Five anglers from Boyle County are among 24 fishermen from Kentucky competing in the Bassmaster High School National Championship this week in Tennessee.

Recent graduates Brayson Claunch, Coleman Stewart and Keenan Stewart and returning anglers Emmitt Grubbs and Collin Wise will represent Boyle in the tournament on Chickamauga Lake.

The tournament began Thursday and continues through Saturday with launches and weigh-ins at Dayton, Tenn.

Anglers qualified for the national championship through their performance in four regular-season Bassmaster High School Series tournaments that began in February.

The list of qualifiers also included Landon Pierce and Korbin Neat of Casey County, who were named the 2023-24 Kentucky Bass Nation High School Team of the Year.

Meanwhile, the Boyle team is mourning the loss of one of the program’s biggest supporters.

Eddie Caldwell, who served as an assistant coach, boat captain and booster, died Monday at age 73.

On its Facebook page, the Boyle fishing team said Caldwell’s “contributions and passion for bass fishing at Boyle County Schools helped shape the opportunity our student athletes get to enjoy today with rod and reel in hand. Rest in peace, Coach Eddie.”

Caldwell was a longtime supporter of Boyle athletics, and he served as the public address announcer for Boyle football and boys basketball games for many years. He was also a former member and chairman of the Boyle County Board of Education.

In April, he was the guest of honor at the Boyle baseball team’s annual Strike Out Cancer game, where Boyle players and others associated with the program recognize loved ones who have battled cancer.