Sports briefs 7/16/04

College

Cincinnati basketball coach Bob Huggins will be reinstated at the end of August after fulfilling legal requirements stemming from a drunken driving conviction. Huggins was placed on paid, indefinite suspension June 12, following his arrest for driving under the influence. The 50-year-old coach pleaded no contest, was fined $350 and given a suspended six-month jail sentence that required him to attend a three-day education course.

Golf

Jeff Julian, who played on the PGA Tour in 1996 and 2002, died Thursday, the tour announced. Julian, 42, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in October 2001. He died at a hospital in Vermont, where he had been hospitalized for several weeks. The Branson, Mo., native played seven events on the PGA Tour the following year.

Hockey

The St. Louis Blues signed newly acquired goalie Patrick Lalime and forward Jamal Mayers to one-year contracts Thursday, avoiding arbitration for both players. Lalime agreed to a one-year, $2.9-million deal with a club option for 2005-06 at $3.2 million. Mayers accepted his one-year, $880,000 qualifying offer. Lalime, 30, figures to be the Blues' new No. 1 goaltender, replacing Chris Osgood. Mayers, 29, scored six goals, had five assists and 91 penalty minutes in 80 games last season.

Tennis

French Open champion Gaston Gaudio completed a comeback victory over U.S. qualifier Hugo Armando, then downed Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-4 Thursday to reach the Mercedes Cup quarterfinals. Gaudio, the second-seeded Argentine, will next play fifth-seeded Jiri Novak, who beat 2002 champion Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1. Gaudio held off Armando 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5). Their second-round match in the clay-court tournament was suspended at one set apiece Wednesday because of darkness.

Track & field

Torri Edwards, the second-place finisher in the women's 100 meters in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, has tested positive for a banned stimulant, the sport's governing body said Thursday. Edwards tested positive for nikethamide at a meet in Fort-de-France, Martinique, in April, International Association of Athletics Federations spokesman Nick Davies said. Analysis of her backup B sample confirmed the positive result, he said. Edwards' status for the Athens Olympics will be determined at a hearing before an arbitration panel Monday in the United States, Davies said.