Greene Ties 60-Meter World Record (6.39)

Maurice Greene, the Olympic 100-meter gold medalist and world record-holder, tied his world record in the 60-meter dash, running 6.39 seconds in a semifinal heat at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday in Atlanta.

About 1 1/2 hours later, Greene won the final at 6.51.

Pole vaulter Lawrence Johnson took a big step at becoming one of the world’s premier competitors by setting an American record of 19 feet 6 1/2 inches.

Johnson tuned up for the World Championships at Lisbon by breaking Jeff Hartwig’s U.S. record of 19-6 1/4. The Olympic silver medalist then missed three times at a world record 20-2 1/2, coming fairly close on each attempt.

Adam Nelson, the Olympic silver medalist in the men’s shotput, uncorked the longest throw in the world this year, 70-2 1/2.

Tennis

In his first tournament since winning the Australian Open, Andre Agassi advanced to the Sybase Open final with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Jan-Michael Gambill at San Jose. Agassi will face big-serving Greg Rusedski of Britain, who advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over qualifier Xavier Malisse at San Jose.

Eighth-seeded Meghann Shaughnessy rallied to upset second-seeded Monica Seles, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, in a semifinal of the State Farm Women’s Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz. In today’s final, Shaughnessy will face the Lindsay Davenport, who held off Australian Open winner Jennifer Capriati, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-1.

Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain won the $1-million Dubai Open at United Arab Emirates when Marat Safin quit in the second set because of searing back pain. The top-seeded Russian was trailing 6-2, 3-1 against the seventh-seeded Ferrero, last year’s losing finalist.

The No. 12 USC women’s team knocked off No. 22 UCLA, 5-2, at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. USC’s Maureen Diaz swept her singles match, 6-0, 6-0, against UCLA’s Lauren Fisher and also teamed with Bernadette Bayani for a doubles victory.

Football

In the XFL, Tommy Maddox threw two touchdown passes and Juan Cortez kicked three field goals as the Xtreme improved to 3-2 with a 22-7 victory over the New York-New Jersey Hitmen (1-4) before 22,479 at East Rutherford, N.J. Maddox completed 23 of 37 passes for 287 yards. . . . Pat Barnes threw two touchdown passes and Juan Johnson rushed for 99 yards as the San Francisco Demons (3-2) defeated the Birmingham Bolts (2-3), 39-10, before 33,403 in San Francisco. . . . The XFL is considering signing players out of high school who have not qualified academically for college.

The Seattle Seahawks went to work on their defense, signing free-agent defensive tackle John Randle one day after trading for quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. The Seahawks reportedly gave Randle a $25-million, five-year contract with a $5-million signing bonus.

The San Diego Chargers signed free agent cornerback Ryan McNeil to a five-year contract, reportedly worth $15.5 million, including a $2.5-million signing bonus. . . . Free-agent guard Todd Perry signed a five-year, $7.6-million contract with the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins also re-signed linebacker Derrick Rodgers to a four-year deal. . . . The Chicago Bears signed punter Brad Maynard to a five-year contract. . . . Free-agent offensive lineman Waverly Jackson signed an offer sheet for a three-year contract with the Cleveland Browns.

Police in Pueblo, Colo., are asking a judge for a warrant to arrest Denver Bronco tight end Dwayne Carswell after his girlfriend claimed that he beat her and pushed her from his car.

Dennis Franchione, who left Texas Christian in December to become Alabama’s football coach, officially signed a seven-year contract that pays him $1.1 million annually.

Miscellany

Scott Riggs won the pole position for the NASCAR Craftsman truck series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida with a lap on the 1 1/2-mile superspeedway of 146.017 mph in a Dodge. . . . James Weaver and Butch Leisinger driving a Ford led from start to finish in the Nextel 250, a Rolex Sports Car Race, for their first victory of the season.

Chris Kneifel, a former Champ car driver and part of the team that won this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race, is the new chief steward of the CART FedEx Championship Series.

Grant Dalton of New Zealand completed the fastest round-the-world sailing voyage, making port at Marseille, France, to win the inaugural Millennium Race by more than 1,000 miles.

American Chris Witty and Canadian Mike Ireland set 1,000-meter world records in a World Cup speedskating event at Calgary, Canada. Witty posted a time of 1 minute 14.48 seconds in the women’s event, eclipsing the mark of 1:14.61 set by Germany’s Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt in 1999. Ireland broke the world men’s record, posting a time of 1:08.34 seconds to break the mark of 1:08.35 that Canadian Jeremy Wotherspoon set last year. . . . Maria Garcia of Carson, 15, upset three 1998 Olympians to win the 500 at the U.S. short track speedskating national championships at Blaine, Minn. Her time was 46.432 seconds.

Kristina Oblasova of Russia beat Ann Patrice McDonough of the U.S. to win the women’s title at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships at Sofia, Bulgaria.

Hermann Maier joined Phil Mahre of the U.S. and Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden when he won the overall World Cup title at Kvitfjell, Norway, for the third time. The Austrian star finished fifth in a downhill to win the title. Marc Girardelli, the Austrian who competed for Luxembourg, leads with five.

Risto Jussilainen soared 198.0 meters on one jump and had 384.5 points to capture his first World Cup title, leading a Finnish sweep in a ski jumping meet at Oberstdorf, Germany.

The 29th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race began in Alaska, with 68 teams competing in the 1,100-mile race from Anchorage to Nome. Doug Swingley of Lincoln, Mont., is the defending champion.