For the first time since 1962, the South Dakota Golf Association will crown a women's match play champion, as the SDGA Women's Match Play Championship will be played Friday through Monday at Prairie Green Golf Course in Sioux Falls.

The Women's Amateur Championship, which was introduced in 1925, was played as a match-play event until 1963, when it was changed to medal play. This is the first season the SDGA has had both a women's match play and medal play event.

Thirty-four players are set to play in the event, including 11 past SDGA champions.

The event begins with an 18-hole qualifying round on Friday, followed by match-play action on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The 18-hole championship match will begin Monday morning at 9 a.m.

SDGA Men's Match Play Championship starts Thursday: Two-time defending champion Tom Carlson, of Sioux Falls, highlights a 90-player field for the 89th South Dakota Golf Association Men's Match Play Championship, which will be contested Thursday through Monday at The Bluffs Golf Course in Vermillion.

Carlson, a junior at the University of New Mexico and three-time SDGA champion, is looking to become the first player in history to win the SDGA's oldest event three consecutive times. Seven players have won back-to-back championships, including Sioux Falls' Ralph Porter, who did it twice en route to posting the most match play wins of all-time with four (1930, '31, '34, '35).

Carlson beat Rapid City's Tim Kalil 2 and 1 in last season's 36-hole championship match at Moccasin Creek Country Club in Aberdeen. Kalil, the 2004 Junior champion, is also back in this year's field.

There will be an 18-hole qualifying round at 7 a.m. MDT on Thursday. The low 38 scorers will draw first-round byes, while the other 52 players will begin the match-play portion of the event on Friday morning. Second-round matches will be Friday afternoon, with the third and fourth round being contested on Saturday, the quarterfinals and semifinals on Sunday and the 36-hole championship begins at 7 a.m. MDT on Monday.

Chadron State track and field athletes honored: Chadron State's Julia Bayer, Stacy Girard, Brandon Harrington, Lanar Newman and Ryan Shelton have each been named to the 2009 U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division II Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field All-Academic Teams.

The USTFCCCA honors Division II individuals for their academic and athletic achievements during the indoor and outdoor track and field season.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the athlete must have compiled a grade-point average of 3.25 and have met the NCAA Division II indoor or outdoor automatic or provisional qualifying standard in their respective event.

Seventy-three runners take part in Rodeo Run: The 31st annual 10K Rodeo Run took place on Saturday in Belle Fourche. There were 73 runners including participants from Atlanta and San Diego.

The overall winner was Steel Hellevang, of Belle Fourche. Nic Penning, of Hulett, Wyo., was second with Rod DeHaven, of Brookings, was third.

The oldest runner was 78-year old Edith Weber, of Piedmont.

The youngest runners were a pair of 10-year-olds: Brody Hultman, of Pierre, and Christin King, of Rapid City.

Memorial run in Custer set for Aug. 8: The 13th annual Annalee's Memorial 10K run will be Aug. 8 in Custer. The race is run entirely on the Mickelson Trail from in front of Crazy Horse Memorial downhill finishing at Harbach Park in Custer.

Registration begins at 6:30 a.m. at the visitors center in Custer. Runners will be transported to the start line beginning at 7:30 a.m. and the race will start at 8 a.m.

T-shirts will be given out to the first 20 runners to register, and there will be a meal provided after the race by Lind Lintz and Larry Ventling, who are the parents of Annalee.

The run is on a fast downhill course through the meadows, aspens and hills above Custer. Entry is a donation to Southern Hills Right to Life Scholarship Fund.

For more information, call Jack Sayles at 321-501-1978.

Mines signs women's basketball recruit from Wyoming: South Dakota School of Mines women's basketball head coach Barb Felderman announced the signing of new recruit Amanda Willmore to the 2009-10 Lady Hardrocker roster.

Willmore is a 5-foot-5 guard from Rock Springs, Wyo., with an impressive list of accomplishments playing high school hoops for the Rock Springs Tigers.

"(Amanda) is a competitor," Felderman said. "She plays fierce defense and can score in a multitude of ways. She sees the court well and is an extremely good passer."

Black Sox erase deficit to tip Drillers: The Black Sox defeated the Drillers 8-7 in a Black Hills Amateur League baseball game at McKeague Field on Monday night.

The Black Sox rallied from a 6-1 deficit by scoring seven runs in the eighth inning to take an 8-6 lead.

Lance Van Zee got the win on the hill for the Black Sox as Kasey Keller and Steve Wentz went 3-4, with an RBI each.

Josh Lundin and Chris Lindeman had two hits apiece for the Drillers.

Stickball registration open: An organizational meeting for a stickball league in the months of July and August will be at 6 p.m. Thursday in the parking lot across from the Club for Boys on New York Street.

For more information, contact Joe Cersosimo at 348-5287.