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Soon, Cornette would be going live from the Mount Rushmore Nationals, a BMX racing event held at Rapid City's Robbinsdale Park, for the third episode of ESPN's 50 States in 50 Days: An initiative where an episode of SportsCenter would be hosted by an ESPN anchor at a sporting event in each state for 50 consecutive days. The intent was to show a global audience lesser known sporting events in lesser known pockets of America.

"Standby," longtime ESPN producer Tom Engle called out, and then a few minutes later, Cornette was on millions of television sets scattered across homes, airport bars and gyms with the suburban sprawl of Fairmount Boulevard to her left and the Bible Fellowship Church behind her. 

"Good morning everyone ... I'm in Rapid City, South ����app!" Cornette began.

It was paramount for the episode and event to bolster a Rapid City sports landscape attempting to grow bigger and entrench itself as a go-to destination for sporting events.

Earlier in the week, Rapid City Mayor Jason Salamun excitedly announced the proposed location for the $55 million Rapid City Sports Complex and told reporters "we love the idea that we are able to have multi-day tournaments and visitors coming from all around the region and all around the nation to Rapid City year-round to enjoy our sports complex."

And in a statement to the Journal on Sunday, June 29, Salamun said, "ESPN and its audiences will not be disappointed in what they see from the sport and what we have to offer here in Rapid City and the state of South ����app.”

Such media exposure isn't common. 

Since first coming to Rapid City for the 1986 National High School Rodeo Finals, according to a city spokesperson, the network has rarely come through the Black Hills, and there's no indication when they'll stop by again.

“The opportunity to spotlight Rapid City and the Black Hills to ESPN’s national and worldwide audiences, not to mention featuring the exciting sport of BMX racing, is a big deal," added Salamun in his statement. 

Tigh Pfeifle, board president of Rapid City BMX, said months of preparation went into the past weekend. There was high incentive to make sure the event went well because similar to the appearance of ESPN, there was no guarantee USA BMX would be back for an event that wound up including 564 competitors and an estimated 2,368 attendees.

But ESPN also wanted Sunday's episode to go well. The 50 States in 50 Days initiative had debuted in 2005 and 2025 marked the first time it's happened since. Significant time and resources were used toward sending talent like Cornette, Kevin Neghandi, Elle Duncan, Hannah Storm and Marty Smith to the Rapid City, South ����app's, Pittsfield, New Hampshire's and Rockland, Maine's of the United States. 

Not to mention doing justice by the communities and events they were covering. 

So, after arriving on Saturday, June 28 Cornette, Engle and a team made up of photographers and makeup artists filmed a variety of segments in the Black Hills. 

While standing near Mount Rushmore's amphitheater — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln jutting out behind her — Cornette listed the top four athletes from South ����app:

WWE and UFC champion Brock Lesnar of Webster. The NFL's all-time field goal leader Adam Vinatieri of Rapid City. Two-time WNBA champion Becky Hammon of Rapid City. Three-time World Series champion Terry "Tito" Francona, born in Aberdeen.

In between segments about this summer's NBA free agent class, and the saga surrounding where two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo will play next, Cornette and the ESPN crew traveled deep into the postcard views of Custer State Park. She said she was amazed by the 70,000-plus acres of open pastures filled with buffalo that she could hear rustling behind her in live shots. 

"In fact, the state of South ����app is home to one of the largest herds of buffalo in the entire world," Cornette told viewers in the segment as a herd photobombed her, but showed indifference to the spectacle.

Cornette grew up in a small town in Wisconsin, eventually moved on to cover the Chicago Bears and had been at ESPN for the last several years and resides in Bristol, Connecticut the network's home. It was a dream job, but the studio environment could feel slightly isolating and so ascending deep into the Black Hills for the 50 States in 50 Days initiative was refreshing. 

She said she was mesmerized by what she'd learned about the state, felt welcomed by the locals when she stopped by Murphy's Pub and enjoyed immersing herself in the world of BMX.

For one segment, she was flanked by Chase and London Burian, a pair of sisters who're among the nation's best, and strapped head to toe in gear for a lap around the track.

The starting gate slammed down and Cornette screamed as she raced down and stumbled over the first bump landing with a thud on her side.

Following the airing of the segment, she quipped that "she had a little bit of a battle wound" and raised her right elbow to a camera being operated by Greg Hoerdemann and showed a coin-sized red scrape.

"I hadn't ridden a bike in over a year so maybe I should've tested the track," she said to anchors back in Bristol.

Shortly after 10 a.m. local time, but still some time before a live interview with the Burian sisters, she caught up with an attendee named Bec Meyer. 

Meyer was a youngster visiting with his dad Shane from Denver, but a crash left him with two broken wrists so he couldn't compete. Cornette asked about his injuries and wished him the best of luck on his road to recovery.

"It's so cool," Meyer said after. "It makes me feel famous in a way."

For one final shot, ESPN's producers and the weekend's MC orchestrated a short segment with Cornette in a cluster of riders on the track, not far from where Cornette crashed a day earlier. 

"Hurry up guys," a producer called out to a few riders entering the scrum, antsy to get the final shot. 

The riders were instructed to "go crazy" after Cornette laid down her tag line.

"Shhhhhh," some of the riders said, clearing the way for Harrilchak's boom mic a few yards away to capture Cornette's voice.

"This is real now," Cornette told the crowd of riders behind her.

They quieted and then Cornette began.

"That'll do it from Mount Rushmore National here in the great state of South ����app. I rounded up some of my friends to say 'See ya later.'"

She waved and a kaleidoscope of colorful jerseys wooed and threw up their arms in a heap of exhilaration.

"Good job!" Engle said. 

And then it was time to pack up gear, say one final goodbye to occupants at Robbinsdale Park and hook a right on East Fairmont Boulevard. Past the suburban sprawl, past the nearby gas station advertising "death wish coffee" and ascend beyond the Black Hills, of course, because there was another 46 states left for the 50 Days in 50 States initiative.

"I'm so lucky that I got this is as one of my assignments," Cornette said on her way out.