Afternoon State Sports Briefs - Canoe Slalom World Championships began yesterday at Wausau's Whitewater Park

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WAUSAU - If you want to see Olympic athletes compete in person, head to Wausau. The Canoe Slalom World Championships began yesterday and they’ll run through Sunday at Wausau’s Whitewater Park on a challenging Wisconsin River course.

Over 350 participants from 26 nations are rafting in a host of kayaking and canoeing events. Caroline Queen of Maryland is among those who will compete for Team USA in the London Olympics over the next month. She says the 300 yard Wausau course is terrific, because it provides a natural white water environment as opposed to the artificial concrete courses that are often used. Another US rafter, Casey Eichfeld, says it’s great to have such a high ranking world competition so close to the London Games. The world championships are held every two years. They last took place in France. This is the second day of qualifying runs. Semi finals and finals will be run tomorrow through Sunday.

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There are no more undefeated teams in the Northwoods League for the second half. The Wisconsin Woodchucks dropped to 5-1, after falling at home to Eau Claire last night by an 8-3 score. Wisconsin is now tied with the Madison Mallards for the early South Division lead. La Crosse and Lakeshore are tied for third at 3-3. Madison won at Battle Creek 3-2. La Crosse out slugged Wisconsin Rapids on the road, 10-8. And Lakeshore won at Green Bay, 9-4. All these teams will continue their series tonight. Also, the Duluth Huskies play at Alexandria, after Duluth won a 20-18 power-burst on Wednesday. The Huskies scored 11 times in fifth inning and the 38 total runs in the game were the highest in Northwoods League history. Rochester plays at North Division-leading Mankato tonight. Willmar hosts Saint Cloud. And Thunder Bay is at Waterloo.

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If the Minnesota Twins have their way, the 2014 Major League All Star Game would be played in Minneapolis, the closest place to Wisconsin baseball fans in over a decade. The Twins sent a delegation to this week’s All Star festivities in Kansas City, to lobby to have Target Field host the Mid Summer Classic in two years. It’s not known when a decision will be made. The New York Mets will host next year’s All Star activities at Citi Field. If Minnesota gets the following year’s game, it would be the closest to Wisconsin and Milwaukee Brewers’ fans since 2002 when Miller Park hosted the infamous All Star Game which ended in a 7-7 tie. That was after both managers had almost used up their rosters over 11 innings. Minnesota’s last All Star Game also has some notoriety. It was in 1985 at the Metrodome, and it featured the first Home Run Derby that’s been a mainstay ever since.

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No criminal charges will be filed against a girls’ basketball coach from Hartford, who was arrested after a skirmish in Indiana involving his team. Chief deputy prosecutor Jeff Wehmueller said today that independent witnesses saw Fred Freeman break up a fight between two players on his traveling youth basketball team. And unless there’s new evidence which contradicts those witnesses, Wehmueller will consider the case closed. The 47 year old Freeman was arrested on Monday in suburban Indianapolis. A 17 year old player and a witness told police that the team lost a game, and then Freeman verbally abused the girl. Officers were also told that Freeman punched the player in the face, threw her to the ground, and placed his hands around her throat.

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Wisconsin’s top high school senior football players from a year ago will get one more chance to play for and against each other. The state coaches’ association will hold its annual All Star games on Saturday at UW Oshkosh. Jed Kennedy, who stepped down after his Kenosha Bradford team won the Division One title last November, will be back to coach a squad of southern Wisconsin All Stars in Divisions One through Three. Paul Nievinski of Mosinee will coach the north team. A second game will feature the top outgoing seniors in Divisions Four -Seven. Kent Hughes of Clear Lake will coach the North team. Jeffrey Eide of Whitehall is coaching the South squad.

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