The highlight of the event June 17-19 at Rhode Island Country Club will be the appearance of two of the greatest women players ever, Hall of Famers Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa.

Both retired early to raise families. Sorenstam has not played on the LPGA Tour since 2008, Ochoa since early in 2010. Their presence will help turn the event into a historic gathering of the best women players in the world.

Others who have agreed to take part in the $1.5 million event include Yani Tseng, the current number one women's player in the world and already winner of three events this year; Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, a 31-time champion who will be returning from elbow surgery; and the newest phenom on the LPGA Tour, Lexi Thompson, who just turned 17 and who won an event last year at age 16, making her the youngest player ever to win on tour.

Five men who also will take part in the 20-player, 10-team event also were disclosed at a press conference at RICC. They are co-hosts Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon, Peter Jacobsen, whose company organizes the event, Corey Pavin, the captain of the last United States Ryder Cup team, and Mark Calcavecchia, who won the CVS event in 2001 with partner Nick Price.

Tseng already has won three tournaments this year, but her star power pales beside that of Thompson, the young phenom who last year, while still 16, became the youngest player ever to win an LPGA event when she captured the Navistar Classic in Alabama.

Thompson then went on to add win the Dubai Ladies Masters in December, becoming the second-youngest player to capture a European Tour event.

Most people prefer to see a rising star to an aging one, although former LPGA greats Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa are likely to attract good-sized galleries at the CVS, which will be played June 18-19 in Barrington.

Local fans fans well remember when Sorenstam won the 10th, and last, major championship of her Hall of Fame career at Newport Country Club in 1996, when she defeated Pat Hurst in a playoff for the U.S. Women's Open championship.

That was the third Open title for Sorenstam, who also won in 1995 and '96.

Although Thompson is winless in seven events this year, she is 23rd on the money list with earnings of $159.059, the bulk of that coming from her second-place finish last month in the Mobile (Ala.) Bay Classic.

Mar Mostro won its second straight leg, traveling from Brazil to Miami in 17 days and one hour to beat CAMPER of New Zealand by about five nautical miles. CAMPER had closed to within just 0.6 nm in the last 24 hours.

Puma earns 30 points with the leg win and is now just two points behind CAMPER in the overall standings with more boats yet to finish. Three legs of the race remain, with the end in Galway, Ireland set for early July.

Here are remarks by Read and fellow Newport resident Rome Kirby, via the Volvo Ocean Race website:

Skipper Ken Read: "It's spectacular, unbelievable. If it wasn't such a grand stage that we have to concentrate on - this race - I could say this is one of the better moments of my sailing career. But we have to enjoy this now and then we have to think about the bigger picture. The way things are stacking up maybe the big picture isn't so out of reach.

"Why not us? That's kinda been our motto for a while now. Why can't we pull this off? This was a hard leg mentally and no one breaks, that's the best thing about this crew. No one cracks, there's not a single moment where someone questions what we're doing and it's so much fun to sail that way. It makes Tom Addis's job and my job so much easier."

Rome Kirby: "It's fantastic, I'm psyched to be home. I have friends and family on the dock, so it's nice. That leg was everything. It was actually really nice sailing for a lot of it, which was a first for us, but it was frustrating, really light air sailing too, everyone ripping up behind us. But no, it was good.

"We knew they were coming the whole time. They obviously pushed really hard, they were side by side all the time, but we did it with Telefónica last time so we were prepared.

"This is great, coming into the U.S. in first. You can't beat it."

Donaldson has been home-schooled since sixth grade because of his training and travel schedules. His arrival just before the qualifying for the state tennis tournament generated questions and protests from coaches, parents and tennis officials, but the Rhode Island Interscholastic League determined that he complies with its rules for eligibility. He could be the top seed when the tournament resumes May 18.

Read about Donaldson's RIIL debut and his compliance with the rules Wednesday in The Journal and the eEdition.

"I tried to hold it together," he said.

Sarah Bourne, 26, of Brookline, Mass., a former Harvard runner and currently a Vanderbilt medical student, won the women's race in 2:53:44, a personal best by 10 minutes. She had trained for the Boston Marathon but did not race because of a schedule conflict.

Eric Lonergan, 26, of North Providence won the UnitedHealthcare Half-Marathon in 1:09:12. His goal was to beat his 1:09:30 finish in 2011.

Kassandra Spitler, 23, of Newport, a former soccer player at URI, made her half-marathon debut and won in 1:20:32.

Querrey will join the 2011 champion and top-ranked American, John Isner, plus Lleyton Hewitt, Milos Raonic and the doubles stars Bob and Mike Bryan in the final grass tuneup for the Olympics in London.

Check tennisfame.com for ticket information.

Andrade (16-0, 11 KO's) will face Rudy Cisneros (12-3, 11 KO's). Cisneros was a participant in season two of the reality show The Contender. Andrade is currently rated in the top 15 of all four of the major boxing governing bodies.

Third baseman Will Middlebrooks continued his attack on I.L. pitching,, with a three-run homer and a single. Alex Hassan added three doubles and two RBI.

Pawtucket took advantage of four Syracuse errors, two each by Carlos Rivero and Josh Johnson. Every player in the Pawtucket lineup had at least one hit. In the fifth inning, the PawSox strung together four consecutive doubles.

Starter Alex Wilson didn't figure in the decision. The right-hander labored through 3 2/3 innings. Andrew Miller made another rehab appearance (hamstring). The lefty walked the bases loaded in the sixth but didn't allow a run.

The PawSox return to McCoy for a six-game home stand that begins Friday at 6:15 p.m. Durham sends Matt Torra (1-1) to the mound against Pawtucket's Doug Mathis (0-1).

Doyle -- who before 2007 had dreamed of breaking 2 hours and 20 minutes and qualifying for the U.S. Olympic trials -- told Carolyn Thornton in today's Journal that he was hoping to finish in under 3 hours; today's heat made it difficult for any runner to meet a specific time goal.

Dionne -- who now lives in Boston and works as a senior analyst for Zmags, a mobile and social commerce company -- graduated from Cumberland High in 2003 and went on to Dartmouth College. She was first-team All-State in cross-country in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and also earned first-team All-State honors in girls volleyball and outdoor track in her senior year.

She won the Cape Cod Marathon in October (2:48:21) and followed that up with a victory in the New Bedford Half Marathon -- a popular tune-up for Boston -- in 1:19.07.

AP photo / Charles Krupa

Wesley Korir, left, and Sharon Cherop, both of Kenya, kiss the winner's trophy after winning the men's and women's divisions of the 116th Boston Marathon in Boston, Monday, April 16, 2012.

BOSTON (AP) -- Wesley Korir won the Boston Marathon on Monday in a heat-slowed unofficial time of 2 hours, 12 minutes, 40 seconds.

A year after Geoffrey Mutai ran the fastest marathon in history to win here, Korir won the second-slowest Boston race since 1985. Mutai dropped out after 18 miles with cramps as temperatures rose into the 80s on the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton to Copley Square.

Sharon Cherop won the women's race to complete the Kenyan sweep, outsprinting fellow Kenyan Jemima Jelagat Sumgong to win in an unofficial 2 hours, 31 minutes, 50 seconds.

It was the fifth consecutive year that the women's race came down to a sprint down Boylston Street.

Korir was the 19th Kenyan men's winner in 22 years.

Heat has been the big story of the day, as up to 4,300 registered runners appeared to have decided to sit out the race due to temperatures that have gone into the 80s.

The wheelchair winners were Joshua Cassidy, of Canada, on the men's side in 1:18.25, and American Shirley S. Reilly on the women's side, in 1:37.36.

They are also urging runners who have trained in cooler weather to consider not running and are warning fit athletes to take significant precautions.

Given the forecast -- AccuWeather.com is predicting a high of 86 -- the Boston Athletic Association will allow official entrants to defer their entry to 2013. They must pick up their bib number at the John Hancock Sports & Fitness Expo before it closes on Sunday to exercise the deferment option. They cannot start the race in Hopkinton. Entry fees will not be refunded and the 2013 entry fee will apply.

Anticipating slower times, the B.A.A. will keep the finish area open an hour later, until 6 p.m.

Check baa.org or bostonmarathon.org for the lastest updates.

Journal Files / Frieda Squires

MARVIN BARNES

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Former basketball star Marvin Barnes is denying accusations he solicited an underage girl for sex in Cranston, saying he was set up.

Barnes, 59, told The Associated Press on Friday that he did not know the name or age of his 17-year-old accuser. He says he went to meet with her because of concerns her calls to him could jeopardize his position at a Providence school.

Barnes, who played for Providence College and multiple professional teams, was arrested in January after police watched a meeting between him and the girl at a Cranston coffee shop. A police report says Barnes offered her $200 for sex.

Barnes, facing one count of indecently soliciting a child, is to be arraigned next month.

Capriati won the Australian Open in 2001 and 2002 and the French Open on 2001. She won the gold medal in singles at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and played on the championship U.S. Fed Cup team in 2000. She launched her pro career in 1990 and retired after the 2004 season with a 430-117 record and 14 singles titles.

The induction ceremony is scheduled for July 14 during the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. Visit tennisfame.com for details.

Mayer got her high school career off to a strong start last week as she played a key role in the Lions two opening-season victories. She had two hits and two RBI in a 5-1 season-opening victory over Mount St. Charles. A few days later she knocked in the tying run with a two-out single in an eventual 3-2 victory over Smithfield.