Springer Takes Four-Shot Lead

Mike Springer shot a 69, three under, and took a four-stroke lead Friday in the second round of the Greater Greensboro Open at Greensboro, N.C.

Springer is 11 under at 133 after two days. Ed Humenik, in second place, shot a 65 Friday for a 137 total. Joel Edwards matched his first-round 69 for a 138 total and was joined by John Huston, who had a 65, and Hale Irwin, who after shooting 65 on Thursday, had a 73.

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DeWitt Weaver, Simon Hobday and J.C. Snead shot five-under 65s and shared the first-round lead in the Dallas Reunion Senior PGA tournament. Jack Kiefer and Jerry McGee had 66s over the 6,528-yard Oak Cliff Country Club course.

Football

The Detroit Lions signed veteran quarterback Dave Krieg, an unrestricted free agent from Kansas City. Krieg will back up Scott Mitchell, who signed a three-year, $11.1-million deal with Detroit in March.

Krieg spent his first 12 NFL seasons with Seattle before helping the Chiefs to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth in 1992. Last season, Krieg backed up Joe Montana, playing in 12 games and starting five.

Citing NFL salary-cap considerations, the Denver Broncos released veteran nose tackle Greg Kragen, who would have earned $1.15 million next season.

Tennis

Iva Majoli, a 16-year-old from Croatia who is the youngest full-time player on the WTA tour, upset second-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain, 6-4, 6-3, and advanced to the semifinals of the La Familia Open in Barcelona, Spain.

In the other quarterfinals, No. 1 seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain beat No. 8 Julie Halard of France, 6-1, 7-5; No. 3 Magdelana Maleeva of Bulgaria defeated Ann Grossman, 6-0, 6-0, and No. 4 Sabine Hack of Germany topped Patricia Tarabini of Argentina, 6-4, 6-3.

Four former No. 1 players will compete for $75,000 in prize money under an unusual format during the second stop of the Advanta tennis tour tonight at 6:30 at The Pond of Anaheim.

John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg and Mats Wilander will play each other in winner-take-all, $10,000 one-set matches, the overall winner picking up an additional $10,000.

Wilander, 29, was the big winner Thursday night at Denver, earning $40,000 by defeating all three of his competitors, each of whom is at least six years older. Borg, 38, lost all three of his matches.

“The format is a bit different, but the idea, I guess, is to have four guys who create interest and keep the attention of the people,” said Connors, 41, who will play McEnroe, 35, in the night’s final match. “But it could turn out to be a long night. It’s six sets of tennis.”

Thursday’s matches didn’t end until shortly before midnight.

Gymnastics

Nebraska’s Dennis Harrison earned 58.20 points to win the NCAA all-around men’s gymnastics championship for the second time, at Lincoln, Neb.

The Cornhuskers had their second-highest point total of the year, 287.325, to lead two-time defending champion Stanford (285.60) and Ohio State (284.20) into today’s team finals.

Josh Stein of Stanford was second in the all-around with 57.650 points and Kip Simmons of Ohio State was third with 57.475.

Miscellany

Defending champion Rusty Wallace gained the pole for the Hanes 500 at Martinsville, Va., Speedway with a lap at 92.942 m.p.h. on the .526-mile oval.

European soccer champion Olympique Marseille was demoted to the second division of the French League next season for bribing three players on a rival team to throw a game last May.

An auction to benefit the athletic program at Cal State Northridge will be held April 30 at the Warner Center Marriott, the proceeds to help offset lost income from sporting events canceled after the Jan. 17 earthquake.

Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes will defend their doubles championship in the $100,000 Miller Lite Open beach volleyball tournament this weekend at Jacksonville, Fla.