BRIEFLY\Coleman signs with Cincinnati.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Free agent Vince Coleman agreed to a minor-league contract Saturday with the Cincinnati Reds, who are looking for a leadoff hitter.

Coleman, 34, joins a large group of outfielders trying to win jobs in training camp. The Reds lost left fielder Ron Gant through free agency after last season, and manager Ray Knight is looking for someone to bat leadoff. Knight thinks center fielder Thomas Howard is better suited to bat lower in the order.

Coleman split last season between Kansas City and Seattle, batting .288 with five homers, 29 RBI and 42 steals in 58 attempts. Kansas City designated him for assignment Aug. 11 as part of a youth movement, then traded him to Seattle Aug. 15.

"We'll bring him to spring training and see if he can still play or not," general manager Jim Bowden said.

The Montreal Expos earned a $40,000 profit last year after losing $15.9 million in the strike-shortened 1994 season, according to financial statements filed with Major League Baseball.

BASKETBALL

The Cleveland Cavaliers activated forward Tyrone Hill from the injured list after he missed 38 games because of a bruised spinal cord. Hill was hurt when his car was hit from behind while he was on the way to a game at Gund Arena on Nov. 7.

WINTER SPORTS

Mario Reiter used an acrobatic second run for his first World Cup slalom victory in leading a 1-2-3 Austrian sweep in Sestriere, Italy. World Cup leader Alberto Tomba skidded out in the first run to the disappointment of a huge partisan crowd, failing in an attempt for his seventh victory on his favorite "home" track.

A women's World Cup downhill in Sestriere was canceled after America's Picabo Street led a strong protest by the leading skiers about the setting and safety of the course.

Irina Slutskaya, 16, gained the first title for a Russian or former Soviet woman's singles skater as she ended Surya Bonaly's bid for a record-equaling sixth straight crown at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

American snowboarders continued their medals run in the inaugural FIS World Championships in Lienz, Austria, collecting gold and silver as Jeff Greenwood of Granby, Conn., overtook teammate Mike Jacoby of Hood River, Ore., for the first giant slalom title.

Canada's Stephane Rochon won his second straight World Cup moguls event despite messy weather while Minna Karhu of Finland collected her first victory in the women's contest, in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada.

Noake Hiroyuki of Japan won the men's 1,500 meter speedskating World Cup at Baselga di Pine, Italy, and American K.C. Boutiette finished third for his best showing in a World Cup race.

ETC.

South Korean Choi Yong-soo won a unanimous decision over Yamato Mitani of Japan in the first defense of his WBA junior lightweight boxing title. . . .

Former two-time WBA welterweight champion Mark Breland, idle since retiring in November 1992, started a comeback by stopping Riccardo Smith of Syracuse, N.Y., 30 seconds into the third round of a scheduled 10-round junior middleweight bout in New York City. . . .