A Roundup of the Week July 24-30

ARENA FOOTBALL—Detroit (3-1) took over first place by defeating previously unbeaten Pittsburgh 61-34 in a game played in Richfield, Ohio. The Drive opened in high gear as George LaFrance returned the opening kickoff 58 yards for a touchdown. Gladiators quarterback Willie Totten, the league's top-rated passer, kept Pittsburgh in the game by completing 20 of 34 for 200 yards and three touchdowns, but his efforts weren't enough, as Detroit got two more touchdowns from La-France and three from running back Lynn Bradford. Pittsburgh, now 2-1, is tied for second with Denver, a half game behind Detroit. Chicago got its first victory in its three games by beating Maryland, 61-27, in Cincinnati. The Bruisers were led by quarterback Ben Bennett and receiver Carl Aikens, who combined for five touchdowns. The Commandos (0-3) were thereby eliminated from the race for one of the four spots in the playoffs.

BOWLING—JOE SALVEMINI rolled seven straight strikes to beat top-seeded Dave Ferraro 248-216 and win a PBA tour event in Austin, Texas. The victory was worth $20,000.

CYCLING—In women's events at the national track cycling championships in Redmond, Wash., defending titlist CONNIE YOUNG won the match-sprint gold medal; MINDEE MAYFIELD got her third consecutive 3,000-meter individual pursuit crown; JANIE EICKHOFF won the 1-km time trial; and KAREN BLISS finished first in the points race. In the men's competition, ERIN HARTWELL won the 1-km time trial; KEN CARPENTER the match sprint; CRAIG SCHOMMER the points race; and STEVE HEGG the 4,000-meter pursuit. Hegg teamed with LEONARD HARVEY NITZ, CARL SUNDQUIST and KEVIN PECK to win the team-pursuit title, and MARTY NOTHSTEIN and PAUL SWIFT won the tandem pursuit.

GOLF—LEONARD THOMPSON finished with a 15-under-par 273 to defeat Payne Stewart, Doug Tewell and Billy Andrade by one stroke and win a PGA Tour event in Grand Blanc, Mich. Thompson, whose last victory on the Tour was in 1977, earned $180,000.

Nancy Lopez shot a one-under-par 69 in the final round to win an LPGA tour event in Atlantic City by one stroke over Chris Johnson and Vicki Fergon. Lopez, who finished with a four-under-par 206, earned $33,750 for her 41st career victory.

HARNESS RACING—SAM FRANCISCO BEN ($15.60), with Ron Pierce in the sulky, made a late charge to beat In The Pocket by a neck and win the Woodrow Wilson Pace, at the Meadowlands. The 2-year-old colt went the mile in 1:56 to earn $453,500.

Kick up a storm ($16.40), with Ron Waples driving, caught Dancing Master in the stretch and won the inaugural Art Rooney Pace by a neck, at Yonkers Raceway. The 3-year-old colt covered the mile in 1:56[1/5] and received a purse of $150,000.

HORSE RACING—KING GLORIOUS ($3.40), Chris McCarron up, beat Music Merci by three lengths to win the Haskell Invitational Handicap, at Monmouth Park. The 3-year-old colt ran the 1‚Äö√Ñ√∂‚àö√±‚àö¬µ miles in 1:49[4/5] and earned $300,000.

El senor ($4.60), with Herb McCauley in the saddle, overtook Nediym to triumph by half a length in the Sword Dancer Handicap, at Belmont Park. The 5-year-old covered the 1½ miles in 2:27 to win $139,920.

MOTOR SPORTS—AYRTON SENNA, driving a McLaren-Honda, finished 18.151 seconds ahead of teammate Alain Prost to win the German Grand Prix, in Hockenheim, West Germany. Senna covered 44 laps of the 4.214-mile circuit in 1:21:43.302, for an average speed of 139.231 mph.

Terry Labonte, in a Ford, beat Darrell Waltrip, who was driving a Chevrolet, by half a car length to win a NASCAR 500-mile event at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Labonte, who averaged 157.354 mph for 188 laps of the 2.66-mile banked oval, earned $73,920.

POWERBOATING—TOM GENTRY and his crew of five set a transatlantic speed record by piloting his 110-foot Gentry Eagle from New York Harbor to Bishop Rock, off the Scilly Isles, England, in 62 hours and seven minutes. Gentry's time for the 3,265-mile crossing broke by 18:23:24 the record set by Richard Branson of Great Britain in 1986.

TENNIS—MARTIN JAITE beat Goran Prpic 6-3, 6-2 to win a Grand Prix tournament and $49,500 in Stuttgart, West Germany.

Katerina Maleeva defeated Sabine Hack 6-1, 6-3 to win a women's tour event in Bastad, Sweden. The victory was worth $12,000.

TRACK & FIELD—JAVIER SOTOMAYOR of Cuba became the first person to clear eight feet in the high jump, at the Caribbean Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sotomayor, who set the previous world record of 7' 11½" last year, attained the record height on his second attempt (page 32).

Hollis Conway set a U.S. record in the high jump of 7'10", in Norman, Okla., breaking by one-quarter inch the mark he set in June (page 22).

MILEPOSTS—PLACED ON PROBATION: For one year by the NCAA, the EASTERN KENTUCKY women's basketball program, because of recruiting violations, including cash payments to players, that occurred during the 1986-87 and '87-88 seasons. The Lady Colonels will lose two scholarships for the 1990-91 season.

RULED: By U.S. District Judge John D. Holschuh, in Columbus, Ohio, that Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose's lawsuit against baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti should be heard in federal court. The decision means that the suit, in which Rose asserts that Giamatti is incapable of giving a fair hearing on allegations that Rose bet on major league games, will not be heard by a Cincinnati court, as Rose had hoped.

SUSPENDED: Indefinitely, by the Arena Football League, Pittsburgh Gladiators coach JOE HAERING, 44. Haering was suspended for punching league president James Foster during a game in Sacramento on July 22 between the Gladiators and the Chicago Bruisers.

TRADED: By the Chicago White Sox, outfielder-designated hitter HAROLD BAINES, 30, and reserve infielder FRED MANRIQUE, 27, to the Texas Rangers for shortstop SCOTT FLETCHER, 31, and two minor leaguers.

By the Detroit Tigers, first baseman KEITH MORELAND, 35, to the Baltimore Orioles for a minor leaguer.

DIED: LANE FROST, 25, world champion bull rider in 1987, of injuries suffered when he was gored by a bull that had thrown him during the Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days Rodeo.

Wes Fesler, 81, who coached Ohio State to a 17-14 victory over Cal in the 1950 Rose Bowl; in Laguna Hills, Calif. Fesler guided Ohio State to a 21-13-3 record from 1947 to '50.