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Show Page II StatesmanSportS Wednesday, Feb. II, 2009 Golfers open spring season By PAUL KELLEY assistant sports editor THE AGGIES DEV1N DANIELS prepares for a chip during a tournament last year, photo courtesy of USU ATHLETICS Best Date: Heckle Boise St. [J continued from page 9 teams in the current WAC standings. Not only will Boise State have to deal with their toughest WAC opponent coming into their building Saturday, but they'll also have to deal with a handful of Utah Stale students making the trip up to Taco Bell Arena to make their lives that much more difficult. I rlun'i want to give away too many secrets, but look for USU tans to dedicate plenty of attention to BSU point guard Anthony Thomas. With a conference championship on the line, who wouldn't want to bust the aforementioned stereotypes of Valentine's Day in favor of some good old fashioned heckling, screaming and guilty-pleasure enjoyment of the looks on the faces of Broncos fans when they realize just how nutty Aggie fans can be^ By the time your life is over you'll likely have more memories than you'd prefer of Valentine's Days that were all about red roses, fancy dinners, chocolates or whatever else people do on these days for this holiday. Try something a little more unique this year. Throw on your Aggie blue, show your significant other a thing or two about heckling and make the trek to Boise in hopes of witnessing a conference championship unfold. Heck, you could even play a part in it - despite what Nevada's Mark Fox thinks. That is the kind of Valentine's Day you'd likely remember years down the road. That is the only kind of Valentine's Day I would like to have. It is kind of hard to play golf during the winter in Logan, but that hasn't stopped the USU men's golf team. The Aggies have been driving to Ogden two to three times a week to do all they can to get the team ready for the spring season. "The kids drive to Ogden and hit balls at Mulligan's," said head coach Dean Johansen. "They are actually hitting balls outside into the range. It just has heated covered stalls. It's still pretty cold, though -you are hitting off of mats into the snow." On Monday and Tuesday of this week Utah State was at the Pat Hick's Invitational in St. George. Johansen said the team scores at the event don't matter because that is not why they were there. "We use this tournament as kind of a chance to knock the rust off a little bit - it's still the middle of February," Johansen said. "Anybody that has played golf before understands that coming out of the winter in Logan, it is hard to have any kind of touch around the greens. Chipping and putting is usually the thing that you lose the quickest and is the last to come back." The Aggies finished 11th overall with a score of 42-over par 618 (318300) in the 36-hole two-day tournament. The team did hit the ball well for just coming out of the winter, Johansen said. Me also said the team is ahead of where they were at this time last year. "It's pretty low-key for us. It's a good chance for us to go on the road as a team and hit the balls off the grass and you get to see the other teams, you get to see how they wintered," Johansen said, speaking of the tournament. Utah State was led by senior Tyler Labrum who scored 77 and 73 in two rounds to tie for 16th overall with a six-over par 150. Sophomore Benjamin Schilleman finished tied for 27th at eight-over 152 as he finished with rounds of 79 and 73. Thad Truman tied for 56th with a 36-hole score of 157 with separate scores of 79 and 78 in the two rounds. Seniors Devin Daniels and Toph Peterson both ended up tied for 80th and 82nd, respectively, with totals of 163 (87-76) and 164 (83-81). johansen said they take the tournament in St. George seriously, but the scores don't reflect where his team is, and not to put too much weight into this one. The team has three seniors this year: Daniels, Labrum and Peterson. "You always get excited about the seniors," Johansen said. "You always get excited about the seniors because they have the most experience of anybody on the team and they are starting to learn how to play at the collage level... The younger kids get to learn form them, but the seniors get to excel a little bit." The Aggies are excited for the season and have a team goal to win the conference championship, he said. As far as individual goals, Johansen said a lot of the players have goals to win some events individually. USU plays next at the Braveheart Classic in Riverside, Calif., March 23. "The quicker we can get on grass, the better off we will be at Riverside. UC Riverside is one of the hardest golf courses we play all year," Johansen said. "It's right in the Santa Anna winds, there are gusts up to 60 mph and it's hard to play golf in ... It's hard conditions to play in coming right out of winter." -p. d.k@aggiemail, usu.edu Softball finishes season opening tournament with a win over ISU BY USU ATHLETICS Junior Simone Hubbard continued her offensive explosion with her third home run in five games as the Aggies defeated Idaho State, 6-2 in the final game of the Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah. After hitting two home runs in her two previous seasons at Utah State, Hubbard hit her third home run against Idaho State. She went 2-for-3 in the Aggies win to improve their overall record to 2-3. Junior Kate Greenough earned her first win as an Aggie, improving to 1-1 pitching a complete game against the Bengals. This is the second-straight season that Utah State won its second game of the season against the Bengals. Last season, the Aggies defeated Idaho State, 13-12 at the Red Desert Classic. Utah State returns to action Feb. 12 at the Campbell Cartier Softball Tournament in San Diego, Calif. The Aggies start the tournament against No. 25 San Diego State on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. On Feb. 13, USU will take on UC Santa Barbara and No. 21 Washington. Matt Sonnenberg is a junior majoring in print journalism, hie can be found on the front row of section F during USU home basketball games or he can be reached at matt, son n^ aggie mail. usu.edu. SOPHOMORE TYLER NEWBOLD breaks the press during an Aggie game last week. PATRICK ODE.N photo SOPHOMORE CATCHER SHASTA T Y T E C A prepares to throw a ball during the an Aggie game last season. USU opened the season at the Red Desert Classic in St. George with a 2-3 record. 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