Martin Gets Breakthrough Victory

Mark Martin, winless on the Winston Cup circuit for 1 1/2 years and runner-up in the Save Mart Supermarkets 300 for the past two years, finally got his victory at Sonoma, Calif., on Sunday.

Martin, who started from the pole, surrendered the lead only three times in mastering the 2.52-mile road course at Sears Point Raceway. Martin led 69 laps of the 74-lap race.

Martin, who has 19 career victories, hadn’t won a Winston Cup race since October, 1995.

Jeff Gordon finished about a half-second behind Martin, followed by Terry Labonte, current Winston Cup points leader Dale Jarrett and Darrell Waltrip.

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Joe Amato won in top fuel division, Randy Anderson in funny car and Warren Johnson in pro stock in the $1.48 million Lone Star Nationals at the Texas Motorplex at Ennis, Texas.

Tennis

Mirjana Lucic, 15, of Croatia became the youngest winner of a WTA tournament in seven years when she defeated little-known American Corina Morariu, 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), at the Croatian Bol Ladies Open at Bol, Croatia.

Lucic is the youngest winner of a WTA tournament since Jennifer Capriati won at 14 at Puerto Rico in 1990.

Iva Majoli won the first clay-court title of her career, overwhelming doubles partner Ruxandra Dragomir, 6-3, 6-2, in the final of the Rexona Cup at Hamburg, Germany.

Marcelo Filippini used the wind and a big advantage on first serves to defeat Jason Stoltenberg, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, for the AT&T; Challenge championship at Duluth, Ga.

Filippini, who had earned only $38,655 this year, won $43,000.

Mark Philippoussis of Australia served an ace--his fifth in his final two service games--to win his third career title, defeating Alex Corretja of Spain, 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 6-4, at the BMW Open at Munich.

Cedric Pioline of France defeated Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), to win the Czech Open at Prague.

Distance running

Dave Scudamore, running his first marathon, qualified for this year’s World Championships by winning the Pittsburgh Marathon.

Scudamore, a second-year medical student at UC Davis, finished in 2 hours 13 minutes 48 seconds to earn a spot on the U.S. team and a trip to Athens for the championships in August.

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Sammy Maritim of Kenya ran 2:11:58 to win the men’s marathon and Tatiana Pozdniakova of Ukraine won the women’s division in 2:33.27 in the 20th Cleveland Marathon and 10K Run.

Joseph Kimani of Kenya won the men’s 10-kilometer run in 27:50. Maria Luisa Servin of Mexico took the women’s 10K in 33:43.

Juan Gonzalez of Mexico ran 2:22:53 to win the Vancouver Marathon, and Eniko Feher of Hungary finished at 2:49:56 to win the women’s division.

Lazarus Nyakeraka of Kenya won the Lilac Bloomsday race at Spokane, Wash., for the second consecutive time, and Kim Jones won the women’s title for the first time in 12 attempts.

Nyakeraka finished the 7.46-mile race in 34:19, as Kenyans took six of the top eight spots. Jones won in 40:34.

Women’s basketball

The American Basketball League’s new Long Beach team is expected to make either Yolanda Griffith or Clarisse Machanguana the league’s first draft choice today in San Jose.

Long Beach, expected to be coached by Wichita State’s Linda Hargrove, has a choice of dominant post players to pick from with their first selection. Griffith, 27, is a 6-foot-4 center from Florida Atlantic University. She played professionally in Europe the past four years. Machanguana, 24, of Mozambique is a 6-5 center.

Miscellany

In his first individual race of the year, Donovan Bailey easily won the 100-meter dash in 10.13 seconds and Michael Johnson also coasted to victory in 20.29 in the 200 meters at the Rio Grand Prix track and field meet at Rio de Janeiro. . . . World record-holder Butch Reynolds won the 400 meters in 45.31 at the 13th Jesse Owens Track Classic at Columbus, Ohio.

Dan Lambert had a goal and an assist during a three-goal second period to lead the Long Beach Ice Dogs to a 4-1 win over the Utah Grizzlies in an International Hockey League playoff game at Long Beach Arena. . . . Raul Diaz Arce and Elias Montes scored goals and El Salvador defeated Costa Rica, 2-1, in a qualifying game for the 1998 World Cup. . . . Bernhard Langer shot a course-record eight-under-par 64 to win the Italian Open by one stroke over Jose Maria Olazabal at Brescia, Italy. . . . Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe has filed a police report in Maryland alleging that his sister, Velma Melton, assaulted him during an apparent domestic dispute. . . . Arturo Gatti won by technical knockout at Atlantic City, N.J. when Calvin Grove retired in his corner complaining of double vision in his right eye after the seventh round of a scheduled 10-round lightweight bout. . . . At Clearwater Beach, Fla., Duane Cameron had 10 kills as Team Inglenook defeated Team American Beach Volleyball League, 15-10, in the Bud Light Pro Beach Volleyball League.