The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/144506
Outstanding Athletes Michigan's Finest Competitors Of The Past 12 Months E By Andy Reid very year, the University of Michigan is home to extraordinary athletes who accomplish amazing feats. And 2012-13 was no different. Three athletes won individual national championships — with two of then Year In Review Top 10 Athletes helping lead their teams to NCAA titles. Others dominated their respective sports, earning national acclaim and awards for their efforts. Here are the 10 best from the past school year. 1. Connor Jaeger, men's swimming: Jaeger returned from a sixth-place finish in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the London Olympics and began dominating his collegiate competition. As a junior in 2012-13, Jaeger claimed two individual national titles, winning the 500-yard freestyle (4:10.84) and the 1,650-yard freestyle (14:27.18) at the NCAA Championship Meet, and helped the Wolverines capture their first team national title since 1995 and the 12th crown in program history. Jaeger earned four NCAA All-America honors and won three Big Ten individual championships (500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle, 800-yard freestyle relay). He also was named the Michigan Male College Athlete Of The Year by the Detroit Athletic Club, and he took home awards as the Big Ten Swimmer Of The Year and the Michigan Male Athlete Of The Year. 2. Trey Burke, men's basketball: A player who can lift a program to new heights is rare. Burke, who helped a young Wolverine team navigate through the most difficult conference in the country and all the way to the NCAA championship game, was such a player. After averaging 18.6 points and 6.7 assists per game — and producing such instant classic moments as the late-game steal to seal the win versus Michigan State and the last-second shot against Kansas, perhaps the biggest highlight of the entire NCAA Tournament — Burke won consensus National Player Of The Year honors, becoming