Greene, Former O'dea Sprinter, In Hall Of Fame

-- TRACK AND FIELD

Charlie Greene, a former O'Dea High School sprinter who went on to set world records and win Olympic gold and bronze medals in 1968, has been elected to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Considered the best sprinter ever from Seattle, Greene was the leadoff runner on the U.S. 400-meter relay team at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City that broke the world record with a 38.2-second performance.

Greene, 48, who now lives in Columbia, Md., has held world records in the 100-meter and 100-yard dashes.

During his years as one of the nation's premier sprinters, Greene wore sunglasses while racing and jokingly referred to them as "my re-entry shield."

"I said I needed the glasses to protect my eyes when I came back into the atmosphere," he told The Seattle Times when he was nominated for Hall of Fame consideration last year. "People still kid me about it."

In 1968 before the Olympics, Greene and Jim Hines made history at the U.S. Championships when they became the first to run 100 meters in less than 10 seconds. Hines' 9.9-second clocking came about 15 minutes earlier than Greene's identical time in the next semifinal heat. Both were listed as world records. Greene won the national final in 10.0.

Greene won state prep sprint titles for O'Dea in 1962 and '63.

Also named to the Hall of Fame yesterday were Sam Bell, coach at Indiana University; the late Jess Mortensen, a national javelin

champion and track coach at USC; Charlie Jenkins, a runner and later a coach at Villanova who won two events at the 1956 Olympics; and Archie Williams, former Cal runner and 1936 Olympic gold medalist at 400 meters.

All will be inducted during The Athletics Congress convention Dec. 4 in Louisville, Ky.

-- Meseret Dekele, an Ethiopan sprinter seeking asylum in the U.S., is likely to be expelled from South Korea, an official in that country said today. Dekele, 17, left her team when the World Junior championships ended Sunday in Seoul.

-- COLLEGE FOOTBALL

The postseason bowl coalition, despite pressure from head coaches to use their poll, will approve next week the sole use of The Associated Press rankings in its selection process this season, the Dallas Morning News reported.

The four bowls - Cotton, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta - will select its at-large teams in the order of the ranking of its host teams. The Fiesta, which has no host, will select fourth. If a predetermined pool of at-large teams includes Nos. 1 and 2, those teams will play in the Fiesta.

-- BOXING

Former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali has returned to a Hilton Head Island, S.C., hospital for three days of treatments. Ali, 50, suffers from an ailment with symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease.

-- TENNIS

Argentina's Gabriela Sabatini held off an early charge by Japan's Rika Hiraki, scoring a 6-3, 6-3 second-round victory today in a $350,000 tournament in Tokyo.

-- Friday's match in Las Vegas between Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova, dubbed the "Battle of Champions," will be available locally to TCI customers on pay per view. The match starts at 6 p.m.

-- GOLF

After a 3 1/2-year hiatus, one of the PGA Tour's most successful player-caddie tandems is together again.

Caddy Bruce Edwards, who left Tom Watson after 16 years in May 1989 to work for Greg Norman, split with Norman two weeks ago and has accepted Watson's offer to rejoin him.