Women's Amateur pits two 12-year-olds

In the first 106 years of the U.S. Women's Amateur golf championship, no preteen had reached match play.

Now there are two, and they will face each other today.

Alexis Thompson, of Coral Springs, Fla., and Pearl Jin, of San Gabriel, Calif., ousted older opponents Wednesday to set up their second-round showdown at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind.

"I'm really excited. I heard that she's a good player," said Jin, who turned 12 in June, four months after Thompson.

Jin, who took up golf at age 8, beat 20-year-old Ashley Tait, of Littleton, 2 and 1 in the first round; Thompson got by 17- year-old Evan Jensen, of Belleair, Fla., 3 and 2.

Becca Huffer, of Littleton High School, lost 1-up to Mallory Blackwelder, of Versailles, Ky.

COLLINS ADVANCES Monarch High School's Brooke Collins reached the semifinals of the Colorado Women's Golf Association Match Play event at Woodmoor Pines Golf & Country Club in Monument with a 2-up win against Kim Eaton of Highland Hills Golf Course.

The University of Denver's Dawn Shockley also advanced, as did Monarch High School graduate Lindsay Senger and Stefanie Ferguson of Broadlands Golf Course.

KEFFER A WINNER Geoff Keffer, from Willis Case Golf Course, finished with a 4-under-par 68 to win the Colorado Section PGA Assistant Professional Championship at Buffalo Run Golf Course.

The top four finishers - Keffer, Bill Hancock, Rob Hunt and Robert Quaratino, who earned his spot after a playoff - qualified for the TaylorMade-adidas Golf PGA Assistant Professional National Championship from Oct. 25-28 in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

FOUR RE-SIGN Greg Pankewicz, Ryan Tobler, Riley Nelson and Brad Williamson signed contracts that will keep them with the Central Hockey League Colorado Eagles at least one more season. The four have combined for 425 goals and 1,107 points.

DU, AIR FORCE RECOGNIZED The DU men's golf program was voted 33rd in the overall national rankings in Golf Digest's College Golf Guide. The Air Force men's program was voted 44th.

BEARS PICKED SEVENTH The University of Northern Colorado women's soccer team (6-12, 2-5 in 2006) was picked in the preseason coaches' poll to finish seventh in the Big Sky Conference.

WAGENFUHR, ABDULLAH ON LIST Former Pine Creek High School athlete Sarah Wagenfuhr, a junior defender at Florida State, and former Smoky Hill High School athlete Ameera Abdullah, a junior midfielder at Florida, were selected to the Women's Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy watch list by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

TREDENNICK IN TOP FIVE Englewood resident Sarah Tredennick finished in the top five at the North American Young Riders Championships last weekend in Lexington, Va.

MORALES LIFTS SKY SOX Franklin Morales allowed two runs, one earned, on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings to carry the Colorado Springs Sky Sox past the Albuquerque Isotopes 3-2 in a Pacific Coast League game Wednesday night in Albuquerque.