BRIEFLY : SELES OUT OF L.A. ACURA TOURNAMENT.

Byline: Associated Press 

Monica Seles withdrew Friday from next week's Acura Classic in Manhattan Beach because of an injured left forearm, officials said.

Seles, who will be replaced by Conchita Martinez of Spain, was hurt during the Federation Cup.

Eight of the top 14 players in the world are entered in the tournament, including top-seeded Lindsay Davenport, the defending champion; Martina Hingis, Mary Pierce and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

The $520,000 tournament begins Monday at the Manhattan Country Club. The singles champion earns $80,000.

Lindsay Davenport served 12 aces and won the big points late in the match to beat qualifier Anke Huber 7-5, 7-5 in the TIG Classic quarterfinals in Carlsbad.

Davenport, the top seed, faces a semifinal rematch today with fourth-seeded Venus Williams, who lost to Davenport in straight sets last week in the Stanford final.

Sweden's Thomas Johansson survived two storms at the du Maurier Open in Montreal, ousting 11th-seeded Jim Courier 6-4, 6-4 before rain washed out the rest of the quarterfinal matches.

OLYMPICS: Olympic documents point toward possible scholarship and travel abuses during Atlanta's bid for the 1996 Summer Games, the Associated Press learned.

Sources familiar with a congressional committee's investigation of the city's bid said the documents contained ``several references to scholarships'' for relatives of International Olympic Committee members and non-Olympic travel for some members.

According to the sources, the documents mention gifts worth well over $1,000 that weren't previously acknowledged by the local organizers.

GOLF:Colin Montgomerie shot his second straight 67 and took a two-stroke lead halfway through the Scandinavian Masters in Barsebaeck, Sweden, on a day that Australian Geoff Ogilvy broke the course record with a 10-under-par 62.

Rocco Mediate shot a 64 to share the midway lead of the Buick Open with Ernie Els and Tom Pernice in Grand Blanc, Mich. Tom Kite, who continued his hot wedge play, and long-hitting Vijay Singh were each a shot back of the three leaders.

Bruce Fleisher had nine birdies before a bogey on No. 18 gave him an 8-under-par 64 that matched the course record and gave him a one-stroke lead over Mark Hayes in the opening round of the Long Island Classic in Jericho, N.Y.

Lori Kane shot a 5-under-par 67 for an 8-under total of 136 to share the second-round lead of the LPGA areaWEB.COM Challenge with Sherri Steinhauer in Sutton, Mass.

FOOTBALL: Southern Methodist, the only university ever punished with the death penalty for NCAA violations, has uncovered potential recruiting irregularities in its football program and responded by suspending an assistant coach.

Athletic director Jim Copeland said the university uncovered the possible violations about 2-1/2 weeks ago and notified the NCAA. The school hired a Kansas City law firm and suspended assistant Steve Malin, with pay.

Copeland said he could not comment on the specifics of the violations.

SOCCER: Top Miami Fusion scorer Diego Serna will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

HORSE RACING: Rudy Baez, the top jockey in New England, probably will never walk again, one of his doctors said. Baez was paralyzed from the waist down after severing his spine during a spill Wednesday at Rockingham Park in New Hampshire.