Mike Sainristil
Football - CB
College
University of Michigan
Sainristil was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 2000. His father, Carlot, was the newsroom director at a radio station and received threats after the 2000 Haitian presidential election. As a result, the family fled from Haiti when Sainristil was 7 months old.
The family settled in Everett, Massachusetts, where Sainristil attended Everett High. He was an ESPN 4-star recruit, and considered the No. 1 recruit out of Massachusetts. After his stellar performance in his senior season, he was named the 2018-2019 Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Massachusetts. He committed to Michigan over other Division one offers.
As a freshman in 2019, Sainristil turned heads in camp and had the defensive coaches seeking to make him a cornerback, but the offensive coaches won out getting him as a wide receiver. He played in 13 games, making one start at wide receiver and collected 8 catches for 145 yards and 1 touchdown.
During the shortened 2020 season, Sainristil played in all 6 games and finished with 7 receptions for 82 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The 2021 season saw Sainristil play on the offensive side of the ball for the last time, after finishing the season with 22 receptions for 312 yards and 2 touchdowns, he was moved to defensive back starting in 2022.
In 2022, he appeared in all 14 games with 11 starts at cornerback and special teams and he finished the season collecting 58 tackles, 6.5 for loss, 2 sacks and 1 interception. After his first season on defense he was selected as an All-Big 10 honorable mention.
This season, Sainristil has shined in Michigan’s secondary, starting all 15 games at cornerback. He has 44 tackles, 1 sack and a team leading 6 interceptions. He has returned 2 of the 5 interceptions for a touchdown and was picked as an ESPN honorable mention midseason All-American.