Freshman cornerback Cameron Ahouse of the Muhlenberg football team has been named defensive player of the week by the Centennial Conference.

Ahouse, who earned the honor for the second time this season, had a team-high eight tackles, picked off two passes and broke up another pass in the Mules’ season-ending 24-10 win against archrival Moravian. His first interception was a diving catch of an overthrown halfback option pass in the second quarter, and in the fourth quarter he picked off a pass at the 1-yard line with the Greyhounds driving for a potential game-tying touchdown.

The two interceptions gave Ahouse five for the season, tying the school record for freshmen set in 1967. He is tied for the Centennial Conference lead. Ahouse also led Muhlenberg with six pass breakups and tied for ninth on the team with 33 tackles.

Ahouse celebrates his second interception with David Mazzola.

The national meet is scheduled for Saturday, November 18, at Voice of America Park in West Chester, Ohio. Wilmington College is the host school.

The Mules received one of 16 at-large bids to the NCAAs. The top two teams from each of the eight NCAA regions received automatic bids, and the rest of the 32-team field was filled out with schools that finished third, fourth or fifth at the regional qualifier meets. Muhlenberg was fourth at the Mideast Regional, behind Haverford, Allegheny and Carnegie Mellon.

Four of the Mules’ seven runners earned all-region honors by finishing in the top 35 at the regional race: seniors Stephen Rothwell (23rd) and Tim Seeley (30th) and sophomores David Chorney (27th) and Timothy Van Syckle (35th).

Men’s cross country is the 10th sport in which Muhlenberg has sent a team to the NCAA Championships. Entire Mule squads have also gone in women’s basketball, men’s basketball, field hockey, football, men’s golf, women’s soccer, men’s soccer, softball and women’s tennis. Five other teams have qualified individuals for the national championships.

The Mules nearly qualified in men’s cross country in 2002, when instead of at-large bids, a predetermined number of teams in each region qualified automatically. The number for the Mideast Region was three, and Muhlenberg finished fourth by five points.

Muhlenberg sent individuals to the NCAA Cross Country Championships three times previously: men in 2001 and 2002 and a woman in 2005. One of the male runners to compete in the 2002 national meet was current head coach Will Elson.

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