Jackson Breaks Indoor Hurdles Record

Colin Jackson has videotape of Greg Foster’s 60-meter indoor hurdles world record, set in Los Angeles in 1987 and disputed by some who believe Foster jumped the gun.

Maybe that’s why Jackson had two false starts before he was timed in 7.35 seconds, 0.01 faster than Foster’s mark, in a British-United States meet at Glasgow, Scotland on Saturday.

“Of course it was a flyer,” said Jackson, a 26-year-old Welshman of Foster’s record-setting run. “I used to think that the only way I was going to beat it was by getting the same sort of start.

Jackson lost his bid for a double by finishing second in the 60-meter sprint to world and Olympic 100-meter champion Linford Christie, who won in 6.53 seconds.

*

Wisconsin’s Amy Wickus set a national collegiate indoor record of 2 minutes 1.65 seconds in the women’s 800 meters at a meet in Champaign, Ill. The old record was 2:02.77, set by Meredith Rainey of Harvard on March 10, 1990.

*

Olympic gold medalists Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Gail Devers have agreed to run in the 50-meter sprint at the 35th annual Sunkist Invitational meet at the Sports Arena on Saturday.

Baseball

Outfielder Jay Buhner and the Seattle Mariners agreed to a $4.35-million, one-year contract. He made $2,772,500 last season. . . . San Francisco Giant catcher Kirt Manwaring signed a $1.8-million contract and pitcher Trevor Wilson signed for $1 million.

Tennis

Second-seeded Todd Martin needed 2 hours 20 minutes to defeat eighth-seeded Paul Haarhuis, 6-1, 6-7 (9-7), 7-6 (7-2), in the afternoon quarterfinals, then beat Alex O’Brien, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, in a 2 1/2-hour semifinal of the Kroger-St. Jude International tournament in Memphis.

Martin will play two-time champion Brad Gilbert, a 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 winner over Patrick McEnroe, in today’s final. Gilbert upset defending champion and third-ranked Jim Courier, 6-4, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.

*

Trailing by 7-6 (7-4), 2-0, fifth-seeded Magdalena Maleeva suffered a strained left thigh and was forced to retire in her semifinal match against unseeded Chanda Rubin in the Virginia Slims of Chicago. Rubin will face No. 6 Natalia Zvereva in today’s final. Zvereva defeated No. 7 Lori McNeil, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

*

Top-seeded Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere beat Mana Endo, 6-0, 6-3, and Iva Majoli beat Ai Sugiyama, 7-5, 7-5, in the semifinals of the Asian Women’s Open in Amagasaki, Japan.

*

Fifth-seeded Sabine Applemans defeated Barbara Schett, 7-5, 6-4, and sixth-seeded Meike Babel defeated Eugenia Miokova, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the finals in the EA Generali tournament in Linz, Austria.

College Athletics

The Southwest and Big Eight conferences are close to a five-year television contract with ABC that could lay the foundation for a merger between the leagues, athletic directors said.

DeLoss Dodds, Texas’ athletic director, said ABC offered nearly $60 million and that a deal with ESPN could bump the package to $80 million.

A merger could involve as many as all eight SWC schools or only half, Dodds said, declining to say which would make the cut.

Miscellany

Ray Dandridge, 79, a Hall of Fame third baseman who played in the Negro Leagues and the minors, died of prostate cancer in Palm Bay, Fla.

*

Dominic Kinnear, a member of the U.S. national soccer team, underwent an emergency appendectomy while on a trip with the team to a tournament in Hong Kong.

*

The NFL has told the Canadian Football League that a CFL franchise expected to be awarded to Baltimore next week cannot be named the Colts because of trademark infringement.