us on Friday evening,” he said. “He was alert and responsive to the fishermen and the crowd. Lee is always a crowd-stopper when he looks at you with those big, beautiful eyes. I am always getting e-mails and calls from the fishing community asking how Lee is doing. He has his fans. That’s for sure.”

With another tournament in the books, the foundation has now shifted its attention to 2009’s event.

“We have appointments in the coming weeks with business owners who competed who want to help us communicate with some large corporations for sponsorship in 2009,” Williams said. “We already have teams asking for applications to sign up for next year’s tournament. We will have the application forms on http://www.leeking.org Web site very soon.”

The 9th annual Lee King Benefit Bass Tournament is scheduled for June 13, 2009.