A roundup of the week May 7-13

U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM QUALIFIERS

MARATHON—WOMEN: Joan Benoit, Freeport, Maine; Julie Brown, Eugene, Ore.; Julie Isphording, Cincinnati (page 56).

ROWING—SINGLE SCULLS, WOMEN: Carlie Geer, West Fairlee, Vt.

WEIGHTLIFTING—123 POUNDS: Albert Hood, Los Angeles; 148: Don Abrahamson, Cupertino, Calif.; 181: Arn Kritsky, Vienna, Va.; 198: Derrick Crass, Belleville, Ill. and Kevin Winter, San Jose, Calif.; 220: Ken Clark, Pacifica, Calif. and Rich Shanko, East Brunswick, N.J.; 242: Guy Carlton, Decatur, Ill. and Ric Eaton, Stockton, Calif.; 242-PLUS: Mario Martinez, San Francisco.

YACHTING—FINN: Buzz Reynolds, Summit, N.J.; 470: Steve Benjamin, Oyster Bay, N.Y.

PRO BASKETBALL—The good news for Phoenix was that the Suns, 41-41 during the regular season, made it to the Western Conference finals. "If someone had told me in February, 'Coach, you're going to play for the conference championship,' " said Phoenix's John MacLeod, "I would've said, 'Get this man to a shrink. Fast!' "The bad news for the Suns was that the big bad Lakers, 54-28 in the regular season, also made it to the finals. And the not-so-surprising news was that Los Angeles trounced Phoenix 110-94 in their series opener to hand the Suns their second loss for the week. On Tuesday, in a Western semifinal, Utah beat Phoenix 118-106 behind a 31-point first half by Adrian Dantley, who had 46 for the game. But even Dantley's inferno can turn cold, as evidenced two days later when Dantley, the NBA's top scorer with a 30.6 points-per-game regular-season average, was held to a series-low 23 points as Phoenix bombarded the Jazz 102-82 to win the series 4-2. Earlier, Los Angeles had mauled the Mavericks 115-99 to clinch their semifinal in five games. In the Eastern semis, New Jersey was knocked off when Milwaukee won a controversial sixth game 98-97 (page 52), while New York edged Boston 106-104 to bring about a decisive seventh game. In that contest, the Celts blasted N.Y. 121-104 (page 40), thus ensuring a Celts-Bucks Eastern finale.

PRO FOOTBALL—USFL: What do you do when your league-leading running back decides he's not going to play for a while? If you're the Southern Division-leading Birmingham Stallions—suddenly sans Joe Cribbs—you dust off Earl Gant, let him scramble for two four-yard scores and blast Jacksonville 42-10. And what do you do when your defense gives up 358 yards and your quarterback is intercepted five times, including thrice in the final period? If you're New Jersey, you lose 31-17 to Washington, the 17th-worst team in the league, which had previously been winless at home. To be sure, the Feds earned the win: Quarterback Mike Hohensee, his left wrist in a cast to protect a broken bone, completed 20 of 27 passes for 214 yards, ran for two TDs and threw for a third, while running back Curtis Bledsoe rushed for 122 yards. When Chicago, both the rock group and the team, visited Denver, sweet music resulted for Blitz fans as the Pacific Division-leading Gold was upset 29-17 on Chicago's 23 fourth-quarter points. Arizona defeated New Orleans 28-13 but lost to Oakland 14-3; Memphis stretched its winning streak to three by sinking San Antonio 38-14; Houston stunned Pittsburgh 47-26 to share the Central Division lead with Michigan; Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia beat Los Angeles, 18-14, and New Orleans humbled the Panthers 10-3.

GOLF—CRAIG STADLER shot an eight-under-par 276 to beat David Edwards by one stroke and win the $400,000 Byron Nelson Golf Classic in Dallas.

Amy Alcott overcame a final-round double bogey to win a 54-hole, $175,000 LPGA event in Suffolk, Va. She finished two strokes ahead of Cathy Marino with a six-under-par 210.

GYMNASTICS—Defending champion MITCH GAYLORD reclaimed the men's all-around crown, and MARY LOU RETTON won the women's at the national championships in Evanston, Ill.

HOCKEY—As the Stanley Cup finals began, Edmonton and New York split a pair on Long Island, with the Oilers winning the opener 1-0 on Kevin McClelland's goal at 1:55 of the third period. The Isles were victorious, 6-1, two nights later as Bryan Trottier scored two goals, the first just 53 seconds into the game, and left wing Clark Gilles got a hat trick. It was the most one-sided game in the finals since 1980. Equally as impressive as the Isles' offensive might was the way they continued to handle the Great One defensively: In six championship games versus New York dating back to last year, Wayne Gretzky has yet to score a goal.

HORSE RACING—DELTA TRACE ($7.40), ridden by Keith K. Allen, won the $212,500 Illinois Derby at Sportsman's Park. The 3-year-old colt's 1:51[4/5] for the 1‚⅛ miles edged Wind Flyer by half a length.

INDOOR SOCCER—MISL: Baltimore took a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Division playoff finals by beating Cleveland 5-4. Earlier in the week the Blast had belted New York 14-5 to win their semifinal series 3-1. St. Louis earned the right to face Wichita in the Western Division finals by edging Kansas City 6-5 in the decisive fifth game.

SOCCER—NASL: Minnesota forward Alan Willey, the league's top career goal scorer among active players, chalked up his 115th and 116th goals as the Strikers beat Chicago 3-2. Vancouver shut out San Diego 2-0; Toronto whipped Tulsa 2-0; and New York tamed Tampa Bay 1-0. The Blizzard and the Strikers stand atop the Eastern and Western divisions, respectively.

SQUASH—JAHANGIR KHAN defeated defending champ Mark Talbott 12-15, 15-9, 15-4, 15-1 to win the $40,000 North American Open in New York.

TENNIS—JOHN McENROE beat Ivan Lendl 6-4, 6-2 to win the $500,000 Tournament of Champions in New York.

TRACK & FIELD—CHANDRA CHEESEBOROUGH set a U.S. women's record of 50.52 for the 400-meter dash in Los Angeles. She surpassed Rosalyn Bryant's 1976 mark by. 10 of a second.

WRESTLING—The ADIRONDACK THREE-STYLE WRESTLING ASSOCIATION defeated the Minnesota Wrestling Club 69-66 to win the national open Greco-Roman team title in Albany, N.Y.

MILEPOSTS—GRANTED: To White Sox owners EDDIE EINHORN and JERRY REINSDORF, a USFL franchise in Chicago to replace the financially plagued Blitz after the current season.

HIRED: As coach of the San Antonio Spurs, COTTON FITZSIMMONS, 52, who has a 13-season NBA record of 512-549. He had led the Kansas City Kings for the last six years.

SIGNED: As basketball coach at DePaul, JOEY MEYER, 35, replacing his father, RAY MEYER, 70, who retired this season after 42 years on the Blue Demons' bench.

SOLD: By Washington attorney BERL BERNHARD, 54, to SHERWOOD (WOODY) WEISER, 53, a Miami hotel developer, the USFL's WASHINGTON FEDERALS. Weiser paid an estimated $6 million for the franchise.

ILLUSTRATION