Florida State’s Weinke Will Return for Senior Season

Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke said Monday he will return for his senior season with an eye on winning a second national title.

Weinke, who threw four touchdown passes in a 46-29 victory over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl, will be 28 in his final college season.

In what he described as “a no-lose situation,” Weinke surprised his parents, brother and coaches with his decision.

“They said, ‘You’re leaving.’ I said, ‘You’re wrong.’ No one was right. I hope I am,” he said.

Weinke said he was told by NFL scouts he would be a third-round pick at best in the April draft.

“I don’t want to sit on the bench making the minimum, watching Florida State on Saturdays play on TV,” he said.

Monday was the final day for undergraduates to declare for the draft. Michigan running back Anthony Thomas said he is returning to school but Tennessee guard Cosey Coleman became the fifth Volunteer star to leave early.

The NFL will announce the official list today.

Tennis

Monica Seles withdrew from the Australian Open because she is still recovering from a stress fracture in her right foot, according to her management agency.

Seles, 26, has been hampered by the injury for several months. She has not played a tour event since losing to Lindsay Davenport in the final at Tokyo in late September. Her next scheduled event is in Tokyo later this month, after the Australian Open.

Seles won the Australian Open in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1996, and never lost a match in Melbourne until last year.

Todd Martin beat Andrei Medvedev, 6-1, 6-7 (7-1), 6-3, in the opening round of the Sydney International at Sydney, Australia. . . . Michael Chang beat Zimbabwe’s Byron Black, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), in the opening round at Auckland, New Zealand. . . . Jennifer Capriati set up a second-round matchup with Russian Anna Kournikova by beating Sandrine Testud of France, 6-3, 6-1, in the Adidas International at Sydney.

Baseball

After his deal with the Baltimore Orioles came apart over his physical, pitcher Aaron Sele quickly agreed on a $15-million, two-year contract with the Seattle Mariners.

“We’re satisfied Sele is as healthy as he was when he finished the season with the Rangers,” Mariners General Manager Pat Gillick said. “He underwent a physical on behalf of us with another physician, and our physician talked with that doctor and is satisfied.”

Sele, a 29-year-old right-hander, was 18-9 with a 4.79 earned-run average with the Texas Rangers last year. He had reached a tentative agreement Friday on a $29-million, four-year contract with the Orioles. But that agreement was subject to his passing a physical, and the contract was never completed.

Relief pitcher John Johnstone has agreed to a new two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants. . . . The Cleveland Indians signed catcher Matt Nokes, 36, to a minor league contract.

Jurisprudence

Rae Carruth, already facing murder charges in the death of his pregnant girlfriend, appeared in court at Charlotte, N.C., on a new charge that the former Carolina Panther violated an anti-abortion law by trying to kill his unborn child.

Former Baltimore Oriole pitcher Doug Johns was sentenced to a year of supervised probation, 80 hours of community service and fined $1,525 for drunk driving and possession of marijuana in Baltimore.

Miscellany

World champion Alexei Yagudin withdrew from this week’s Grand Prix figure skating finals in Lyon, France, after breaking a boot in practice. He uses only one pair of skates each season, according to his coach, Tatyana Tarasova. . . . In its second game since its stars’ boycott, the U.S. women’s soccer team tied Sweden, 0-0, at Melbourne’s Australia Cup. . . . Magic Johnson signed a two-year contract to play with Magic M7, the Swedish basketball team he bought last year. . . . New Mexico State and North Texas are leaving the Big West Conference this year, one year before they were scheduled to leave. Their football teams will still play in the conference, but all other sports will leave for the 2000-01 season to play in the Sun Belt Conference.