33½, 3333½, 33Respective margins of victory at the Centennial Conference Championships for 2005 women’s outdoor track and field and 2001 men’s golf.

The women’s track team won its first conference title at home at Scotty WoodStadium just three years after finishing seventh. The two previous CC meets had been decided by a total of five points, but the Mules easily dethroned two-time defending champion Gettysburg, 173½-140.

The golf team was so dominant that it didn’t even count the score of tournament medalist Matt Berman in the third and final round. The Mules had four of the first six finishers to capture their third title with a team score of 940. Gettysburg was second at 973.

3232 Seconds into overtime for the field hockey team to upset sixth-ranked Johns Hopkins 1-0 in 2008. After losing to the Blue Jays in a contentious Centennial Conference semifinal playoff game the previous year, the Mules gained a measure of revenge when Tara Cohn scored the lone goal of the game. Hopkins entered the game seventh in Division III in scoring and had not been shut out in a CC regular-season game since 2005.

In 2009, Muhlenberg duplicated its 1-0 upset of the Blue Jays (then ranked 10th), with Cohn assisting on the winning goal in the second overtime.

31-2131-21Score of the football team’s win against Salisbury in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

The Mules led 21-6 early in the second quarter, only to have the Sea Gulls tie the score with 7:33 left in the fourth. A 38-yard field goal by Jordon Grube with 4:37 on the clock put Muhlenberg back ahead, and a 31-yard touchdown reception by Edward DeRisi a minute later was the icing on the cake.

The win against a highly regarded opponent gained the Mules considerable respect on the national scene.

3030Centennial Conference players of the year for Muhlenberg in the decade.

Among them are Jacquelyn Inverso, the Most Outstanding Performer for field events at the CC Indoor Track and Field Championships in both 2004 and 2006, Danielle DeLucia, the CC pitcher of the year as a freshman in 2001, and Kodi Shay, the CC offensive player of the year and a second-team All-American in 2003.

2929Finish at the NCAA Championships for the men’s cross country team in 2006. The Mules earned an at-large bid, their first ever, after coming in fourth at the NCAA Mideast Regional. Ranked 33rd in the Division III poll prior to the meet, Muhlenberg finished ahead of three other teams at the national meet. Stephen Rothwell was the top Mule runner and both the regional and national meets.

Final national ranking for the women’s tennis team in 2004. The Mules won their first outright Centennial Conference title by going 10-0 in the conference, the biggest win a 5-4 upset of 16th-ranked Swarthmore, and received consideration for an NCAA Tournament berth. Muhlenberg’s final record of 12-3 included a school-record seven 9-0 shutouts. The team’s only losses came on the road, all to teams that were invited to the NCAA Tournament.

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2727Goals scored by James Henshaw (2002-05), the most by a men’s soccer player in the decade. A three-time All-Centennial Conference and two-time all-region selection, Henshaw is tied for 12th on the Mules’ all-time goals list.

2626Wins by the women’s basketball team in 2005-06 and 2008-09. The 26 wins are a Centennial Conference record and one short of the Muhlenberg College record for any sport, set by the volleyball team in 1992.

Both teams won the CC championship. The 2005-06 squad (pictured) finished 26-3, posting what was at the time one of the biggest improvements in Division III history after going 11-14 in 2004-05. In 2008, it was voted the top women’s team in the first 50 years of coeducation at Muhlenberg.

The Mules ended with a 26-4 record in 2008-09.

26-for-26-for-2626Record shooting from the foul line for the men’s basketball team in a 73-65 win at Swarthmore in January 2009.

The previous best perfect game from the line for the Mules was 12-for-12 against West Virginia in 1944. The old Centennial Conference record was a 21-for-21 effort by Ursinus vs. Lebanon Valley in 2003.

Muhlenberg came close to the NCAA Division III mark of 28-for-28, set by Albany against Potsdam State in 1994. Swarthmore’s 12-for-13 shooting from the line gave the two teams a combined 38-for-39, breaking the Division III record of 37-for-39 set by Muskingum and Ohio Wesleyan in 1981.

Ryan Foster went 11-for-11 from the line and scored 25 points.

Centennial Conference championships for Muhlenberg in the decade. Softball had the first one and the last one, but football had the most, with six.

2000 softball2000 women’s soccer2001 softball2001 women’s golf2001 men’s golf2001 football2001 women’s soccer2002 women’s tennis2002 football2003 softball2003 football2003 women’s soccer2003 men’s soccer2004 women’s tennis2004 men’s golf2004 football2005 women’s outdoor track and field2005 men’s soccer2006 women’s basketball2007 women’s golf2007 football2008 women’s basketball2008 football2009 women’s basketball2009 softball

2525

Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Phil Cresta for the baseball team in 2008, breaking a nine-year-old school record. Cresta shut out Gettysburg, Ursinus

24 24 2/32/3 and McDaniel in three road

starts in an eight-day span en route to tying a school record with eight wins for the season.

One of the top two-sport athletes of the decade, Cresta also was a two-time All-Centennial Conference wide receiver in football. He finished his career (2006-09)third on the all-time list with 161 receptions and tied a CC record with a touchdown catch in seven straight games.

2323School-record wins for the baseball team in 2002. The Mules reached the 20-win mark for the first time in their 85-plus-year history and posted their best Centennial Conference record (11-7) to finish in fourth place and qualify for the first CC playoff tournament. Muhlenberg notched its first postseason winssince 1980, eliminating the third (Ursinus) and second (Franklin & Marshall) seeds to reach the best two-of-three final against No. 8 Johns Hopkins. There, the Mules lost a pair of close games (3-1 and 5-4) to finish with a record of 23-17.

Mike Morris had big hits in both playoff wins, including a home run leading off the top of the 10th to beat F&M, 5-4.

22-722-7Long jump by John Brodowski in 2005, tying a long-standing school record. Ben Hubbard set the mark in 1916, and it went unmatched until Brodowski’s performance at the NCAA Championships.

Tying the old record was just one of many highlights of Brodowski’s career. He won six Centennial

Conference gold medals and was named MostOutstanding Performer for field events at the CC outdoor meet in both 2003 and 2005. He set or tied eight school records, seven of which still stand, and competed in the NCAA Championships in the decathlon three straight years, earning All-America honors by finishing fourth as a senior in 2005. Brodowski is the men’s field athlete of the decade.

2121 Centennial Conference wrestling champions for Muhlenberg from 2000 to 2009. The Mules rank just behind McDaniel (24) and Ursinus (22) for most titlists in the 2000s; since the start of the CC in 1994 Muhlenberg (38) trails only Ursinus (39).

Eleven Mules were responsible for the 21 championships. The six multiple winners included three who won at two different weight classes. Andy Faust (149 in 2000 and 165 in 2002) was the only one to prevail after moving up two weight classes.

20.220.2Scoring average for Mark Lesko in his junior season of 2000-01, making him the first Mule in 30 years to average 20 points for an entire season. Lesko’s 38-point effort at New York University was the best by a Muhlenberg basketball player in the decade.

Lesko, the men’s basketball player of the decade, finished his career as the Mules’ all-time leader with 165 blocked shots and eighth on the all-time scoring list with 1,399 points. He is the only Mule to be namedfirst-team All-Centennial Conference three times and the first to be voted CC player of the year. He earned All-America honors as a senior.

20-20-1111

Record of the volleyball team in 2001, including an 8-2 mark in the Centennial Conference. The Mules had tied for sixth place in the CC the previous two years and surprised everyone by earning the top seed in the CC playoffs. The program’s first win ever against Gettysburg highlighted the regular season, but the Bullets ended the dream season by beating Muhlenberg in the CC championship match.

Dana Ferrelli (left) and Meaghan Billie (right) combined to give the Mules two first-team All-CC selections for the first time.

1919Goals scored by Kristen Bruschi as a sophomore in 2002, breaking a 40-year-old school record. The new record went unmatched until … the next season, when Bruschi scored 19 again.

The field hockey player of the decade, Bruschi is the Mules’ all-time leader in goals (59), assists (17) and points (135). She received All-Centennial Conference honors three times and remains the only player in program history to be named to the All-CC first team twice. She was named to the All-South Region team three straight years and was selected to the All-America third team by womensfieldhockey.com in 2004.

1818Improvement, in feet, of the school record in the javelin by Sarah Mitchell (2004-07). She broke the previous mark of 127-8 in her fifth collegiate meet and kept upping the distance, topping out at 145-4 as a senior. Mitchell became the first member of the women’s track and field team to earn All-America honors when she placed seventh at the 2006 NCAA Championships. A four-time Centennial Conference champion in the javelin, she was named Most Outstanding Performer for field events at the 2007 CC outdoor meet.

1717Mule cross country runners to compete in the NCAA Championships in the 2000s – 17 more than had before the start of the decade.

Timothy VanSyckle (2005-08) made three trips to the national meet and is the men’s cross country athlete of the decade. His third-place finish at the 2008 Centennial Conference Championships tied the best ever by a Mule runner, and his seventh-place showing at the NCAA Mideast Regional that year is the best ever by a ’Berg male. VanSyckle was sixth at the 2007 CC meet.

Karen Mount (2002-05) is the women’s cross country athlete of the decade. She became the first Muhlenberg female to qualify for nationals in 2005, when she placed fourth – a program best for both genders – at the regional meet. She also finished fourth at the CC Championships that year. A three-time all-region runner, Mount is the only Mule female to place in the top 10 at the CC meet twice.

Consecutive wins by the women’s soccer team in 2001. After starting the season 2-2, with losses to national powers Trinity (Texas) and Scranton, the Mules reeled off a streak that took them to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The 17-game winning streak is tied for the second-longest in a season in Muhlenberg athletic history.

Included in the incredible streak were a 1-0 win against Johns Hopkins, avenging the Mules’ lone Centennial Conference loss in 2000, shutouts of Franklin & Marshall and Hopkins in the CC playoffs, and a 3-1 defeat of Elizabethtown in the NCAAs.

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The run finally came to an end with a loss to top-ranked New Jersey. Muhlenberg was ranked 18th in the final Division III poll, and its 19 wins tied the most for a Mule soccer team — men or women.

1616Total points lost by Gena Ross in her march to the 2003 Centennial Conference singles championship. Ross won four of her five matches in straight sets, including a 6-1, 6-0 victory in the final. A tight 6-0, 6-7, 10-3 match in the quarterfinals was her biggest challenge. She won six sets 6-0 and two others 6-1.

Ross was Muhlenberg’s first conference singles champion since 1988 and will probably be the last, since the CC Individual Tournament was discontinued in 2006. Ross finished the 2002-03 year with a 20-3 singles record and was voted to the All-CC first team.