Senior Will Elson, running his first race for the Mules since 2000, finished third out of 181 runners to lead the Muhlenberg men’s cross country team to a second-place showing at the Tidewater Fall Classic, hosted by Salisbury.

The race was a significant one for the Mules, who edged out Haverford by one point. Haverford is the 26th-ranked team in Division III and the nine-time defending Centennial Conference champion. The only team to finish ahead of Muhlenberg was Division II Kutztown.

Salisbury will be the site of the NCAA Mideast Regional, which is a qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championships, on Nov. 16.

Elson, an All-Region runner in 1999, took the 2001 year off and had been sidelined with injuries for the beginning part of the 2002 season. The Mules were without two-time All-Region runner Brendan Gallagher, but got strong performances from freshman Alex Hotz (11th) and junior Brian Cash (14th).

The Mule women were eighth out of 15 teams. Junior Diana Garretto landed in the top 20, finishing 14th.

Click here for box score.

• Women’s Tennis: Two individuals and one doubles team went 2-0 on the first day of the ITA Southeast Regional, hosted by Mary Washington. Junior Gena Ross advanced to the Round of 16 in singles and the quarterfinals in doubles, along with classmate Mackenzie Parke. In the “B” Draw, freshman Stacy Lipschutz advanced to the Round of 16. Click here for Muhlenberg results.

• Men’s Soccer: Gettysburg 3, Muhlenberg 0. Mike Bevilacqua of undefeated and 13th-ranked Gettysburg scored three first-half goals to hand the Mules (6-4, 1-1) their first CC loss of the season. Muhlenberg’s best chance to score came when freshman Adam Milberg rocketed a shot off the crossbar late in the first half. Click here for box score.

• Women’s Soccer: Johns Hopkins 1, Muhlenberg 0. Johns Hopkins scored off a corner kick four minutes into the second overtime period to end Muhlenberg’s 14-game CC winning streak. The last loss for Mules (4-6, 1-1) was also on the Hopkins turf in 2000. Click here for box score.

• Field Hockey: Franklin & Marshall 3, Muhlenberg 1. The Mules (7-2, 0-1) lost their CC opener and had their six-game winning streak snapped. Sophomore Kristen Bruschi scored the lone goal for Muhlenberg. Click here for box score.

• Volleyball: Muhlenberg (10-12) won the Bronze Division of the Amherst Classic with wins over Trinity and Western Connecticut on the second day. The Mules lost to Amherst and Eastern Connecticut in pool play. Click here for box scores.

• Men’s Tennis: Shepherd 5, Muhlenberg 2. The Mules fell to 2-3 for the fall with a loss to the visiting Division II team from West Virginia. Senior Cameron Parke won a tiebreaker at second doubles and a super tiebreaker at second singles. Click here for box score.

Junior Matt Bernardo scored three times to become the school’s career touchdown leader as the Muhlenberg football team toppled Franklin & Marshall, 68-22, in a battle of undefeated Centennial Conference teams. The Diplomats (3-1, 1-1) were playing in their 1,000th all-time game.

The 68 points matched the third-most ever scored by the Mules (4-0, 2-0), who are 4-0 for the first time since 1983. Muhlenberg last scored that many points in a 68-0 shutout of Ursinus in 1921.

Bernardo scored back-to-back touchdowns on runs of 25 and 24 yards to ignite the Mules’ 30-point second quarter, then returned the opening kickoff of the second half 87 yards. With 43 touchdowns in 24 career games, he surpasses the 41 scored by Joshua Carter from 1998 to 2001. Bernardo finished the game with 117 rushing yards and 265 all-purpose yards.

Muhlenberg put points on the board in a rapid fashion, scoring twice on special teams, once on defense and three times on one-play drives.

Senior Justin Jones gave the Mules a 14-0 by throwing touchdown passes of 5 yards to senior Alfredo Mercuri and 57 yards to junior Kodi Shay on consecutive first-quarter drives. After F&M cut the gap in half, Muhlenberg blew the game open in the second quarter.

Bernardo’s first TD run made the score 21-7. His second came one play after a Joe Getz interception. The Diplomats fumbled on their next play from scrimmage, and Jones connected with junior tight end Rob Sherman for a 20-yard touchdown on the next play, making the score 35-7 with 8:31 left in the half.

Four minutes later, junior Nick Otranto’s sack forced a fumble, and junior Tony Briscella picked up the loose ball and ran 11 yards for a touchdown. Senior Beau Sherry intercepted a pass and returned it to the F&M 1-yard line on the next play from scrimmage, setting up a Chris Reed 19-yard field goal and giving the Mules a 44-7 lead at the break.

Muhlenberg scored two special teams touchdowns in the first three minutes of the second half, first on Bernardo’s kickoff return and then when junior Ben Phillips recovered a blocked punt in the end zone.

Senior Toomey Anderson caught his first career touchdown pass with 2:06 left to close out the scoring.

Click here for box score.