Wbz Iiduigun ailg POR * .OA IN 11111.ffI . . 'M' softball, Gentile wallop Northwestern Brady shines in Spring 1y J. Berka Daily Sports Writer Yesterday was a big day at Alumni Field. The Michigan softball team tpened its new lockerroom facility to its fans and honored the building's benefac- tor, Donald Shepherd. The pep band even made its initial appearance at Alumni Field this season. Although it was a cold, windy, rainy day, Michigan (15-1 Big Ten, 40-4 over- all) added some pep of its own, scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Northwestern (9-7, 26-15), 5-4, yes- terday to complete a three-game sweep. It didn't look as if the game would end in regulation, though. Northwestern pitcher Jackie DeBoard (17-5), after falling behind 4-0 in the third inning, had been impressive, retiring 12 of the next 13 batters. With two outs in the final inning, second baseman Melissa Taylor broke that trend, lacing a double to right- center past a diving Amanda Peterson. DeBoard, with first base open, inten- tionally walked leadoff hitter Traci Conrad to get to right fielder Kellyn Tate. Conrad and Tate "had both hit us," (this weekend) Northwestern coach Sharon Drysdale said, "so we might as well create a force so we have a chance to get an out at any base." The plan almost worked. Tate hit a grounder up the middle and it was stopped by diving shortstop Tami Jones. Jones, seeing Conrad racing hard from first base, tried to flip the ball - while flat on her stomach - to second base- man Mikie Chambers with her glove. But the flip was inaccurate, and Taylor sprinted home for the game-winning run. "The key was Conrad running hard for See WILDCATS, Page 18 By sharat Raju Daily Sports Editor Saturday's spring football game had the feel of an early season Michigan football contest - actual referees, hard-hitting, sizable crowd, the band, a pleasantly sunny day and even a close game. The only things missing? One - an opponent, two - a scoreboard; and three - law enforcement officials with mace and billy clubs to prevent fans from rushing onto the field after the game. Doing the best they could to simulate fall game conditions despite having 17 people injured, the Wolverines played to a 20-17 final score. The score was a little tricky to figure out - offensive players sported blue while defensive players donned white. The Wolverines were then divided into one squad coached by assistant Mike DeBord and another coached by assistant Terry Malone. DeBord's team came out on top after a 21-yard Kraig Baker field goal with 59 seconds left in the game, played in front of an estimated 35,000 people. But that's not all. With all the injuries, the offen- sive and defensive linemen did not leave. the field and remained the same for both teams. Confusing? Well, the point of early spring scrimmages is not so much the outcome of the con- test but to see how far along players are. "I'm pleased with this spring practice," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "It's not a real good test for us as a team, but it allows us to see if individuals know their assignments" The brightest star of the afternoon was the man who arguably had most eyes on him. Tom Brady started for Malone's squad at quarterback in the beginning of what should be a summer-long battle for the starting position. And Brady didn't disap- point, outshining Scott Dreisbach - the starting quarterback for DeBord's team. On his very first play from scrimmage, Brady hit wide receiver Tai Streets with an 85-yard touch- down strike. "I've been working on just about everything right now," Brady said. "I still need to improve a lot to be at that championship level Brian (Griese) was at this point last year." For the other squad, Dreisbach had a somewhat rough start, being flushed from the pocket and forced to scramble on many occasions. Wide receiver DiAllo Johnson made Dreisbach look good See SPRING, Page 21 1* JOHN KRAFT/ Daily Tom Brady put on a solid performance in the spring game, connecting with Tai Streets for two long touchdowns. i i 0 Haro leads Michigan By David DenHerder Daily Sports Writer One All-America honor was not enough for LaLo Haro. It has been 28 years since Michigan has had an All-American in the all- around. Last Thursday, Haro broke that skid, placing fourth at the NCAA Championships at Penn State. But after Berkeley claimed the team title on Friday, the Michigan co-captain returned for Saturday's individual finals, where he was again crowned an All-American --this time on vault. "I went into the competition without expecting anything," Haro said. "All I was thinking was, 'Just do your best."' After a season of roller coaster per- formances, Haro was able to eliminate mistakes down the stretch, turning out strong routines both at NCAA Regionals and the Championships. "He did what any good athlete will do," Michigan coach Kurt Golder said. "He was at his best when it was most important.' Haro placed fifth on vault Saturday with a 9.500, while in the al-around he recorded a 57.100 for the fourth-place finish. All-American status is awarded to the top six competitors in each event. "He sure pulled it together this week- end," Colder said. "He has certainly done a lot for the Michigan program." But Haro was not the only one to be recognized for his accomplishments last weekend. Golder was named the Collegiate Gymnastics Association Central coach of the year, and was also elected vice president. After just two seasons as an NCAA head coach, Golder said the honor was unexpected, though his team seemed to think otherwise. "We all knew he totally deserved it," Haro said. "It was such a good feeling after a long season. I think he was happy, just like us" In his two years at Michigan, Golder has brought the program from the league cellar to the NCAA Regionals. His new recruiting class is considered by many other top coaches to be the most talented in the nation. Aside from Haro, three other Wolverines participated in the individ- ual prelims Thursday evening, but failed to advance to Saturday's finals. Freshman Kenny Keener scored a 9.650 on rings to finish in 15th place, while classmate Justin Toman was 37th on parallel bars with a 9.100. Senior Tim Lauring concluded his collegiate career by finishing 23rd in the nation on vault with a 9.550. Travis Romagnoli of Illinois scored a 58.225 to take the all-around title. Finishing behind Berkeley's champi- onship team score of 231.200 was Iowa with a 229.625. Golder said that Haro's All- Individual performances ease team loss By Vaughn R. Klug Daily Sports Writer LOS ANGELES - Michigan's women's gymnas- tics team showcased three of its finest athletes at the NCAA individual event finals held Saturday - Heather Kabnick, Sarah Cain and Nikki Peters. Senior co-captain Kabnick reacquainted the crowd at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion with the Wolverines after the team's surprising absence from Friday's Super 6 championship finals. They were only too glad to be back. "It sucks!" Kabnick said. "It is hard to watch (the Super 6) knowing we are better than some of these teams. We had a rough go on beam, but still deserve to be out there." Kabnick reminded the crowd how talented the Michigan team is by opening the night on the vault with two fine attempts - a 9.700 and 9.900. Kabnick's average of 9.800 was good enough to earn her third-place honors on the vault. Next up for the Wolverines was all Big Ten sopho- more Peters, who also redeemed Michigan with a sec- ond-place tie on uneven bars. She did so by scoring a near perfect 9.900. Placing second on the bars was fitting for Peters. She has been ranked No. I or 2 nationally for the vast majority of her time at Michigan. Peters' finish was an improvement on the big state- ment she made as a freshman in the individual finals - a tie for sixth place. Out of 17 gymnasts from 10 universities who com- peted in the floor exercise, Cain secured a fourth- place tie. She did so by scoring a 9.900 before a panel of conservative judges who did not deem any of the nation's top gymnasts performances worthy of a per- fect 10. While pleased to place so well at NCAAs, Cain does not place a lot of importance on individual com- petition. "It is more for kicks," Cain said. "I guess it I see it as just a good time." Kabnick joined Cain with an impressive fourth- place tie on the floor exercise, but her perfor- See NCAAs, Page 17 MARGARET MYERS/Daily Senior co-captain Heather Kabnick was one of the few successes for the Michigan women's gymnastics team this weekend. Kabnick finished third on the vault with a 9.80 average, but the Wolverines weren't as successful, falling to qualify for Saturday's Super 6 by a slim margin. Beam bounces Blue from'6' By Nita Srivastava Daily Sports Writer LOS ANGELES - There were blinking lights, silver streamers and famous celebrities at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion this weekend for the NCAA women's gymnastics Championships. The theme was "The Stars Come Out" in L.A.--------------- It's just too bad Women's none of those Gymnastics stars were f r o m Commentary Michigan. ------ ----- The worst part of it was that Michigan was supposed to win the preliminaries and get to the "Super 6," Arizona State by .025 points. Had Michigan gotten one fewer break in any .routine, the Wolverines would have tied Arizona State and qualified for the Super 6. The Wolverines' downfall was their shaky performance on the balance beam. The beam caused similar prob- lems for defending national champion UCLA. Both Michigan and UCLA turned in very strong performances on the rest of the events, but the Bruins still made it to the Super 6. Michigan's performance on the beam in NCAAs was worse than its performance during the entire season. The average score for the Wolverines their fifth-lowest score of the season. Needless to say, to score so low rel- ative to past performances - in the most important meet of the year - is bad. Both senior Lauren LaBranche and junior Lisa Simes fell on the appara- tus, and freshman Bridget Knaeble touched, which was an obvious deduc- tion in points for the Wolverines. Michigan coach Bev Plocki said that inexperience in national competi- tion was one reason the Wolverines did so poorly. "A lot of people who had breaks were our most inexperienced athletes who were competing inthe NCAA ,I I