12 Thursday, July 21, 2016 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS school records, two each year until almost most of the sprinting marks were hers: indoor 60-meter dash, indoor 200-meter dash, indoor 60-meter hurdles, outdoor 100-meter dash, outdoor 100- meter hurdles and 4x400-meter relay (along with her team). Male athlete of the year: Mason Ferlic, track and field, cross country Ferlic might not be the most recognizable name in Michigan sports, but how do you pick against the NCAA Champion in the Stee- ple Chase? The man they call Big Bird made up for his fall in the 2015 NCAA Track and Field Championships by winning the 3,000-meter Steeple Chase in 2016. He topped off a dominant career as a Wol- verine, which has seen him take home UST- FCCCA All- America honors five times and win five Big Ten Championships to match. And that’s only on the track. In cross-country season, Ferlic also won the Great Lakes Regional 10,000-meter run and helped the Wolverines to win the Big Ten title for the first time since 1998. In the end, Ferlic’s NCAA title this sea- son was enough to edge Connor for male athlete of the year honors. Team of the year: Softball It seems strange to give the softball team this award in a year that Carol Hutchins’ team actually underperformed from its previous season. But when you make the Women’s College World Series an annual destination, as the Wolver- ines have in recent years, you get the benefit of the doubt. For most of the season, Michi- gan jockeyed with Florida for national supremacy. The Gators had knocked off the Wolverines in the World Series Final one year ago, and they seemed destined for a rematch in Oklahoma City. But when Georgia upset Florida in the Super Regionals, Michigan looked poised to make a serious run at a title that has eluded them in their dominant Romero Era. Instead, a pair of early losses sent Wolverines to an early exit, and Oklahoma’s Sydney Romero — Sierra’s younger sister — captured the title in the year Sierra was National Player of the Year. With stars like Romero, Sierra Lawrence and Sara Driesenga on their way out, the program could be looking at a regression in 2017. But with Hutchins at the helm, Michigan is a threat year in and year out to leave Oklahoma City as champion. They’ll have to settle for a Schefter in the meantime. Career Achievement Award: Sierra Romero, softball This award isn’t ambiguous. Almost half of Michigan’s women’s sports teams have won Big Ten titles in the past four years, but only two have won all four, and Romero has accomplished the most. From moment she arrived on campus, she has started all 253 games. Once, during the NCAA Tour- nament in her sophomore year, she was severely ill and needed IV fluids beforehand, and she still helped Michigan upset Arizona State twice to move onto the Super Regional. She broke records every year: single-season home runs (23) as a freshman; batting average (.491) and runs (74) as a sophomore; RBI (83) as a junior; and a series of career marks as a senior until she had almost all of them. In each year she was consistent, in each year she seemed to play a different role for the team and yet in each year she was equally valuable. Romero swept the national play- er of the year awards as a senior and earned All-American honors in each of her four seasons at two different positions, moving to sec- ond base early in her junior year. She leaves as the NCAA career record holder in runs and grand slams, and she is the only player ever to amass 300 runs, 300 hits and 300 RBI. More significantly, Romero served as the face of the program, starting almost right when she began her career. She sparked the Wolverines when they were play- ing well, and carried them when they weren’t. “She has more swag than anybody on the planet,” coach Carol Hutchins said of Romero this year. Hutchins has spoken as highly of Romero as any other player in recent memory, and in one of Michigan’s most successful pro- grams, it says a lot that Romero will go down as likely the greatest player in school history. M Den provides preview of Nike gear By ORION SANG Summer Managing Sports Editor Pay a visit to the M Den web- site and you’ll be greeted with a countdown clock to Aug. 1, the first day Michigan’s apparel con- tract with Nike begins. Pay a visit to the M Den ware- house and you’ll find that most Adidas products have already been moved to make room for the scores of boxes containing the newest Nike gear. Out with the old and in with the new, as they say. Wednesday, the M Den hosted several members of the media to discuss the store’s upcoming release of Mich- igan-themed Nike apparel as well as provide a preview of vari- ous products. The M Den has been plan- ning its launch of the new gear for over a year now, according to Scott Hirth, the co-owner of M Den. It will begin a week-long prod- uct release next week, starting with an extravagant midnight release on July 31. According to Hirth, State Street will be blocked off between Williams and Liberty from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. to accom- modate the large amount of consumers that is cur- rently antici- pated. There will be a roll- out party that will include 60 members of the Michigan march- ing band, members of the dance team, special guest appearances and a DJ. Most of the fall line of products will be unveiled at the midnight release with the exception of the football jerseys. Michi- gan’s agree- ment with Nike includes a stipulation that calls for the football and both men’s and women’s bas- ketball teams to be outfitted by Jordan Brand, a division of Nike characterized by the famous Jumpman icon in place of the Nike Swoosh. Instead, the football jerseys will be unveiled separately on Aug. 2 at the M Den located on State Street in a ceremony open only by invita- tion. In addition to the reveal of the football jer- sey, the Aug. 2 event will also present the new Michigan-themed shoe designed by Jordan Brand, dubbed the Air Jordan Trainer 1. The jerseys and Air Jordan Trainer 1 will then be made avail- able to the public on Aug. 6. The jersey will be available at all M Den locations while the shoe will be available at just the State Street location and on the M Den website — which, according to Hirth, has been recently beefed up to deal with the flood of visi- tors expected during the launch week. Hirth believes that, even though a large order was placed, the shoe will be one of their quickest selling items and will most likely sell out in a brief peri- od of time. Romero was national player of the year as a senior. COURTESY OF THE M DEN AND NIKE Starting Aug. 1, the M Den will have a week-long release of new Michigan-themed Nike products — including the shirt above. The M Den will host a midnight release event July 31. Michigan’s apparel contract with Nike will begin Aug. 1.