Riley Headed Back to Oregon State

Four years after leaving Oregon State for the NFL, Mike Riley has rejoined the Beavers as head coach, a university spokesman said Wednesday night.

Riley, who spent last year as an assistant with the New Orleans Saints, will be introduced at news conference today, said Steve Fenk, an assistant sports information director.

Riley, head coach of the San Diego Chargers from 1999-2001, replaces Dennis Erickson, who left Oregon State to become head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

The school said Riley contacted Athletic Director Bob De Carolis the day it was announced that Erickson was leaving.

Riley, 49, grew up in Corvallis, Ore., and attended Corvallis High. He was 8-14 during his tenure with the Beavers, although his recruits found success under Erickson.

Riley left for San Diego. He was fired after going 14-34 in three seasons with the Chargers and signed with the Saints as assistant head coach in charge of defensive backs.

Riley had interviewed for vacancies at Alabama and UCLA. He was offered the Alabama job but turned it down to wait for UCLA’s decision.

The Bruins went with Denver Bronco receivers coach Karl Dorrell.

Tennis

Third-seeded James Blake opened with four aces and needed only 39 minutes to defeat Jiri Vanek in the first round of the Kroger St. Jude tournament in Memphis, Tenn.

Blake had only nine aces in the match, but he served four straight to win the first game. Blake never lost his momentum, breaking Vanek twice in the opening set to go up, 5-2, and quickly put him away en route to a 6-3, 6-0 victory in his opening match.

“I don’t remember ever finishing a match that quickly,” said Blake, who reached the first finals of his career in Memphis last year and is ranked 23rd in the world. “It didn’t set in until it was 5-love. I looked at the clock as I was grabbing a ball.”

Fifth-seeded Jan-Michael Gambill won his first match, beating Zeljko Krajan, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Hyung-Taik Lee defeated Justin Gimelstob, 6-3, 6-4, and Vladimir Voltchkov beat Bob Bryan, 6-3, 6-3.

There were two upsets in women’s second-round matches. Saori Obata defeated No. 4 Alexandra Stevenson, 7-6 (1), 6-3, and Yoon Jeong Cho beat No. 5 Vera Zvonareva, 6-2, 6-4.

Third-seeded Amanda Coetzer lost the first set before beating Sarah Taylor, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Stephanie Foretz beat Alina Jidkova, 7-5, 7-6 (5), to reach the quarterfinals.

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Jennifer Capriati won for the first time this year, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-2, 6-1, in the second round of the Dubai Open.

The third-seeded Capriati defeated her 17-year-old opponent in less than an hour. Capriati lost her previous two matches in 2003 -- in the Australian Open and a tournament in Sydney.

“I have been working hard on my fitness and game after losing in the Australian Open, where I wasn’t really ready,” she said.

Top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne recovered from a poor first set and defeated qualifier Anca Barna, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo beat Petra Mandula, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (5).

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U.S. Open semifinalist Sjeng Schalken defeated Olivier Rochus, 7-5, 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals of the ABN Amro in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

In a first-round match, two-time defending champion Nicolas Escude beat French Open champion Albert Costa, 6-3, 6-3.

Winter Sports

Thomas Alsgaard led a Norwegian sweep in the 30-kilometer classical cross-country race, the opening men’s event at the Nordic world championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

Anders Aukland won the silver medal, 0.6 seconds behind Alsgaard’s time of 1 hour 12 minutes 29.3 seconds. Frode Estil earned the bronze, 1.1 seconds behind. The top American was Justin Freeman in 42nd place, more than five minutes behind.

The Norwegians worked together to beat defending world champion Andrus Veerpalu of Estonia, who finished fourth, 1.9 seconds back.

Alsgaard, who recently recovered from a strained back, won his fifth world title.

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The U.S. Alpine Skiing Championships are being moved out of Girdwood, Alaska, because of unseasonably warm weather.

The new site will be in the continental United States, but it hasn’t been chosen yet, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Assn. spokesman Tom Kelly said.

He said he expects the championships to be held around the originally scheduled dates, March 19-25.

Miscellany

The 12th annual Sports Legends Awards, presented by the Paralysis Project of America, will honor auto racing’s Mario Andretti, baseball’s Rod Carew, football’s Richard Dent, cycling’s Greg LeMond, horse racing’s Mike Smith and tennis’ Tony Trabert on March 1 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

The event, open to the public, will be hosted by Fox Sports Net anchor Van Earl Wright. It includes a special presentation to former race car driver Sam Schmidt, who was paralyzed in a crash at Ontario Motor Speedway.