Sports brief 11/6/04

Colleges

• Terry Logue, athletics director of Westminster College, resigned Friday, the school announced.

Logue, who has been director of athletics since 1998, cited health problems in announcing his resignation, which is effective immediately. He will teach physical education and work part-time in athletics.

Golf

• A month from turning 51, Jay Haas finished strong Friday in the Tour Championship, making a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 4-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Stephen Ames.

Haas, the oldest player to ever qualify for the Tour Championship, was at 7-under 133.

Winless for eight months, Tiger Woods made two birdies with stunning recovery shots and matched his best score of the year, a bogey-free 64 that left him three shots back going into the weekend. U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen had a 66 and joined Woods at 4-under 136.

Vijay Singh, seeking to end the year with 10 victories shot 73 and was in 17th place, seven shots out of the lead.

LPGA Tour

Annika Sorenstam started her quest for a fourth consecutive Mizuno Classic title with an eagle and held a share of the first-round lead in Otsu, Japan. The top-ranked Swede carded a 63 and was tied with Japan's Chihiro Nakajima at 9-under. Rachel Teske and Aree Song each shot 66, three behind the leaders.

Motorsports

Ryan Newmann, one of 10 drivers who qualified for the new 10-race championship run on NASCAR's top circuit, easily won his series-leading ninth pole of the season and fourth in a row in qualifying for Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500 in Avondale, Ariz.

Rookie Brian Vickers took the second spot at just 133.879 mph. Series leader Kurt Busch qualified 28th.

Tennis

• Marat Safin hit 10 aces and beat Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 7-6 (2) Friday in a showdown between U.S. Open champions to reach the Paris Masters semifinals. Safin closed in on his third title at the indoor tournament and will meet 13th-seeded Guillermo Canas next. Canas defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-3.

On the other half of the draw, Czech qualifier Radek Stepanek will play Max Mirnyi or Robin Soderling. Stepanek eliminated Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 7-6 (1), 6-3 to reach his first semifinal of the season.

• Jennifer Capriati's shot at qualifying for the WTA Tour Championships ended Friday with a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Vera Zvonareva in the quarterfinals of the Advanta Tennis Championships. Zvonareva will face Nadia Petrova in the semifinals. The No. 7-seeded Petrova knocked off French Open champion Anastasia Myskina 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

-- From wire reports