U.S. Sprinters Are Sharp, With Five Breaking 10-Flat

Led by Jon Drummond’s 9.92-second clocking in the 100 meters, five U.S. sprinters broke the 10-second mark and another equaled it in heats Thursday in the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Indianapolis.

The semifinal times were not nearly as fast, as the sprinters ran into a headwind, but the prelim times were stunning--Tim Montgomery, Kareem Streete-Thompson and Maurice Greene all set personal bests by clocking 9.96, Mike Marsh ran 9.97 and Brian Lewis had a career-best 10.00.

Marion Jones, the former North Carolina basketball player, ran the year’s two fastest times in the 100, clocking 10.98 in the prelims and 10.92 in the semifinals.

Not to be outdone, the shotputters had three throwers surpass 70 feet for the first time in a national championship meet, including Olympic champion and world-record holder Randy Barnes, who won with a world-best 72 feet 3 1/2 inches.

Steve Fritz, the fourth-place finisher at the 1996 Olympics, won his first national decathlon title with 8,604 points, the best by an American this year and No. 2 in the world. Kelly Blair, last year’s Olympic trials winner in the heptathlon, won her second consecutive national title with a career-best 6,465 points.

Frankie Fredericks of Namibia won the 100 meters in 10.11 seconds to highlight the Paavo Nurmi Centennial Games at Turku, Finland.

Football

Quarterback Steve Bono, whose signing Kansas City Coach Marty Schottenheimer now acknowledges was a mistake, has been waived by the Chiefs.

The Chiefs acquired Bono from San Francisco 49ers in 1994 for a fourth-round draft pick. He led the Chiefs to a 13-3 in the 1995 regular season, but he threw three interceptions in a 10-7 loss to Indianapolis in the second round of the playoffs.

The Chiefs have signed Elvis Grbac, another former 49er, to be their quarterback.

Bono reportedly is close to reaching a contract agreement with the Green Bay Packers to back up Brett Favre, but Packer officials say nothing has been signed.

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Both sides signed off on the Houston Oilers’ lease with the Astrodome, finally freeing the NFL franchise to move to Tennessee, according to team owner Bud Adams. . . . Defensive tackle Henry Thomas, who played with the Detroit Lions last season, signed with the New England Patriots. . . . Defensive tackle Ray Agnew, released last week by the New York Giants in a cost-cutting move, signed with the Carolina Panthers. Mike Minter, a safety from Nebraska drafted in the second round this year, also signed with Carolina.

Tennis

Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, despite holding serve the last two sets, lost to Richey Reneberg, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (8-6), in the second round of the Gerry Weber Open at Halle, Germany. . . . French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten defeated Jacobo Diaz of Spain, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Carisbo clay-court tournament at Bologna, Italy. . . . Pete Sampras advanced to the quarterfinals of the Queen’s Club grass-court tournament in London when New Zealand’s Brett Steven defaulted because of an upset stomach.

Miscellany

The Pittsburgh Penguins made Kevin Constantine, a former coach of the San Jose Sharks who spent last season as an assistant with the Calgary Flames, their new coach. Constantine replaces the man who hired him, General Manager Craig Patrick, who finished the season as interim coach. . . . Billie Jean King will be awarded an honorary doctorate degree as part of Cal State Los Angeles’ 50th graduation Saturday. . . . Trainer Eddie Futch won’t be in Montell Griffin’s corner when the World Boxing Council light-heavyweight champion defends the title in a rematch with Roy Jones Jr. on Aug. 7 because of a dispute over money. . . . Martin Hidalgo scored in the 75th minute as Peru defeated defending champion Uruguay, 1-0, in the first round of Copa America, Latin America’s top soccer championship. In another game, Bolivia defeated Venezuela, 1-0.

Jurisprudence

Two University of Arizona football players, safety Mikal Smith and cornerback Leland Gayles, were arrested on felony charges for allegedly scheming to sell textbooks they got for free from an athletic scholarship fund.

The chief prosecutor in Mannheim, Germany, said that the investigation of tax evasion against tennis player Steffi Graf has been dropped. Chief district attorney Hubert Jobski told a Mannheim radio station that Graf has agreed to pay $760,000 to the state and to charitable causes.

Bobby Unser went through a “harrowing, life-threatening” experience in Colorado’s back country, a federal judge said Thursday before convicting the former race car driver of illegally driving his snowmobile in a federal wilderness area and fining him $75.