April 9, 2003

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - Four Utah State golfers were within two shots of par as the Aggies matched their second-best round of the season in the final 18 holes of the Grand Canyon Thunderbird Invitational here on Tuesday.

Freshman Cody Huot led USU's final day effort as he shot an even par 72, while Kevin Mullen added a 73 and Jason Blair and Phil Kalivas each chipped in rounds of 74. Marcus Meyer added a 78 for the Aggies.

With its strong final round, USU moved from 17th place to 14th place in the 18-team tournament. Cal State Bakersfield won the tournament with an 851 total, with Idaho and host Grand Canyon tying for second at 862. Western Washington was fourth at 866 with Utah rounding out the top five at 868.

Idaho's Bill Witte earned medalist honors shooting an eight-under par 208 to defeat Bill Noon of Cal State Bakersfield by one stroke.

USU, which shot a three-round total of 904, carded a 293 on the final day after an opening round 299 and a second-round 312.

Huot and Blair led the Aggies by tying for 44th in the individual race with scores of 224. Kalivas tied for 61st at 228 with Mullen tied for 72nd at 234 and Meyer tied for 77th at 235.

USU's next action will be at the Big West Conference Championships in El Dorado Hills, Calif., April 21-22.

Team Results1. Cal State Bakersfield    275-288-288--8512. Idaho    293-289-280--8622. Grand Canyon 286-287-289--8624. Western Washington   287-288-291--8665. Utah 285-297-286--868Other Utah Schools11. Weber State 291-294-301--88614. UTAH STATE  299-312-293--90415. Southern Utah   293-301-311--905
Individual Results1. Bill Witte, Idaho    70-69-69--2082. Bill Noon, Cal State Bakersfield 67-68-74--2093. Tommy Medina, Grand Canyon   70-72-70--2123. Mark Baker, Cal State Bakersfield    68-74-70--212
Utah State Individualst44. Cody Huot 78-74-72--224t44. Jason Blair 75-75-74--224t61. Phil Kalivas   74-80-74--228t72. Kevin Mullen   76-85-73--234t77. Marcus Meyer   74-83-778--235