Morrison Named Athletic Director at UC Riverside

With UC Riverside moving to Division I over the next two years, it only made sense to hire an athletic director with extensive Division I experience.

Which is one reason former USC men’s basketball coach and UC Santa Barbara athletic director Stan Morrison was named to lead the Highlander program Thursday.

Morrison coached at USC from 1979-86, winning a share of the Pacific 10 Conference championship in 1985, then served as athletic director at Santa Barbara for four years. He returned to coaching at San Jose State for nine seasons before retiring in 1998.

Morrison has worked as a television commentator and served as vice president for an executive training firm since leaving coaching.

“Most of my family is in Southern California,” Morrison said. “The leadership here is amazing and we have coaches with Division I talent.”

As part of the two-year transition period for Division I membership, Riverside will remain a member of the Division II California Collegiate Athletic Assn. this season but will be ineligible for postseason competition. Riverside will play a Division I schedule beginning with the 2000-01 season.

Golf

Aki Takamura birdied five holes in a row and Iben Tinning survived a double bogey as the two outsiders carded five-under-par 68s to share the first-round lead at the $1-million Women’s British Open at Woburn, England. . . . Former Arizona State golfer Kellee Booth advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur for the first time with a 2 and 1 victory over Stanford’s Stephanie Keever at Asheville, N.C.

Tennis

Pete Sampras celebrated his 28th birthday with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) victory over Rainer Schuttler of Germany in the third round of the $2.45-million ATP Championship at Mason, Ohio.

The victory extended Sampras’ streak to 19 matches, during which he has won three tournaments.

The top seven seeded players advanced, the first time that has happened in three years in an ATP event. The one unseeded player left is Michael Chang, who defeated Cedric Pioline of France, 6-1, 6-4.

Jurisprudence

The St. Louis Rams have been added as a defendant in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of a woman killed in a wreck involving linebacker Leonard Little.

New Mexico senior basketball forward Damion Walker was sentenced to 364 days’ probation for trying to break into a school van on campus in Albuquerque. Walker was also ordered to pay for repair of a broken window and to perform 100 hours of community service.

Former Miami Dolphin wide receiver Mark Clayton was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for failing to pay more than $12,000 in child support and for driving with a suspended license.

Track and Field

Cuban sports officials have ruled out the participation of high jumper Javier Sotomayor, the center of controversy after his testing positive for cocaine, at the World Championships in Spain because of a back injury and hernia.

Sotomayor won his fourth consecutive Pan American Games, but the gold medal was stripped from him days later, after the positive doping test. He has denied taking drugs, claiming he was the victim of a setup.

Bernard Barmasai, the world-record holder in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, told reporters he asked fellow Kenyan Christopher Koskei to drop back just before the end of Wednesday’s race at Zurich, Switzerland.

The IAAF said it would conduct a formal investigation. Barmasai is one of four athletes still in contention for the $1-million Golden League jackpot, which is split among athletes who go unbeaten through the seven biggest Grand Prix meets on the circuit. Two meets are left.

Miscellany

Substitute Dario Brose’s goal in the 77th minute lifted the San Jose Clash over the New England Revolution, 2-1, in Major League Soccer before 13,427 at Foxboro, Mass.

Alabama trustees upheld the decision to discipline rather than fire football Coach Mike DuBose, who lied about his relationship with an employee who’d accused him of sexual harassment. School President Andrew Sorensen cut DuBose’s salary by $360,000 over the next three years. At the same time, the university agreed to pay $350,000 to the employee who filed the complaint against DuBose.

Rod Graddy, a starter at strong safety, was kicked off the Florida football team by Coach Steve Spurrier for his involvement in a nightclub incident that led to two arrests.

With several deadlines approaching, Mario Lemieux’s advisors are rushing to preserve the retired NHL star’s purchase of the bankrupt Pittsburgh Penguins and are considering adding more investors. Lemieux twice failed to meet deadlines set by a federal bankruptcy judge.

The Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars re-signed center Derek Plante to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration.