Who is the only Michigan football
player ever to be taken No.1
overall in the NFL Draft?
(For the answer, see page 2)
'M' Sports Calendar 2
'M' Athlete of the Week 2
Q&A 3
Sheran My Thoughts 3
Men's and Women's Tennis 4
Men's Golf 6
Women's Track 6
Women's Golf 7
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The Michigan Daily -Sports Monday
April 20, 1992
" Men netters
conquer States
by Adam Miller
Daily Sports Writer
The saying may tell you that 'State is great,' but it
sure wasn't this weekend.
The rejuvenated Michigan men's tennis team (6-4
Big Ten, 6-13 overall) rolled through the end of its
regular season schedule by demolishing Michigan State
Friday, 6-0, and Penn State Saturday, 5-1. Next up -
the Big Ten Championships, May 1-3, in Madison.
"We're playing real good and we have more people
back in the lineup," coach Brian Eisner said. "Because
of all the injuries, people just have to realize that we
haven't been fairly evaluated this year. They'll look at
our record, but we know better than that."
The Nittany Lions (0-7, 9-7), in their first season of
Big Ten play, apparently didn't know better. Their only
. victory came at No. 6, where Brett Engelsburg defeated
Scooter Place in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. Penn State could
not force a third set in any of the other five matches, but
came close in the final match of the day at No. 2.
Michigan's Dan Brakus took the first set from
Nittany Lion Greg Gaunt, 6-4, but fell behind, 4-1, in
the second. Trailing, 6-5, Brakus won the game on his
serve to force a tiebreaker. Brakus raced to a 6-3 lead in
the tiebreaker, but repeatedly let Grant back in until
finally winning the tiebreaker, 10-8, and the match.
"That tiebreaker shouldn't even have been
necessary," Brakus said after the match. "I just lost my
concentration in the second set and got way down. But I
came back to win it."
No. 1 David Kass had an easy time with Eduardd
Abril, blitzing him, 6-2, 6-1. While Kass is apparently
in better health now than he has been, he said he is still
looking forward to the extended break the Wolverines
have before the tournament.
"My arm is about at the end of its line right now,"
See TENNIS, Page 4
Smith
'S
title
caps successful
Kimball week
by Chad Safran
Daily Sports Writer
Going into her eighth and final dive former
Michigan diver Cokey Smith, now performing for the
Kimball Divers, knew that anyone could still take the
10-meter platform title at the Phillips 66 National
Indoor Championships Saturday afternoon.
Smith's triumph gave the host Kimball Divers their
fifth victory inas many events. But Fort Lauderdale's
Patrick Jeffrey avoided a clean sweep by the Kimball
divers, taking the men's 10-meter platform inthe meet's
sixth and final event Saturday night. -
Leader Ellen Owen of the Emerald Divers had just
fallen from the top spot into third in the women's plat-
form finals, with a disappointing score of 24.36 on her
seventh dive, a back two-and-one-half somersault. Mary
Ellen Clark.of Fort Lauderdale Diving had moved up a
notch into second .2.1 points behind.Smith.
Smith, an Ann Arbor native,:performed a back one-
and-one-half somersault with two-and-one half twists
that earned a score of 64.68 and spurred the crowd into
a deafening ovation. Her total of 392.97 was good
enough to give Smith her second consecutive indoor ti-
tle althe 10-meter platform.
Clark won the silver medal with her total of 388.56.
Owen rounded out the top three with her score of
386.79. The finishing order was a duplicate of the one
from the same event at last year's meet.
Before-going up on the platform, Smith got a little
- pep talk from her coach.
"The crowd fired me up," she said. "Dick Kimball
told me, 'It's not over till its over.' That was like a slap
in the face. It helped coming from him."
See DIVING, Page 5
MOLLY STEVENS/Daily
Michigan's Cokey Smith's championship dive Saturday gave the Kimball Divers their fifth crown at the Phillips 66
Indoor Diving Championships. Smith recorded her second consecutive title at the 10-meter platform with a score
of 392.97.
Hoosier Housecleaning.
First-place Michigan softball sweeps yet another Big Ten opponent
by Meg Beison
Daily Sports Writer
Spring cleaning may be a drag to
some people, but the Michigan soft-
ball team is enjoying every moment.
The Wolverines swept another con-
ference opponent this past weekend,
downing Indiana in four games, 6-0,
4-3, 5-0 and 8-1, in Bloomington to
stay atop the Big Ten with a 12-2
record (26-16 overall).
The Wolverines got their only
scare in Friday's nightcap when they
had to battle back from a three-run
deficit. Pitcher Kelly Forbis (6-4)
replaced Julie Clarkson in the third
inning with Michigan down, 2-0,
and held Indiana to one run to record
the victory.
Rookie Michelle Silver led the
Michigan offensive attack, going 2-
for-3 with three RBI.
Michigan was down, 3-0, in the
fifth when Silver began her heroics.
She hit a single to drive in Patti
Benedict to cut the lead to 3-1.
The Wolverines found them-
selves in the bottom of the seventh
with one last chance to come out
with the victory. Silver came
through once again, blasting a dou-
ble to drive in Benedict and Karla
Kunnen to tie the game. Shortstop
Mary Campana then singled inSil-
ver for the game-winning run. .
Silver went 3-for-7 with four RBI
in the twinbill, doubling her RBI
season total of two in one afternoon.
"The people in front of me got
on, and I just hit them in," Silver
said about her teammates' play. "If
they didn't get on, I couldn't have
done anything."
Silver, a first-year player from
Birmingham (Mich.) Groves, has
seen limited action so far this sea-
son, and said the game added to her
confidence.
"Being a freshman, I wasn't re-
ally sure I could do it," Silver said.
"Everyone told me I could, and I
wanted to do it for the team."
Michigan convincingly downed
Indiana (10-10 Big Ten, 19-24 over-
all) in the three other games, includ-
ing two shutouts.
Pitcher. Kelly Kovach picked up
three wins on the trip to raise her
record to 13-5. She began the series
by throwing a one-hitter with four
strikeouts en route to a 6-0 victory.
Senior Sue Sieler and sophomore
Tina Martin had two hits apiece to
See SOFTBALL, Page 5
Making
by Brett Forrest
Daily Sports Writer0
Things
ffer Dean Kobane
ANTHONY M. CROLLJ~aIly
* Third-baseman Tina Martin and the Michigan softball team returned from a
successful weekend where the Wolverines swept Indiana four games.
Hitters muster only one
victory from Indiana
AKRON, Ohio - Humble is
the word. Somehow, though, it is
more than that. Dean Kobane has
humility, yet he also has something
which many modest athletes do not
possess. That is uncommon skill.
Kobane is from the old school.
He values his teammates. He values
precision in his game and language.
He values his privacy. He likes to
stay away from the spotlight.
"He's a little bit shy as an
individual," James Carson admitted.
Few would dispute assertion of
Kobane's supreme talent. As a junior
at Livonia (Mich.) Churchill, he
finished second in the state
tournament. As a senior, he won
state and regional championships.
During his high school years, he was
twice a member of the all-state
squad.
After high school, Kobane chose
to attend Pepperdine University in
Malibu, Calif. In his second year
there, he finished first in the West
Coast Athletic Conference
tournament.
"I went there primarily because I
wanted to make the (PGA) tour,"
Kobane said. "I thought that would
be a great opportunity if I could play
year-round.
"What I didn't realize when I
entered the university there is that
plaving a lot has it's disadvantages.
leads 'M' with poise.
V V/
Easy
Last season,-his first in Ann
Arbor, Kobane led the team with.a
-73.5 stroke average. He was given
the captain's "C" for this season and
has led the team in six of its eight
tournaments thus far..
More than anything, Kobane is
known for his-easy-going attitude.
"He doesn't take his captain
status and shove it down people's
throats," fellow senior Denny
Sikkila said.
Kobane does not relish the
captaincy..It is jost part of who he is
- for .one.year alone.
"Dean's not thetypeof person.
who is going to be domineering and
intimidating to a freshman," senior
Anthony Dietz said. "He is not the.
type who is going to one-up the
other guys on the team as the best
player."
Kobane has not molded the
Michigan men's goff team in his
own image. It is rather an =
amalgamation of all the team
member's personalities - with
Kobane at the helm.
"I am tickled silly that Dean
decided to come back to Michigan,"
coach Jim Carras said. "I wish we
could find more players like him. He
has been nothing but a plus for us.
"Dean leads by example. He will
wish the guys well, but won't pep
talk them. The other kids have such
a high regard for hinTie'loes what
he is supposed to do,and he does it
by Andy Stabile
Daily Baseball Writer
-Indiana went for the jugular
against the Michigan baseball team
this weekend, sending the Wolver-
ines home from America's heartland
with only one victory in four tries.
The slumping Wolverines (8-8
Big Ten, 18-21 overall) managed a
split with the Hoosiers (10-6, 18-21)
Saturday. But Indiana brought out
the broom yesterday, sweeping
Michigan, 9-1 and 9-8.
A home run by Toby
Brozoznowski was the only punch
1 ,. ..i-..n. -nl..ri nc fh Wnria ..nPC
trailing, 2-1, after five and one-half
innings, when the Hoosiers lit up the
scoreboard for six runs. Dennis
Konuszewski took his sixth loss of
the year for Michigan, while Steve
Buerkel had two hits in the losing
cause.
In the back half of the double-
header, Michigan went ahead early
with one run in the first and six more
in the second sparked by a Nate
Holdren grand slam.
Then Indiana's Mike Smith, who
was last week's Big Ten Plyer of the
Week, made a bid to claim the title
Snoin b he onhin a n three-nm hnmer
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