6666Academic All-District selections for Muhlenberg in the decade. The Academic All-District teams are voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America, with first-team honorees advancing to the national ballot for Academic All-America honors. Of the66, 14 went on to become Academic All-Americans, including first-team selections David Vassilaros (soccer, 2002), Jason Finkelstein (cross country/track, 2006) and Jake Floyd (football, 2009).

6565

Height, in inches, of Katrina Beck’s school-record indoor high jump in 2001. Beck won seven Centennial Conference gold medals in the high jump from 1998 to 2001, becoming the first female athlete in CC history to win the same indoor event four times. In 2001, she was the first Mule female to participate in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

6464Uniform number of two of the football team’s top offensive linemen of the decade.

(left) Mike Nolan (2005-08) was a three-time first-team All-Centennial Conference selection and a 2008 preseason All-American.

(right) Chris Radomski (2000-03) was named a third-team All-American and played in the Aztec Bowl, a senior all-star game in Mexico, in 2003.

63-18-63-18-44Record of the women’s soccer team from 2000 to 2003, including a 36-3-1 mark in Centennial Conference games. The Mules won the CC title in 2000, 2001 and 2003. The 2000 squad featured Alissa Desiderio, the program’s first CC player of the year and All-American.

The 2003 team (left) was ranked 23rd in the final Division III poll.

63-1363-13Score of one of the football team’s most impressive wins of the decade, at Hartwick in 2001. Hartwick came in 6-2 and with the 10th-ranked passing offense in Division III, but the Mules allowed only 18 completions in 55 attempts and picked off six passes, including a Centennial Conference-record four by Erik Hammar. The 63 points and 50-point margin of victory were the most for Muhlenberg since 1947.

School-record time in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles for Danielle Seiler in 2006. The school record when Seiler came to Muhlenberg was 69.94.

Seiler, the women’s track athlete of the decade, won the 400 hurdles at the Centennial Conference Championships all four years. She also took gold in the 400 meters a total of four times indoors and outdoors and was named Most Outstanding Performer at the 2005 outdoor meet. Seiler is the only female in Mule track history to compete in the NCAA Championships three times.

62.9562.95

6262Total points scored in the last two sets of the volleyball team’s regular-season finale against Gettysburg in 2009. The Mules won 40 of the points, taking the sets 25-14 and 15-8 for a 3-2 win that earned them a Centennial Conference playoff berth. The Bullets came in with a seven-match winning streak and had won all but one of the previous 24 meetings with Muhlenberg. Brittany Williams had 14 kills and 15 digs in the match.

6161Combined wins for Nate Yeasted in 2000-01 and 2001-02, when he became the first Mule wrestler to win 30 bouts in back-to-back seasons. He won the Centennial Conference title both years and was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 2001 championship meet. In 2003, Yeasted won a third CC crown and went on to earn All-America honors, finishing seventh at 141 pounds at the NCAA Championships. His final career record was 96-44.

60.60.77School-record career completion percentage for Eric Santagato, the football player of the decade. A three-year starter at quarterback, Santagato helmed the Mules to their first two outright Centennial Conference championships in 2007 and 2008. His record as a starter was 25-8, including a 20-3 mark in the two championship seasons.

Santagato also holds school records for efficiency rating in a career (135.3) and completion percentage in a season (.632) and a game (.905). He finished second in Muhlenberg history and fourth in CC history with 6,152 passing yards and added 704 yards and 21 touchdowns rushing.

5959School-record career goals for Dawn Iberer (2000-03), the women’s soccer player of the decade. A four-time first-team All-Centennial Conference forward, Iberer is the Mules’ career leader with 134 points. She was named to the All-America second team in 2001 and earned all-region honors three years.

Iberer led Muhlenberg to its first three CC titles in her four years, scoring the lone goal in the 2001 CC championship game. She scored five goals in six career NCAA Tournament games.

Score of the women’s basketball win at Bowdoin in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. The victory pushed the Mules into the “Sweet 16” for the first time in history.

58-5758-57

Bowdoin had never lost a home game in the postseason before. The Polar Bears entered the game 31-0 all-time in NCAA and conference tournament home games and were 103-5 at Morrell Gymnasium over the previous seven years. Muhlenberg led 58-48 with just over five minutes remaining, then had to sweat it out as Bowdoin missed a potential game-winning shot in the final few seconds.

5757Seconds into overtime for Lauren Rutt to score the winning goal in the field hockey team’s regular-season finale against Gettysburg in 2007. The win clinched a Centennial Conference playoff berth for the Mules.

The Bullets came into the game ranked 19th in Division III and took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half of a game played in pouring rain. Muhlenberg, which had lost its three previous CC games to nationally ranked teams, tied the score early in the second half.

56-656-6Score of the football team’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game, against Mass.-Dartmouth in 2002.

The Corsairs came in having allowed only 80 points all season (first in Division III), but

Muhlenberg amassed 529 total yards, including 417 on the ground. The Mules also forced four turnovers and held the Corsairs to 36 total yards in the second half. Christopher Brown scored two of the Mules’ seven rushing touchdowns, and head coach Mike Donnelly enjoyed an on-field shower as the final seconds ticked away.

5555School-record career extra-base hits (20 doubles, 18 triples, 17 home runs) for baseball standout Christian Conti (2006-09). His career slugging percentage was a school-record .669.

Conti began his Muhlenberg career as a wild pitcher before emerging as a hitter midway through his sophomore year. In 2008, he was named Centennial Conference player of the year after hitting .380 and setting school records for runs (49), triples (11), home runs (11), RBI (60), extra-base hits (29) and total bases (116). Believed to be the second player in Division III history to reach double figures in home runs and triples, he led the country in triples per game.

5454Consecutive games hitting a three-pointer for Gwen Doyle. The streak, the longest of its kind in Centennial Conference women’s basketball history, began late in Doyle’s sophomore season and carried through the end of her career in 2005.

Doyle is the Mules’ career leader with 186 three-pointers made, 123 of which came during the streak. She set a school record with nine threes in one game against Haverford in 2004.

5353Runs scored by the baseball team in a three-game series vs. Hartwick in 2007. As hard as that might be to imagine, try this: The Mules scored only seven runs in one of the games — and that was the only one of the three they won.

The wild series began with the third-highest-scoring nine-inning game in Division III history. Muhlenberg scored seven runs in one inning and eight in another but still lost, 30-25. The next day, the Mules trailed 19-4 in the fifth before rallying to lose 22-21. They took the second game of the doubleheader, 7-5. Normal? No way. The winning runs scored on back-to-back inside-the-park home runs.

The three games featured 110 runs and 107 hits. Pete Oris drove in seven runs in the first game en route to becoming the Mules’ all-time RBI leader.

52.152.1Points per game allowed by the women’s basketball team in 2005-06. Two years after leading the country in scoring offense, the Mules tried a different approach that led them to a 26-3 record and the Centennial Conference championship. The 52.1 points per game allowed were a school-record low for the shot-clock era and ranked 18th in Division III.

Kristen Piscadlo spearheaded both the defense (team-leading 55 steals) and the offense (school-record 164 assists).

5151Career point total for Evan Smallwood (2000-03), the men’s soccer player of the decade. With 17 goals and 17 assists, Smallwood is one of only two Mules in the last 20 years to record 15 of each.

In his senior season, Smallwood led Muhlenberg with 31 points and earned All-America second-team honors. He scored the game-winning goal on a free kick in the Centennial Conference championship game vs. Johns Hopkins. In the NCAA first-round game vs. Gordon, he tied the score at 2-2 by converting a penalty kick with five minutes left in regulation, then knocked in another PK to win the shootout.

5151Length of game-winning touchdown pass on a fake punt to beat William Paterson in 2006. The pass, from Ryan Sassaman to Matt Johnson, came with 9:12 left in the fourth quarter and the score tied at 17.

Fake punts were a common theme for the Mules throughout the decade; Sassaman threw a 74-yard TD pass with 3:54 left to beat Ursinus, 21-14, in 2005.

Johnson’s number also came up frequently. He was a third-team All-American at tight end in 2007 and also started at running back and quarterback, ending his career with a rare combination of more than 1,000 yards receiving (1,059), 750 yards rushing (752) and 750 yards passing (875).

In Memoriam

As we wrap up the first half of our review of the best of the decade, let’s stop to remember some people associated with Muhlenberg athletics who we lost during the last 10 years:

• Tom Grace, equipment manager

• Wilson Hendricks, longtime equipment room employee

• Helene Hospodar, Hall-of-Fame field hockey coach

• Edward Renner, longtime supporter of Mule teams

• Jason Rute ’96, assistant wrestling coach

• Milton W. “Scotty” Wood, Muhlenberg athletics benefactor