Dolphins Get Williams; Glenn Traded to Packers

The Miami Dolphins got their man. But only one of them.

On Friday, the Dolphins finally completed the trade that will bring them former Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams, who was considered expendable by the New Orleans Saints despite averaging more than 1,000 yards a season.

But Olin Kreutz, the free-agent center the Dolphins were ardently pursuing, re-signed with Chicago in a deal that included a $7-million signing bonus and left Miami looking elsewhere to build up its offensive line.

“The biggest plus for me is I’m coming into a situation where they already have a good team. They’re just adding a good player,” Williams said.

The Williams trade brought to the Saints some of the picks they lost when former coach Mike Ditka traded away the team’s entire 1999 draft to get Williams. Miami traded a first-round pick in 2002 and a third-round pick in 2003 that could become a first-rounder depending on how Williams performs.

Miami also dealt running back J.J. Johnson to Cleveland for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2004, and agreed to terms with injury-plagued guard Leon Searcy on a one-year, $750,000 contract.

Also on the move Friday was wide receiver Terry Glenn, who was dealt from New England to Green Bay. Glenn sat out most of last season after being suspended for four games for a substance abuse violation and then because of differences with Coach Bill Belichick.

The Packers gave the Patriots a fourth-round pick in the 2002 draft, plus a pick next year that will depend on Glenn’s performance.

In other moves, cornerback Aaron Beasley, cut by Jacksonville for cap reasons, signed with the New York Jets; center Bill Conaty re-signed with the Buffalo Bills; and fullback Fred Beasley stayed with the San Francisco 49ers, signing a four-year, $6.075-million contract.

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Motor Racing

Bill Elliott struck a blow for the older drivers, nipping rookie Ryan Newman for the pole in qualifying for the MBNA America 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga.

Elliott was the 42nd of 45 drivers to make his two-lap run and turned the 1.54-mile oval at 191.542 mph, barely beating Newman’s speed of 191.463. Elliott’s Dodge was 16th fastest in an earlier practice but picked up the pace for his 52nd career pole.

Joining the 24-year-old Newman near the front are two more twentysomethings--Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch. Earnhardt will start third in a Chevrolet, Busch fourth in a Ford.

Adrian Fernandez came out on top in a wild finish in the opening round of qualifying for the Monterrey Grand Prix in Mexico, taking the provisional pole with a fast lap as time expired.

His lap of 1 minute 18.929 seconds, or 95.965 mph, was well shy of the track record of 100.665, set in last year’s second round of qualifying by Kenny Brack.

Steve Park will return to Winston Cup competition next week at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, where a crash left him with a brain injury that led to slurred speech and double vision.

The attempt to make NASCAR racing safer after Dale Earnhardt’s death has led to a new rule regarding the placement of seat belts in the car.

Shoulder belts must be mounted to a specific portion of the roll cage behind the driver. In another change, the length adjusters on lap belts must be either at the point where the belt connects to the frame or where it latches with the other belts.

Former driver and team owner Parnelli Jones will receive the Eagle One-Shav Glick Award for distinguished achievement in auto racing by a Californian. Jones will receive the award April 28 at California Speedway.

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Tennis

Top-seeded Andre Agassi handled upset specialist Juan Ignacio Chela, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1, to move into the semifinals of the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz. No. 7 Xavier Malisse, who beat Wayne Ferreira, 7-5, 6-2, stands between Agassi and his second consecutive final.

Juan Balcells beat Noam Okun, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, to move into the semifinals against Rainer Schuettler, who defeated Carlos Moya, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

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Track and Field

Senior Nicole Duncan of Cal State L.A. won the women’s long jump, the fourth national title of her career, with a leap of 20 feet 41/4 inches in the NCAA Division II indoor track and field championships at Boston.

The UCLA women’s team is in fourth place after the first day of the NCAA Division I indoor track and field championships at Fayetteville, Ark., with 18 points. Louisiana State is first with 21.

UCLA’s Tiffany Burgess, Monique Henderson, Jessica Marr and Lena Nilsson combined to win the distance medley relay.

In men’s competition, Alabama’s Miguel Pate won the long jump, adding that to the U.S. title he gained last week. The fifth-year senior leaped 27-4.

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Miscellany

No charges will be filed over a fistfight between baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson and another man. Police in Nebraska were unable to corroborate the stories given by Gibson and Miguel Sanchez about the Feb. 15 fight at a gas station off Interstate 80, Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov said.

A drug investigation of Lance Armstrong’s cycling team so far has yielded no results suggesting the squad used banned substances during the 2000 Tour de France.

Olympic champion Catriona LeMay Doan of Canada took the women’s 500-meter World Cup speedskating title at Inzell, Germany, to extend her winning streak to 20 races. LeMay Doan was timed in 38.60 seconds to edge Germany’s Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt by 0.01 of a second.

Martin Buser was the first musher to reach the Yukon River village of Ruby, Alaska, at about 3:58 a.m. and holds a two-hour lead in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.