Gambill Joins Select Club With Upset of Sampras

Jan-Michael Gambill pulled off the second shocker in two days at the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic when he stunned top-ranked Pete Sampras, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, Thursday night at Scottsdale, Ariz.

About 24 hours earlier, 18-year-old Lleyton Hewitt of Australia upset two-time U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter.

“I passed better than I ever thought I could,” said Gambill, 21, who joined Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Jim Courier and Todd Martin as the only Americans to beat Sampras since 1995.

In other matches, Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia beat qualifier Hernan Gumy of Argentina, 6-4, 6-4, and Justin Gimelstob beat Fernando Vicente of Spain, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.

*

Marc Rosset of Switzerland lost to Canada’s Daniel Nestor, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, in the second round of the Copenhagen Open.

Football

The Cleveland Browns agreed to terms with free-agent running back Terry Kirby on a two-year contract. Kirby, who spent the last three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, is the 10th player to join the Browns after playing for San Francisco. . . . The Seattle Seahawks re-signed tight end Christian Fauria to a three-year deal worth $5.1 million. . . . Restricted free agent cornerback Aaron Beasley re-signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. . . . The Atlanta Falcons are close to signing backup quarterback Danny Kanell and re-signed free-agent cornerback Ronnie Bradford, who started 24 of the team’s last 30 games. . . . The Chicago Bears signed a letter of intent with the city to extend the team’s five-year lease at Soldier Field through 2004.

The University of Washington took away 20 of 29 recruiting days from new Coach Rick Neuheisel in an effort to avoid further sanctions. . . . A judge has raised misdemeanor assault and battery charges against University of Virginia sophomore tailback Antwoine Womack and senior defensive back Adrian Burnim to felony malicious wounding charges, stemming from a fight last month.

High Schools

The CIF told the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Pasadena that it will ease rules blocking athletes from joining teams of schools they don’t attend.

The new policy will enable individual districts to make their own choices about allowing students from private high schools onto public school teams, CIF attorney Andrew Patterson told the 9th Circuit.

Soccer

Goalkeeper Zach Thornton and midfielder Frankie Hejduk were added to the U.S. roster for U.S. Cup games against Guatemala and Mexico. Thornton will replace Kasey Keller, who will remain with his English club, Leicester City. Tony Sanneh has an injured thigh muscle and was dropped in favor of Hejduk. The American team opens the U.S. Cup, a four-team exhibition tournament that also includes Bolivia, against Guatemala at the Coliseum next Thursday. Mexico’s squad at the U.S. Cup will feature the same team members who played in the 1998 World Cup. . . . Ulises Mendivil scored in the 89th minute as Atlas’ second-division team tied the Galaxy, 1-1, in an exhibition at Guadalajara, Mexico. Welton scored for the Galaxy in the 18th minute.

Miscellany

World champion Agnes Kovacs of Hungary defeated American Olympic champion Amanda Beard in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke at Imperia, Italy, for her third gold at a World Cup short-course meet.

The Maryland Council on Human Relations has charged the minor league Hagerstown Suns with religious discrimination for offering discounted family admission prices to fans who bring church bulletins to Sunday games.

Bob McNeish, a halfback at USC in 1931-33 and a coach of Pasadena Junior College’s undefeated national championship team in 1936, died Feb. 27 of natural causes. McNeish, 86, lived in San Marino. . . . Lloyd LaBeach, a former UCLA track star who once held world records in the 100-meter and 220-yard sprints and won bronze medals in the 100- and 200-meter sprints while running for Panama in the 1948 Olympics, died Feb. 17 of a heart attack in New Jersey. He was 76.

The fifth-ranked UCLA men’s volleyball team (11-6, 9-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will try to stop a school-record four-match losing streak when it hosts Pacific (6-5, 4-5) at 7. . . . The top-ranked USC women’s water polo team (10-1) will host No. 12 Long Beach State (7-4) at 5 at McDonald’s Swim Stadium.