10 Thursday, July 21, 2016 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS See Schefters. Page 11 ALLISON FARRAND/Daily Fifth-year senior receiver Jehu Chesson had a breakout season as a junior, tallying 33 catches for 574 yards and nine touchdowns over the final six games of the season. 2016 Schefters: Several teams rebound from down season By MAX BULTMAN and JAKE LOURIM Managing Sports Editors A year ago, the Daily’s Schefter Awards, honoring the best in Michi- gan athletics, recognized a few bright spots amid a mostly bleak year. Among the highest-profile teams, the football, men’s basketball and hockey teams each missed the postseason for the first time since 1972-73. But the struggles didn’t stop there: The men’s tennis team went 7-17, and the men’s track and field team finished 10th at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. For many teams, this past sea- son was a revival. The football, men’s basketball and hockey teams each returned to their respective postseasons, and Carol Hutchins’ unstoppable softball juggernaut continued. The women’s gymnastics, wom- en’s track and field, men’s cross country and men’s and women’s swimming programs also delivered Big Ten titles. Adam Steinberg’s men’s tennis team rebuilt, as did Jerry Clayton’s men’s track and field team. Only the men’s gym- nastics team suffered a significant regression, and that was after losing loads of talent from three dominant seasons that included two national championships. Before the women’s soccer team kicks off the next Michigan athlet- ics season Aug. 19 against Pitts- burgh, here are this year’s awards, named after one of the Daily’s most prominent alumni, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter: Best Cinderella Story: Steve Racine, ice hockey Racine’s comeback story almost never happened, because there was almost nothing from which he needed to come back. Racine nearly capped his freshman season with a Cinderella run to extend Michigan’s 22-year NCAA Tournament streak. It was the closest the Wolverines had been to missing the postseason, and thus it would have been one of the most memorable trips. In 2013, Michigan entered the CCHA Tournament at 13-18-3 after a miserable regular season. They could only stay alive by rid- ing Racine, their stand-in freshman goaltender, to an unlikely CCHA Tournament title. But the seventh- seeded Wolverines began by sweep- ing No. 10 seed Northern Michigan, and they made the final weekend by upsetting No. 3 seed. They reached the finals by stunning No. 1 seed Miami (Ohio), 6-2, in the semifinals. Only a championship loss to Notre Dame halted what would have been an incredible start to Racine’s career, but it also became the image of the 22-year streak ending. Still, the forecast on the fresh- man netminder was promising. Surely, many thought, carrying the momentum of that run, the Wol- verines would return to the NCAA Tournament the following year. But in the following two years, Racine could never recapture the magic of that CCHA Tournament run. He played fewer games in both seasons than he did as a fresh- man, and his goals-against average worsened from 2.65 to 2.91 to 2.94. He only had one more try to help ensure he wouldn’t go four years without an NCAA Tournament trip. Even then, he didn’t have the start- ing job secured. Before Racine closed the book on his career, he ended his legacy on a positive note. An early injury kept the starting spot in jeopardy, but Racine returned last December at the Great Lakes Invitational, which also turned out to be his coming- out party. He started and won both games, totaling 62 saves with just three goals against. From there, he only cemented his impact on the season: 46 saves against Penn State in January to exorcise the demons of the previous two years; 30 against Minnesota in the Big Ten Championship to seal Michigan’s NCAA Tournament ticket; 28 more to move onto the regional final. He was terrific again in that game, making 44 stops, but the Wolverines lost to a better North Dakota team that eventually won the national title. Still, Racine made sure the 2013 CCHA setback wasn’t the last we heard from him. Breakout athlete of the year: Jehu Chesson, football By a show of hands, who thought Chesson would have the season he did in 2015? If your hand is up, you misun- derstood that the previous question was rhetorical, and probably look like an idiot right now. Also, you’re lying. Chesson’s season started slow, but he finished as strong as nearly any receiver in the Big Ten. As he developed chemistry with quar- terback Jake Rudock, the redshirt junior receiver turned into one of the conference’s most dangerous deep ball threats, all while earning Jim Harbaugh’s respect as a blocker. Over the final six games of the season, Chesson caught 33 passes for 574 yards and nine touchdowns — and that’s to say nothing of his 96-yard kickoff return for a touch- down against Northwestern in Week 6. The highlight, of course, was a 10-reception, 207-yard, four- touchdown thriller against Indiana, including one touchdown catch through double coverage on a late fourth down to tie the game late. If Chesson hadn’t already been intro- duced to the college football world before his big game in Blooming- ton, it became nearly impossible to ignore him after it. His season did end on a a lower note, with an apparent leg injury in the Citrus Bowl, but only after he tallied 118 yards and a touchdown against Florida. Many things were said about Chesson last year, but the best quote had to be by his roommate, run- ning back Drake Johnson. “Pardon my French, but Jehu’s got his s--- together,” Johnson said after the Citrus Bowl. This past season, it was hard to argue with him. Best Single-Event Perfor- mance: Michigan defense vs. Northwestern, Oct. 10, 2016 Really, any of the Michigan foot- ball team’s three straight shutouts — 31-0 against BYU on Sept. 26, 28-0 at Maryland on Oct. 3 or 38-0 against Northwestern on Oct. 10 —