Sprinter Boldon Brilliant at NCAA Meet

A year after a disqualification he still claims was unfair, Ato Boldon of UCLA blazed to a 10.06-second clocking in the 100-meter preliminaries Thursday in the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Eugene, Ore.

Boldon, who has the fastest time in the world this year at 9.93, was disqualified in last year’s NCAA semifinals for a false start. He went on to win the NCAA 200 title, then earned the bronze medal in the 100 in last year’s world championships.

On a cool evening at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, Boldon led nearly from the start and pulled away at the finish.

Boldon is considered a gold medal contender in this year’s Olympic Games, in which he will compete for Trinidad.

He contends he was mistakenly identified as the person who had the false start last year and that the judge saw someone move but wasn’t sure who it was so he asked a volunteer who was carrying uniform baskets and she pointed to Boldon.

Boldon heads a strong 100 field that includes defending champion Tim Harden of Kentucky and Obadele Thompson of Texas El Paso.

Defending champion Greg Haughton of George Mason, the bronze medalist for Jamaica in last year’s world championships, led the qualifying in the men’s 400 meters at 45.54 seconds.

Redshirt freshman Eric Bishop of North Carolina was the surprise winner in the high jump, clearing a personal-best 7 feet 6 inches.

Richard Duncan of Texas won the long jump with a leap of 26-0 1/4; Teri Steer of Southern Methodist won the women’s shot put with a toss of 59 feet, and Corissa Yasen of Purdue won the heptathlon with 5,765 points.

Louisiana State remained on track for its 10th consecutive women’s team championship. The LSU women qualified 1-2-5 in the preliminaries of the 100 meters and 1-2 in the 110-meter hurdle preliminaries.

Golf

Tiger Woods shot a course-record five-under-par 67 to take a three-stroke lead after two rounds of the NCAA golf championships at Ooltewah, Tenn.

The Stanford sophomore birdied three consecutive holes on the back nine in bettering the course record of 68 tied on Wednesday by Arizona State’s Pat Perez. Woods has a two-day total of eight-under 136 on the 7,039-yard, par-72 Honors Course near Chattanooga.

Brad Elder of Texas shot 68 and is three strokes behind Woods. Rory Sabbatini of Arizona shot a second consecutive 70 and is at four-under.

Arizona State maintained a one-stroke lead over Nevada Las Vegas in the team competition.

Steve Lowery eagled the 15th hole and birdied the final hole to break a logjam with three other players and take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Memorial tournament at Dublin, Ohio.

Lowery’s 15-foot putt on the last hole gave him a five-under 67 and allowed him to pass Payne Stewart, Larry Mize and Wayne Westner. Jim Furyk birdied the last two holes to finish at 69 along with Woody Austin and Allen Doyle.

British Open champion John Daly, using his new zero-iron six times off the tee, was among seven players at 70.

Esteban Toledo of Costa Mesa and John Johnson of Ventura, at 12 under par, share a three-stroke, second-round lead at the Queen Mary Open at Lakewood Country Club. Toledo shot a 66 and Johnson a 69.

Hockey

The Ottawa Senators signed defenseman Wade Redden, the second overall pick in the 1995 draft, to a three-year contract.

Detroit Red Wing center Kris Draper, who was smashed into the boards by Colorado’s Claude Lemieux in Game 6 of the conference finals, will have his broken jaw surgically repaired today. . . . The Mighty Ducks signed defenseman Byron Briske, a fourth-round selection (80th overall) in the 1994 draft, to a three-year deal.

Wayne Gretzky said he wants to remain with the St. Louis Blues, but added he wouldn’t mind finishing his career with former teammate Mark Messier and the New York Rangers. Gretzky, who becomes a free agent at the end of the playoffs, told ESPN that negotiations are ongoing with the Blues.

College Football

In a decision that could hasten the end of the College Football Assn., the Southeastern Conference said the CFA has outlived its usefulness and wants it to disband. The Atlantic Coast Conference already has recommended ending the CFA, and the SEC vote could be the final blow.

The CFA was created to give big-time football powers a stronger voice in the NCAA.

The NCAA is moving toward realignment that would give Division I-A schools virtual autonomy, making a separate organization unnecessary, said Mark Womack, SEC executive associate commissioner.

Names in the News

UCLA’s Toby Bailey has been invited to the trials for the 1996 U.S. men’s 22-and-under world basketball championship qualifying team. . . . As expected, California freshman forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim, saying he wants “to stay a kid,” has withdrawn his name from next month’s NBA draft and will return to school. . . . Kris Benson, who went 14-0 with a 1.40 earned-run average for Clemson this season, has been named as Baseball America’s college player of the year.