Beck Finds Touch as a Co-Leader

Golfers Chip Beck and Tom Kite found things they’ve been in search of lately--confidence and spots on the leader board.

Beck, a North Carolina native seeking a turnaround in his home state, shot a five-under-par 67 for a share of the first-round lead Thursday in the Greater Greensboro Classic. Kite, the career earnings leader whose recent paydays have been meager, is among four golfers at 68.

Joining Beck at 67 was Guy Boros, who has missed the cut seven times in 12 outings. Billy Andrade, who played college golf at nearby Wake Forest, Joe Ozaki and Jay Don Blake were at 68 with Kite.

Tennis

Andre Agassi made a quick exit before a jeering crowd and an out-of-shape Boris Becker made a more expected departure, both joining the growing list of seeded players ousted in the Monte Carlo Open.

Alberto Costa of Spain routed second-seeded Agassi in the third round, 6-2, 6-1. Becker was ousted by Marcelo Rios of Chile, 6-4, 6-3. Top-seeded Thomas Muster advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Spanish teenager Carlos Moya in running his clay-court winning streak to 32 matches.

The world’s second- and third-ranked women, Spaniards Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez, agreed to open their country’s defense of the Fed Cup against South Africa this weekend in Madrid after settling a pay dispute. They had sought $80,000.

Top-seeded Jimmy Connors defeated Peter Fleming, 6-1, 6-4, to reach the semifinals of the over-35 Coopers & Lybrand Champions event at the Riviera Country Club. Andres Gomez defeated Tim Wilkison, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, in another quarterfinal match.

Pro Football

The Pittsburgh Steelers took another step to ensure that they will have a running back to replace fullback John L. Williams, and possibly Bam Morris, by re-signing free-agent fullback Steve Avery. Avery, 29, was a reserve running back and special teams member last season.

Duane Bickett, a free agent and former Pro Bowl linebacker with the Seattle Seahawks, agreed to contract terms with the Carolina Panthers. . . . Mike Pringle, a running back-kick returner who was the Canadian Football League’s most valuable player last season for the Grey Cup champion Baltimore Stallions, signed a one-year contract with the Denver Broncos.

College Football

Cade McNown completed three of eight passes for 72 yards, one a 48-yarder to Jim McElroy, in UCLA’s spring practice-ending scrimmage at Spaulding Field.

Ryan Roques, a redshirt freshman who was subbing for injured starter Skip Hicks at tailback, had touchdown runs of 20 and six yards, both against defensive reserves on drills inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.

Jurisprudence

Texas Tech quarterback Zebbie Lethridge is suing a police officer who accused him of shoplifting a $13.50 pair of hoop earrings last May and the department store where the theft was alleged to have occurred for unspecified damages in Lubbock, Texas. A municipal court jury acquitted Lethridge, 21, of the theft charge last month.

Olympics

About 240,000 new Olympic tickets are going on the market, including seats for prime events such as boxing, basketball and track and field that previously were listed as sold out. The tickets will go on sale Saturday at 6 a.m. PDT by telephone, (404) 523-8435, and through the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games site on the Internet.

Defending Olympic gold medalists Mark Reynolds of San Diego and Hal Haenel of Los Angeles moved into second place, one point off the lead in the Star class of the U.S. Olympic yachting trials off Savannah, Ga. They trail John Kostecki of San Diego and Tom Olsen of East Dennis, Mass., after the ninth and 10th races of the 16-race series to determine the U.S. team for the Summer Olympics.

Miscellany

Johnny Tapia will replace injured Gabriel Ruelas, who has a broken ring finger, in the main event of a boxing card Tuesday in San Antonio. Tapia (34-0-2), the World Boxing Organization 115-pound champion from Albuquerque, will fight Ramon Gonzalez (11-4-1) of Mexico in a 10-round bout.

First-half goals by Eduardo Lillingston and Nestor Gutierrez gave Mexico a 2-1 soccer victory over the United States in Saltillo, Mexico, sending Mexico to the World Youth Championship next year. The Americans could earn a berth if the field is expanded from 16 to 24 teams.

Blaine Wilson of Ohio State won the individual all-around title during the first day of the NCAA men’s gymnastics championships at Stanford. Wilson scored 58.625 points to beat Stanford’s Keith Wiley, who had 57,850. Stanford, seeking its fourth team title in the past five years, beat second-seeded California, 231.150 to 231.000, in the team preliminaries.

The UCLA women’s gymnastics team, seeking its first NCAA title, advanced to tonight’s Super Six team competition at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Georgia was the top qualifier with 196.4 points, with the Bruins fifth (195.3). UCLA’s Stella Umeh (bars and beam), Korinne Chee (beam) and Luisa Portocarrero (beam) advanced to Saturday’s individual finals.

Kip Janvrin scored 8,198 points to break Bruce Jenner’s record in the Drake Relays decathlon in Des Moines. Jenner scored 8,250 points in 1976, but the decathlon tables since have been revised and his performance would translate into 8,163 points now.

Russia remained the only team without a loss in the World Ice Hockey Championships, beating the United States in Vienna, 3-1. Roman Oksiuta of the Mighty Ducks scored an empty-net goal for the Russians.

The 1996 California state bowling tournament will begin today and continue for 18 weekends through August. Singles competition, featuring 11,286 entries, and doubles, featuring 5,643 sets of players, will be held at Sunset Bowl in San Diego. Team competition will be held in National City.

Services for Garland Rose, former Riverside Press-Enterprise sports editor, will be held today at 9 a.m. at the Church of Christ, 6160 Riverside Ave., Riverside. Rose, 73, died Tuesday of heart failure.