Jun 17, 2018 3 min read

SEC-Big 12 Challenge matchups are set

Kentucky will host Kansas Jan. 26 in the headline matchup of the 2019 SEC-Big 12 Challenge in college basketball.

The one-day event pits all 10 Big 12 schools against 10 of the Southeastern Conference’s 14 members on various campuses.

Other matchups this year include Alabama at Baylor, Arkansas at Texas Tech, Florida at TCU, Texas at Georgia, Iowa State at Mississippi, South Carolina at Oklahoma State, West Virginia at Tennessee, Kansas State at Texas A&M and Vanderbilt at Oklahoma.

The SEC schools that won’t be participating in the 2019 SEC/Big 12 Challenge are Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State and Missouri.

The SEC won last season’s event 6-4. It marked the first time in the event’s five-year history that the SEC had finished above .500, though the 2017 Challenge ended in a 5-all tie.

In golf

So Yeon Ryu won the Meijer LPGA Classic Sunday in Grand Rapids, Mich., for her first victory of the season and sixth overall, closing with a 5-under 67 for a two-stroke margin.

The 29-year-old South Korean player birdied the par-5 16th and par-4 17th and parred the par-4 18th to finish at 21-under 267 at Blythefield Country Club.

Two strokes behind Anna Nordqvist and Lee-Anne Pace entering the round, Ryu had six birdies and bogey in the final round.

Caroline Masson was second after a 68. Lydia Ko shot a 67 to finish third at 18 under.

Nordqvist and Pace each shot 73 – after each had a 64 on Saturday – to tie for fourth at 17 under with Jacqui Concolino (66), Azahara Munoz (68) and Angela Stanford (70).

U.S. Women’s Open winner Ariya Jutanugarn shot a tournament-record 62. She birdied five of the first seven holes, eagled No. 8 and added three more birdies to finish 12th at 15 under.

Alonso wins in

Le Mans debut

Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso won the 24 Hours Le Mans on his debut in the classic endurance race on Sunday to move closer to motorsport’s unofficial Triple Crown.

The Spanish driver, together with teammates Kazuki Nakajima of Japan and Sebastien Buemi of Switzerland, completed 388 laps in their Toyota hybrid car, two more than Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez in the other Toyota hybrid.

Alonso is bidding to match British driver Graham Hill’s feat of completing the Triple Crown, including wins at the Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500. Alonso is a two-time winner in Monaco.

“Le Mans once a year is not enough! It needs to be every three weeks,” joked Alonso, who looked to be in trouble when Buemi was penalized for speeding in a caution zone late Saturday.

Alonso’s car was left more than two minutes behind the other Toyota but the Spaniard managed to claw back the difference through the night, putting Nakajima in position to retake the lead from Kobayashi early on Sunday.

“I felt great tonight,” Alonso said after his final stint driving. “I don’t know exactly how, but I managed to make the tires work for us at the right time despite the cool air temp. Our pace has been good and I was lucky with the traffic as well.”

It was Toyota’s first victory at the 20th attempt, and the first win for a Japanese manufacturer since Mazda’s success in 1991.