Sports

Preparing the Bridgehampton grounds for the horses, riders, and thousands of people who will return to the weeklong Hampton Classic starting Sunday began almost the minute last year’s show ended.

Kal Lewis, a Shelter Island High School miler and cross-country runner, led a field of almost 800 over the Ellen’s Run 5K course in Southampton Sunday, breaking the tape in front of Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’s Parrish Hall in 16 minutes and 15.90 seconds.

When the dust had cleared on the Artists’ 10-8 win in the Artists and Writers Softball Game Saturday at East Hampton’s Herrick Park, Ed Hollander, basking in the glow of victory, said that, surprisingly, the Game had “smacked of competence.”

It's the Johnny Mac tennis legends exhibition at Hampton Racquet on Saturday, while Sunday kicks off the weeklong Hampton Classic Horse Show in Bridgehampton.

Swimmers ages 7 through 79 churned the water in Bill and Dominique Kahn’s 25-yard pool here Saturday, raising money for pancreatic cancer research and evoking the spirit of the late Dr. Charles van der Horst, a retired University of North Carolina medical professor internationally known for his work with AIDS patients.

The Hampton Lifeguard Association, as it did last year, placed sixth in the United States Lifesaving Association’s national tournament in Virginia Beach this past weekend.

The Strides for Life 3-miler in Southampton Sunday morning drew a field of around 600 and made significant fund-raising strides as well for the Lung Cancer Research Foundation, to the tune of about $365,000.

Aside from the big-ticket Artists and Writers Game and Ellen's Run, there's plenty of slow-pitch softball and a tennis pro-am in Southampton Saturday.

In the end, Leif Hope, who has been an integral part of The Game for a half-century, said, it’s all about entertainment and raising money for four local charities — the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center, Phoenix House, the Retreat, and East End Hospice.

This coming weekend will be a busy one sports-wise, with the Artists and Writers Softball Game at East Hampton’s Herrick Park Saturday afternoon and Ellen’s Run at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital Sunday morning.

The recent graduate of Messiah College in Pennsylvania, who was the nation’s leading scorer in men’s soccer in the fall, has signed a contract with Stumptown Athletic of Charlotte, N.C., an entry in the newly formed National Independent Soccer Association.

Block Island paddle leaves from the Montauk Lighthouse early Saturday, while East Hampton lifeguards hit the national competition in Virginia Beach this weekend and men's and women's slow-pitch teams take to the Terry King field in Amagansett.