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CLIPPER SERIES
COLUMBIANA -- The second race in the Clipper Cross County Series will be held at 7 p.m. today behind Columbiana High School.
It will be held on the 5K high school course at the Ward Athletic Complex.
Entry fee is $10. Runners can preregister online or sign up before the race beginning at 6 p.m.
SALEM STAR TRAX
SALEM -- The 33rd annual Salem Star Trax 5K Night Run will be held Saturday beginning and ending at Sebo Stadium.
Registration will be held from 7 to 8:45 p.m. The race will start at 9 p.m. at Sebo Stadium and continue through the neighbor streets. Entry fee is $25.
The top three men’s and women’s finishers will receive awards and with age groups 10-and-under, 11-14, 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59 and 60-and-over.
GRISDALE TO PLAY IN GERMANY
BAMBERG, Germany -- Former Poland High School and Quinnipac University basketball star Jackie Grisdale will continue her basketball career in the German professional ranks.
Grisdale, 23, has signed on to the Bamberg Baskets of 2. Damen Basketball Bundesliga, the second tier of the women’s professional basketball pyramid in Germany. Bamberg is a city of around 80,000 in the Bavarian region.
In her final season at Quinnipiac Grisdale averages 12.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Grisdale graduated from Poland with 20 varsity letters over six sports. She is Poland’s all-time leading basketball scorer with 1,503 career points.
OHIO ST., NOTRE DAME PATCH THINGS UP
Notre Dame and Ohio State reached lucrative jersey patch sponsorship deals totaling around $30 million at a time schools search for ways to cash in on the revenue-sharing era.
Ohio State announced a multiyear sponsorship deal with JPMorgan Chase on Tuesday. Terms were not released, but multiple outlets reported it at $17 million annually.
Also Tuesday, Notre Dame announced a jersey patch deal with financial services company SoFi Technologies worth $18 million to $20 million, according to multiple outlets.
A sprawling $2.8 billion House antitrust settlement approved by a federal judge last month cleared the way for schools to directly pay players through licensing deals -- and they’re already cashing in.
Notre Dame will feature patches on uniforms for every sport and SoFi will establish an annual $1.4 million fund to support Notre Dame’s “4 for Forever” campaign, funding scholarships in 26 sports and supporting student-athletes through financial education, career development and other opportunities.
BIG MONEY VOLLEYBALL MATCHES
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Nebraska will play Florida and Penn State will face SMU in the $1 million made-for-TV women’s college volleyball exhibition set for next month at AT&T Stadium.
Spikes Under the Lights organizers announced the matchups Tuesday for the Aug. 27 event at the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
The two matches will be followed by a final, with all played in a best-of-three set format designed to fit a three-hour broadcast window. Television and streaming coverage have not been announced.
Each team will be paid a $200,000 appearance fee. An additional $200,000 in prize money will be at stake, with the largest portion going to the winner. Each school will decide how it distributes the money among players.
Penn State has made a record 45 NCAA Tournament appearances and won eight national championships. Nebraska has 44 NCAA appearances and five titles and Florida has 36 appearances. SMU has played in three straight NCAAs and five overall.
FEMALE MONEY SURGES
College sports marketing company Learfield saw a 123% increase in female athlete participation in name, image and likeness compensation activities over the 2025-26 fiscal year, the company revealed in a report released Tuesday.
Solly Fulp, Learfield’s head of NIL, doesn’t think the rapid surge is a coincidence.
“What we’re discovering with female student-athletes and their engagement with our brands is they’re excellent content creators and storytellers, they’re generally social media savvy and they have a genuine brand enthusiasm,” Fulp said.
Since the NCAA approved NIL compensation in July 2021, high revenue-generating sports like football and basketball have topped the list of earners. Five years later, women’s sports are beginning to close the gap, with women’s basketball ranking third in all sports and softball creeping into the top five behind baseball.
“It’s not just an emerging market now -- it’s accelerating,” Fulp said. “It’s awesome for us to see when it comes to not just the focus being on football, men’s basketball and the revenue sports, but seeing the Olympic sports really step front and center.”
Female athlete engagement in NIL activities more than doubled in 2026, growing from 2,136 to 4,772.
INDIANA LEADS BIG TEN HONORS
CHICAGO (AP) -- Defending national champion Indiana has three of the 12 players selected for preseason honors to lead all teams.
Rather than putting together a traditional preseason all-conference team, the Big Ten has a media panel select 12 players for preseason honors without regard to position. Indiana’s representatives include wide receiver Charlie Becker, linebacker Rolijah Hardy and defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker.
Ohio State, Oregon and Rutgers each had two players selected. Quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith made it for Ohio State. Oregon’s picks were quarterback Dante Moore and defensive back Koi Perich. The Rutgers honorees were wide receiver KJ Duff and running back Antwan Raymond.
Other players earning preseason honors included Iowa offensive lineman Kade Pieper, Minnesota defensive lineman Anthony Smith and Southern California quarterback Jayden Maiava.