Switzer: Seifert Not a Candidate

Barry Switzer said Sunday that Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones has two coaching candidates, and George Seifert isn’t one of them.

Switzer, who stepped down as Cowboy coach Thursday, told Oklahoma City television station KWTV-TV that he and scouting director Larry Lacewell talked with Jones about a new coach last week.

Switzer said Seifert, the former San Francisco 49er coach, will not be named to replace him, but wouldn’t divulge the names of the two candidates.

The Washington Post reported that the Redskins would not give Jones permission to talk to Coach Norv Turner, a former Cowboy assistant.

Winter Sports

Hermann Maier led a 1-2-3 Austrian sweep of a World Cup super giant slalom, his second victory in a week on the Schladming, Austria course.

It was the 13th victory of the season for the powerful Austrian team, by far the best of any nation.

Maier, a six-time winner, was timed in 1 minute 14.84 seconds. Andreas Schifferer finished second, 1.19 seconds back, and Stefan Eberharter was third at 1:16.14.

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Germany’s Hilde Gerg defeated American Kristina Koznick by .27 seconds to win a World Cup slalom race at Bormio, Italy and prevent Koznick, of Burnsville, Minn., from becoming the first American to win a women’s slalom since Julie Parisien in November 1992.

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Olympic and reigning world champion Jean-Luc Brassard of Canada won a World Cup moguls event at Mont Tremblant Ski Area in Quebec. World Cup leader Candice Gilg of France won the women’s contest.

Meanwhile, officials announced the next step on the World Cup tour--Thursday through Saturday in Lake Placid, N.Y.--has been canceled because of the ice storm that ravaged New York state along the Canadian border.

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Amy Peterson, frustrated by a two-year battle with chronic fatigue syndrome, won all four of her races at the U.S. Olympic short-track speedskating trials at Lake Placid, N.Y. Peterson, of Maplewood, Minn., capped her stirring performance by passing Erin Porter of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in the final strides of the 1,000-meter women’s final at the Olympic Ice Arena.

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Russian speedskater Svetlana Fedotkina, the Olympic 1,500-meter silver medalist, has been banned for life for two doping offenses after the International Skating Union rejected an appeal by the Russian federation.

Tennis

Lleyton Hewitt, an Australian high school student ranked 550th in the world, won the Australian Men’s Hardcourt Championship, becoming the lowest-ranked player to win an ATP Tour event.

Hewitt, 16 years 11 months, defeated 79th-ranked fellow Australian Jason Stoltenberg, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), at Adelaide. He is the youngest champion since Michael Chang, who was 16 years 7 months when he won the TransAmerica Open at San Francisco Oct. 2, 1988.

At the Qatar Open in Doha, Petr Korda of the Czech Republic won the ninth title of his career, beating a hobbling Fabrice Santoro of France, 6-0, 6-3.

At the Sydney International tournament, Venus Williams opened 1998 with a victory when Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania defaulted because of a hamstring injury after losing the first set, 6-4.

Boxing

Mike Tyson has begun training for a possible rematch with Evander Holyfield, saying he does not want to go down in boxing history only as a fighter who bit off a chunk of the champion’s ear.

“As long as I live I will regret what happened that night,” Tyson, in England, told The Express on Sunday. “But I cannot change anything. I can only start again and hope that I get another chance.”

Miscellany

Rugby player Simon Fenn, 26, of Australia, had part of his left ear bitten off during a match between his London Scottish team and Bath, in England. The culprit was not identified.

Santa Margarita quarterback Carson Palmer has orally committed to attend USC next fall.

Nancy Lieberman-Cline, 39, who led Old Dominion to two national collegiate championships and who played last season for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, will coach the Detroit Shock, the name chosen for Michigan’s new entry in the league, the Detroit News reported.

Michigan free safety Daydrion Taylor, who missed the final three games of the season because of a neck injury, has ended his playing career. Taylor will remain at Michigan to earn his degree.