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Show Friday, Nov. 13, 2009 Page 8 FridayS 0 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietowns Behind the scenes at the ice rink By LANDON HEMSLEY staff writer Hundreds of Aggie Fans see the Zamboni at every USU hockey game. Eccles Ice Arena manager Cole Naegle guides "The Zam" as it rumbles along, laying down a fresh, new ice surface for the players and officials and maintaining a safe environment for skaters. Just as quickly as the Zamboni enters the rink, it's gone, leaving a brand-spanking-new ice surface behind it. Maintaining a huge chunk of ice seems simple enough, right? Wrong. A lot more than what meets the eye goes into the maintenance of the ice, the Zamboni and the rink in general. In fact, two Zamboni ice-cutters are parked in the garage when they're not in use. A huge tank of water that is directly connected to the public sewage system sits in the corner of the garage, waiting to melt the contents of the Zamboni's ice tank. Two huge motors and a pump cycle hundreds of gallons of antifreeze through roughly a mile of pipe to keep the ice frozen. All of this is equipment is kept behind a concrete wall at the north end of the arena, neatly out of view to the average patron, and five night managers keep the whole thing running without a problem, day in and day out. Naegle is one of the five managers at the ice arena. What is it exactly that night managers of an ice arena do in the course of their duties? "I drive the Zamboni," Naegle said, "and I'm responsible for my staff, everything here at the facility and the safety of the patrons. We have a lot of injuries. That's kind of a fun thing I get to deal with." Naegle said injuries on the ice are a common occurrence at the Ice Center, and that fact was proved just hours after he spoke. On Thursday, Naegle had to call the paramedics to assist a woman who fell on the ice and landed hard on her head. "She's at least got a concussion," Naegle said. "She's pretty out of it. Anytime we have a head injury of this type, we call the paramedics to make sure everything is all right." Naegle said he's seen everything from cracked heads to serious bruises to broken, protruding bones. Naegle also said in the course of his four-year employment at the Ice Center, he has carted roughly 50 different people off the ice after serious injury. "It's a daily thing, honestly," Naegle said. "Broken wrists, split shins, split eyes, gashed heads, concussions, you know." Naegle said one particular injury sticks out in his mind. "This happened before I was a supervisor," Naegle said. "I was just a regular staff member, but there was a lady that fell and broke her leg, and the bone was actually sticking out of her calf muscle. They had to call the ambulance to get her off the ice." Naegle said the cleanup operation after such a terrible sports editor "It's a win," said head coach Raegan Pebley. That's how Pebley summed up her team's effort Monday night. Pebley wasn't completely satisfied, but the Aggies took care of business in their preseason exhibition defeating the Montana Tech Orediggers, 64-56. When the Diggers visited the Spectrum last year, the Aggies cruised to an easy 73-46 victory. It could have been first-game jitters or Montana Tech's 1-3-1 trap defense but USU came out flat in the first half shooting a meager 37.9 percent from the field. "I don't think we came out with the intensity we needed," said senior center Lydia Whitehead. There were four lead changes and seven ties in the first half, and neither team led by more than six in the early going. Both teams had ball-control issues in the first half. USU turned the ball over 14 times, just one less than the Diggers' 15. The Aggies calmed down in the second half, turning the ball over only six times. "I definitely wasn't thrilled with our first-half turnovers," Pebley said. The Diggers led 22-16 with 7:10 left in the first half when Whitehead hit a layup that started an 8-2 run to put the Ags up 26-24 at half. The Aggies used their height to dominate the boards grabbing 19 of their 34 rebounds in the first half. Whitehead led the way for the Ags with nine rebounds and Utah State won the Knee injury turns tight end to player/coach BY USU ATHLETICS ECCLES ICE ARENA MANAGER Cole Naegle drives the Zamboni at a recent USU hockey game. The Zamboni is used to resurface the ice between periods. PETE SMITHSUTH photo accident is miserable. "As soon as the blood hits the ice," Naegle said, "it freezes. We had to go chisel all of the blood out of the ice, and that was pretty gross." Beyond tending to the victims of horrible injuries, Naegle is in charge of keeping an eye on the engine room while on duty. The engine room is behind the wall just north of the stands, where Aggie hockey fans sit. Inside the engine room, several large pipes, two loud motors, a few odd-looking tanks and a large pump work together to keep the ice frozen. The motors occasionally cycle ethylene glycol, also known as antifreeze, out underneath Lady Aggies work over Orediggers By TIM OLSEN TouchBase rebounding battle overall, 34-26. The Aggie post players looked sluggish and rusty. The combo of junior forward Nicole Johnson and Whitehead looked out of sync, especially in the first half. Johnson turned things around in the second half, scoring all her 11 points. In contrast, the Aggie guards played with intensity, fighting through screens and stealing Digger passes. Senior guard TaHara Williams and junior guard Alice Coddington played exceptionally well defensively. LaCale Pringle-Buchannan, junior college transfer from College of Southern Idaho, showcased her defense. "We got some sparks of the bench with LaCale. Defensively she was feeling comfortable," Pebley said. In the second the Ags distanced themselves from the Diggers with an 11-2 run, and Utah State led, 33-24, early in the second half. "I was really happy with how we bounced back in the second half and took better care of the ball a lot better," Pebley said. The Diggers came storming back with a run of their own. Guard Tabitha Tomlinson hit a 3-pointer to give the Diggers a 39-41 lead with 12:18 remaining in the game, but a Coddington 3-point shot sparked a 16-2 run that put Utah State up for good. Coddington finished the night with 14 points, seven assists, and three steals. The Aggies led by as many as 12 when the Diggers made one last effort with a 6-0 run capped by a layup from forward Lindsie Wilson. the ice to cool it. While in a maze of tubing, the 19-degree fahrenheit glycol is heated by the ice, which is maintained at a temperature of just over 20 degrees fahrenheit, and carries it back to the engine room. Upon its return, the warmer glycol is treated with ammonia, which once again reduces the temperature of the glycol to 19 degrees. Then the whole cycle starts over again. The tubing through which the glycol travels is separated into two different layers: one that carries the cold glycol through the concrete directly underneath the 1.25-inch ice sheet, and another that returns the warmer glycol four feet underground to the engine room. Brent Green, the independent refrigeration specialist the Eccles Ice Center employs to maintain the pumps, said the entire pumping system is worth roughly $500,000, installed and operational. Naegle also drives "The Zam," an ice resurfacer. The conditioner, the black unit located underneath the driver, is its heart. First, the conditioner sprays down the ice with cold water, turning loose snow into slush. Then, two large augers and a squeegee push the slush up a tube and direct it into the large tank located at the front of the vehicle. After I See ICE, page 10 When a window of opportunity closes, it has often been discovered that the window to another opportunity opens. The collegiate career of Aggie tight end Zac Zimmerman fully exemplifies this. Zimmerman, a senior in his fifth year in the program, has had a career that has been littered with injuries. After starting in the Southern Utah and BYU games, a knee injury sidelined Zimmerman yet again, and ultimately ended his playing days as an Aggie. However, the senior was not done with the football program. "The coaches gave me an opportunity to be kind of a player and coach," Zimmerman said. It is a position that he has readily welcomed. Perhaps it is a sign of things to come in the life of the injury-plagued athlete. "I'm going for my master's starting in January," he said. "I'm very interested in coaching in the future." He has been helping out with the coaching of the young tight ends and helping out with the scout team where ever needed and has taken a load off of the backs of the other coaches. USU's tight end coach T.J. Woods chimed in about the new player and coach. "I think the thing that he gives is enthusiasm and a passion for the game," he said. Cross country competes in NCAA regionals BY USU ATHLETICS JUNIOR LACALE PRINGLE—BUCHANON elevates for a jump shot against the Montana Tech Orediggers Monday night in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. PringleBuchanon was praised post-game by coach Raegan Pebley. CODY GOCHNOUR photo The Aggies broke the Diggers' full-court press on the ensuing possession and were able to hang to the victory. Next up for the Aggies are the University of Utah Utes. The Utes haven't been to the Spectrum since Utah State brought women's basketball back in 2003. The Ags played the Utes in 2007 in the Huntsman Center, losing 70-38. The Ags host their in-state rival Friday and definitely hope for a differ- ent outcome. Whitehead, who started her college career at Utah, said this game isn't any more meaningful than the next one. "We're going to treat every game as the most important game and right now that's next Friday," Whitehead said. Tip-off against the Utes is at 7 p.m. in the Spectrum. — t.olsen@aggiemaiLusu.edu Utah State men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the NCAA Mountain Regionals in Albuquerque, N.M., Saturday, Nov. 14. The Aggie men won the Western Athletic Conference Championships, Oct. 31, while the women took second place. The USU men's team will run a 10k beginning at 10:45 a.m., while the women's team will run a 6k starting at noon. The races will be held at the UNM North Golf Course. The Aggie men are led by sophomore Brian McKenna who was named WAC Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year after winning the WAC Championships on Oct. 31. Doing well for the women is sophomore Jessie Chugg, who was the Aggies' top finisher at WAC championships, leading the team to a second-place overall finish. In the NCAA Mountain Regionals last year, the men placed 10th, while the women finished eighth. In both the men's and women's regionals, the top two teams at each meet will earn automatic bids to the NCAA National Championships on Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind. |