A roundup of the week July 6-12

BOATING—The 67-foot sloop MERLIN, skippered by Nick Frazee, was first to finish in the Transpacific Race by covering the 2,225-nautical-mile Los Angeles-to-Honolulu run in eight days, 11 hours and 46 seconds.

BOWLING—TOM BAKER bowled Pete Weber to a PBA-record 300-300 tie in the fifth round, then defeated Art Trask 191-178 to win the $95,000 Denver Open.

FENCING—At the world championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France, the SOVIET UNION won the men's foil and epee titles, and the women's foil championship, while HUNGARY won the men's sabre crown. The U.S. made the quarterfinals in two of the men's events, its best performance since 1976.

GOLF—JAY HAAS fired a 14-under-par 274 to win the $250,000 Greater Milwaukee Open by three strokes over Chi Chi Rodriguez.

Debbie Austin won a $150,000 LPGA tournament in Indianapolis with a nine-under-par 279. She finished four strokes ahead of Hollis Stacy and Myra Van Hoose.

Arnold Palmer's playoff-round 70 beat Bob Stone by four strokes and Billy Casper by seven in the U.S. Senior Open in Birmingham, Mich. (page 46).

HARNESS RACING—WILLOW BUST ($192.40). a 95-1 shot driven by Herve Filion. was declared the winner of the $700,000 Sweetheart Pace for 2-year-old fillies at The Meadowlands. Savilla Lobell, the favorite, had covered the mile in 1:57[4/5] and finished first, but race stewards disqualified her for interference.

Soky's Atom ($45), Archie McNeil in the sulky, edged Apollo's Way by half a length to win the $512.800 Peter Haughton Memorial at Roosevelt Raceway. The 2-year-old colt paced the mile in 2:00[2/5].

HORSE RACING—TRACK ROBBERY ($9.40), ridden by Patrick Valenzuela, beat Princess Karenda by 3½ lengths to win the $200,000 Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park. The 5-year-old filly ran the 1‚Äö√Ñ√∂‚àö√±‚àö¬µ miles in 1:47.

John Henry ($2.60), Bill Shoemaker up. scored a 3½-length victory over Passing Zone in the $162,300 Sword Dancer Stakes on the turf at Belmont Park. The 6-year-old gelding covered the 1½ miles in 2:26[4/5].

MOTOR SPORTS—DARRELL WALTRIP, averaging 90.052 mph around the .596-mile Nashville International Raceway in his Buick, won a one-car-length victory over Bobby Allison, also in a Buick. in a 250-mile NASCAR Grand National event.

Al Holbert won a 185.7-mile Can-Am race on Watkins Glen's 3.377-mile circuit by 13.8 seconds over Danny Sullivan. He averaged 112.5 mph in a CRC-2.

SOCCER—NASL: San Diego Socker Julie Veee (nè Gyula Visnyei in Budapest) learned English by reading comic books. Sock! Wheee! Veee! Seven minutes into overtime with Tampa Bay, Veee was for victory as he whacked in a goal to give the Sockers a 4-3 win and let them leapfrog past Los Angeles into the Western Division lead. The Aztecs helped make that possible by losing 6-2 to resurgent Fort Lauderdale, one of last year's Soccer Bowl contestants and one of this season's hottest teams since the return of field leader Ray Hudson from an injury. Hudson assisted three times and fellow Midfielder Teofilo Cubillas had four goals against L.A. to keep the Strikers within eight points of Atlanta, leaders in the South. The Cosmos, who continued to lead the East with the league's best record (18-5), beat Toronto 2-1. Northwest-leading Vancouver and Central-leading Chicago, the teams with the NASL's second-and third-best marks, respectively, tuned up for their Sunday showdown by scoring narrow victories: the Sting beat Dallas 2-1. and the Caps defeated Tulsa 3-2 in a shootout. Chicago then beat Vancouver 2-1 as Ingo Peter struck 45 seconds into the second overtime.

ASL: In a battle of conference leaders, Pennsylvania (Liberty Conference) beat Carolina (Freedom) 3-1, while the respective second-place clubs. New York United and Detroit, gained ground. United defeated Rochester 3-1, and the Express handed Pennsylvania only its second loss of the season, by a 3-0 score, before overcoming United 3-2.

TENNIS—The UNITED STATES defeated defending champion Czechoslovakia 4-1 in quarterfinal Davis Cup competition in Flushing Meadow. N.Y. (page 16).

Wojtek Fibak beat Yannick Noah 6-1, 7-6 to win the $174,500 Swiss Open in Gstaad.

TRACK & FIELD—BEN PLUCKNETT of the U.S. broke his own world record in the discus with a throw of 237'4" in Stockholm, but the IAAF stripped him of the mark and banned him for life from international competition for allegedly using anabolic steroids. In Oslo. SEBASTIAN COE of Great Britain lowered his year-old world record in the 1,000 meters by 1.22 seconds, to 2:12.18. and in the mile, won by STEVE OVETT of Great Britain in 3:49.25. third-place finisher STEVE SCOTT set a new U.S. mark of 3:49.68. TODD HARBOUR placed fifth in 3:50.34, which was also better than (he previous American best, 3:51.1. by Jim Ryun in 1967 (page 12).

David McKenzie set a U.S. record in the hammer throw with a toss of 237'2" in Leningrad, where the SOVIET UNION'S combined men's and women's team defeated the U.S. combined squad 204-178. His toss broke the old mark of 235'11". held by Ed Burke since 1967.

MILEPOSTS—CONVICTED: By a 12-member state district court jury in Albuquerque, former University of New Mexico Basketball Coach NORM ELLENBER-GER, 49, on 21 counts of fraud and filing false public vouchers, stemming from investigations into the Lobos' basketball program. Judge Phillip Baiamonte sentenced him to one year's probation, after which all charges could be dismissed (page 7).

RETIRED: PRESTON PEARSON, 36. a running back who in 13 seasons with the Colts, Steelers and Cowboys gained 3,609 yards rushing and 3,095 on pass receptions.

SIGNED: By the Cleveland Cavaliers to a four-year contract worth $350,000 per annum, free agent and former Chicago Bulls Guard BOBBY WILKERSON, 26.

SOLD: By F. Eugene (Fitz) Dixon. 58, the NBA's PHILADELPHIA 76ERS, for more than $12 million, to suburban Philadelphia health-and diet-plan entrepreneur HAROLD KATZ. 44. Since Dixon bought the club in 1976, the Sixers have averaged only 13.335 fans per game despite making the playoffs five times.

DIED: PATRICK JACQUEMART, 35, an official with the Renault USA Grand Touring cars racing team: of injuries suffered in a crash during a test lap at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Race Course; in Lexington.

William (Wild Bill) Hallahan, 78, a pitcher who compiled a 102-94 record from 1925 to 1938 with the Cardinals, Reds and Phillies: of natural causes: in Binghamton, N.Y.