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 v i xS: 2 : ,. 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 0 AM ANNIERNMIRMNEEMS I