Minnesota Aurora to play St. Louis on Sunday in final regular-season game at home

The first-year Minnesota Aurora will close out its home regular-season schedule when it plays the St. Louis Lions at noon Sunday at TCO Stadium.

The Aurora, which beat the Chicago Dutch Lions 3-1 on Friday before a record crowd of over 6,000, is one of five undefeated teams left in the 44-team USL W-League at 7-0-1, including a 3-2 win over St. Louis (0-9) on June 5.

St. Louis lost 3-0 on the road Friday to the Green Bay Glory and has been outscored 31-6 this season.

The Aurora, third in the latest league power rankings, leads the Heartland Division with 22 points and needs to stay in first to make the eight-team league playoffs. After Sunday, the Aurora has three goad games left, including two at the Green Bay (5-1-2, 17 points) which is second in the division on July 7 and 9.

Jockey Alonso Quinonez got his 1,000th career victory when Magic Castle won the seventh race on Saturday at Canterbury Park in Shakopee.

Quinonez began his racing career at Louisiana Downs in 2006 and won his first race at Churchill Downs in November of that year. "When I won my first race I remember it like it was yesterday. I was so green. I didn't know what I was doing," Quinonez said.

The 39-year-old jockey, an 11-time graded stakes winner, now primarily rides at Canterbury Park and Tampa Bay Downs.

The milestone win came in Quinonez's 9,378th start. His mounts have earned more than $32.8 million in purses.

Graduate student Abby Kohut-Jackson of the Gophers will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase finals at 4:23 p.m. Sunday (USA TV Network) at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.

She qualified by finishing seventh (9 minutes, 47.65 seconds, a season-best) in her heat on Friday.

Freshman Nyalaam Jok in the high jump (5 feet, 11 1/2) and sophomore Shelby Frank in the discus (187-8), also of Minnesota, finished in a tie for fifth or fifth alone, respectively, the same day.

Former Gopher Payton Willis signed with the Warriors to compete for their team n the NBA Summer League, which starts Saturday and next Sunday in the California Classic at the Chase Center, and continues July 7-17 at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.