BRIEFLY TWO TRACK MARKS TOPPLE.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Haile Gebrselassie shaved five seconds off the 2-mile indoor world record Friday and Svetlana Feofanova broke the world pole vault record for the second time in a month at the Norwich Union indoor meet in Birmingham, England.

The two world records bode well for the March 14-16 indoor world championships, which also will be held at the Birmingham Indoor Arena.

Gebrselassie set his 17th world record, timed in 8 minutes, 4.69 seconds to beat the mark of Halyu Mekkonen.

Feofanova jumped 15 feet, 7 3/4 inches on her second attempt. It was four-tenths of an inch better than the world record she set in Glasgow, Scotland, on Feb. 2.

YACHTING: The fickle Hauraki Gulf in Auckland, New Zealand, is at it again.

Race 4 of the America's Cup between Alinghi of Switzerland and two-time defending champion Team New Zealand was postponed today because there was practically no wind on the vast patch of water northeast of downtown Auckland.

The race committee will try for a third time to get the race in Sunday, although the forecast is for light wind. The race originally was scheduled for Thursday but was called off because wind shifts of up to 30 degrees made it impossible to set a course.

FOOTBALL: The New England Patriots released wide receiver Donald Hayes, a free agent who signed with the team last summer but failed to make an impact.

BASKETBALL: A Texas Tech basketball player suspended for one game by coach Bob Knight quit the team after failing to show up for meetings and practices.

Nick Valdez had not attended practice since he and Andre Emmett were benched for Monday's game against third-ranked Texas. They missed breakfast and a walkthrough meeting that morning.

OLYMPICS: Members of a U.S. Olympic Committee task force set up to create a blueprint for reform reached consensus on reducing the size of the committee's board of directors, a task force co-chairman said.

Nine of the 10 task force members met in Los Angeles and agreed the board should include greater involvement of independent members, USOC vice president Bill Stapleton said.

--IOC president Jacques Rogge expressed concern about Athens' readiness to host the 2004 Olympics, telling Greek organizers they must speed up their planning.

Athens organizers met behind closed doors with the International Olympic Committee's 15-member executive board at the end of a two-day meeting at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

--The Olympic flame will cross Africa and South America for the first time en route to Athens for the 2004 Games.

The International Olympic Committee approved the route for the 35-day relay, which will include approximately 10,000 athletes.

The route includes every city that has ever hosted a Summer Olympics, as well as Beijing, site of the 2008 Games. The route also includes Cairo, Egypt; Cape Town, South Africa; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and New York.

SOCCER: The U.S. women's soccer team will play England in an exhibition game May 17 at Birmingham, the team's first game in Alabama.

--The U.S. Embassy in Colombia issued visas for 19 of the 20 players on Colombia's under-20 soccer team after initially denying 17 players entry into the United States.

--The Galaxy earned its second consecutive shutout victory by defeating Russian club Torpedo Moscow 3-0 to secure first place in Group B at La Manga Cup 2003 in Cartagena, Spain. Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman added his second shutout, and midfielders Hercules Gomez, Mauricio Cienfuegos and Sasha Victorine all scored in the victory.

BOXING: Wayne Braithwaite retained his WBC cruiserweight title after stopping Ravea Springs in the fourth round Friday night in Miami.

Braithwaite, of Guyana, overwhelmed Springs, of Cincinnati, with two fourth-round knockdowns in the scheduled 12-round bout at Miccosukee Indian Gaming.

Braithwaite first sent Springs to the canvas along the ropes with a right to the head. Springs reached his feet but could not shake off the knockdown's effects as Braithwaite eagerly chased him across the ring.

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DONALD HAYES

Wide receiver was waived by the New England Patriots.