A Roundup of the Week Sept. 21-27

BOATING—JIM KROPFELD, 46, of Cincinnati earned 825 points in the Las Vegas Silver Cup event on Lake Mead to win his second consecutive national unlimited hydroplane racing championship.

CYCLING—CHARLY MOTTET, 24, of France won the 55-mile Grand Prix des Nations in a course-record 2 hours 36 seconds, beating countryman Jean-Francois Bernard by 3.12 seconds. Bernard Hinault of France set the previous record of 2:00:50 in 1984.

GOLF—EUROPE defeated the United States 15-13 to retain the Ryder Cup, in Dublin, Ohio. The victory, the Europeans' first on American soil, was clinched when Seve Ballesteros of Spain beat Curtis Strange 2 and 1 (page 58).

Steve Pate, 26, shot a final-round 5-under-par 67 for a 15-under-par 273 to win his first PGA Tour event, the Southwest Classic in Abilene, Texas, by one stroke over four other golfers. The former UCLA All-America earned $72,000.

At an LPGA event in San Jose, Jan Stephenson beat Amy Alcott by five strokes. Her 11-under-par 205 was worth $45,000.

Gary Hallberg sank two birdies in the last three holes to win the $108,000 first prize at the rain-delayed Greater Milwaukee Open. He shot a final-round 6-under-par 66 for a total of 269, to finish two strokes ahead of Wayne Levi and Robert Wrenn.

HORSE RACING—THEATRICAL ($4), with Pat Day in the irons, drew off to a 3¾-length victory over River Memories in the Turf Classic at Belmont Park. The 5-year-old son of Nureyev covered the 1½ miles in 2:29[1/5] and earned $360,000.

At Louisiana Downs, Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner ALYSHEBA ($3) beat Candi's Gold in the $1 million Super Derby for 3-year-olds by half a length and won $600,000. He covered the 1¼ miles in 2:03[1/5].

Coup De Fusil ($2.80), ridden by Angel Cordero, won the Ruffian Handicap at Belmont Park after Sacahuista, who finished first, was disqualified for impeding Coup de Fusil in the stretch. The 5-year-old mare covered the 1‚Öõ miles in 1:48[3/5] and earned $149,760.

MARATHON—PETER MAHER. 27, of Toronto won the Montreal International Marathon in 2:15:04, 1:12 ahead of Pawel Lorens of Poland. JACQUELINE GAREAU, 34, of Montreal was first among the women, with 2:32:51, to edge last year's winner, Ellen Rochefort of Ste. Foy, Que., by less than 5 seconds.

MOTOR SPORTS—NIGEL MANSELL of England drove a Williams-Honda to victory in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez de la Frontera, averaging 103.675 mph on the 2.621-mile course to defeat Alain Prost of France, in a McLaren-TAG-Porsche, by 22.225 seconds. The win was Mansell's fifth of the season.

Darrell Waltrip, in a Chevrolet, won the Goody's 500 in Martinsville, Va., by one second over Dale Earnhardt, also in a Chevrolet. Waltrip, who won $43,830, averaged 76.410 mph on the .526-mile Martinsville Speedway.

TENNIS—In Grand Prix tournaments, MARTIN JAITE of Argentina upset top-seeded Mats Wilander of Sweden 7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 0-6, 6-4 in Barcelona to win $39,440, and in Los Angeles, DAVID PATE of the U.S. upset Stefan Edberg of Sweden 6-4, 6-4 to win $50,000.

Top-seeded STEFFI GRAF of West Germany beat countrywoman Isabel Cueto 6-2, 6-2 to win a Virginia Slims event in Hamburg and earn $30,000.

TRACK & FIELD—PETER ELLIOTT, 24, of Britain won the men's division of the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City in 3:53.52, and countrywoman KIRSTY WADE, 25, won the women's division in 4:22.70.

TRIATHLON—MIKE PIGG, 23, of Arcata, Calif., won $11,000 and the U.S. Triathlon Series championship on Hilton Head Island, S.C., in 1:50:05, and KIRSTEN HANSSEN, 26, won $11,000 and her second straight women's title, in 2:00:35 (page 62).

MILEPOSTS—HONORED: By the Women's Sports Foundation as the Professional Sportswoman of the Year, SUSAN BUTCHER, 32, who won Alaska's Iditarod Sled Dog Race for the second consecutive year, breaking her own world record by completing the 1,159-mile race in 11 days 2 hours 5 minutes 13 seconds; and as the Amateur Sportswoman of the Year, JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE, 25, who equaled the women's world long-jump record of 24'5½" at the Pan American Games and won gold medals in the heptathlon and long jump at the World Track and Field Championships.

NAMED: As coach of the University of Pennsylvania track and field team, MICHAEL CHARLIE POWELL, 33, currently a Penn assistant. He replaces Irv (Moon) Mondschein, who resigned to help coach the 1988 U.S. Olympic team.

RELEASED: Nosetackle CHARLES MARTIN, 28, by the Green Bay Packers, following his alleged involvement in a fight at a Green Bay nightclub. Martin was suspended for two games last season for body-slamming the Chicago Bears' Jim McMahon after the quarterback had released a pass.

By the California Angels, third baseman DOUG DeCINCES, 37, a 13-year veteran with a .259 career batting average.

RETIRED: Veteran pitcher PHIL NIEKRO, 48, who was reacquired by the Atlanta Braves earlier in the week and made his farewell appearance Sunday against the San Francisco Giants. The knuckle-bailer, who spent the first 20 years of his 24-year major league career with the Braves before being released in 1983, later played for the New York Yankees, the Cleveland Indians and the Toronto Blue Jays. He has a lifetime record of 318-274.

RETIRING: New York Islander defenseman DENIS POTVIN, 33, at the end of the 1987-88 season. The veteran and seven-time All-Star is the highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history, with 291 goals and 710 assists in 14 years.

SUSPENDED: Talks between representatives of the striking National Football League Players Association and the league's 28 owners (page 38).

TRADED: By the Chicago Cubs, righthanded pitcher DICKIE NOLES, 30, to the Detroit Tigers, for a player to be named later. The nine-year veteran has a 4.48 ERA and a 36-50 record with four teams.

DIED: DREW (Bundini) BROWN, 59, who worked as Muhammad Ali's cornerman throughout the fighter's career and coined the phrase "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee"; of pulmonary arrest; in Los Angeles.

Hugh Duffy Daugherty, 72, former Michigan State football coach and ABC television analyst; of kidney failure and heart disease; in Santa Barbara, Calif. From 1954 to 1972 he led State's Spartans to a 109-69-5 record and two Big Ten championships.