Muhlenberg track and field coach Brad Hackett has been named head manager of the United States team for the 2002 International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in Madrid, Spain, on Sept. 20-21.

The World Cup will be the only world championship track meet in 2002. As head manager, Hackett’s responsibilities will include signing athletes up for the meet at the USA Track and Field National Championships in June, and taking care of logistical matters such as entries and transportation.

Hackett will be part of a four-man staff that includes head coach Ron Bazil, the head coach at Tulane, and assistant coaches Rick Sloan (Washington State) and Cliff Rovelto (Kansas State).

Hackett, currently in his third season at Muhlenberg, was the men’s national triple jump chair for USA Track and Field from 1993 to 1998 and served on the USA men’s coaching staff at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton.

The Muhlenberg women’s basketball team, off to its best start in more than a quarter-century, has received votes in the d3hoops.com national Division III poll.

The Mules (7-0) are ranked 34th with 27 votes. Two of their wins have come against Springfield, which was ranked 25th in the preseason poll and still has only one loss, and Franklin & Marshall, the 28th-ranked team in last week’s poll.

The national ranking is the first for Muhlenberg since the 1995-96 season, when the team was ranked as high as 17th en route to a school-record 19 wins.

Muhlenberg will get a chance to tie the school record for consecutive wins tomorrow night at Bryn Mawr, then has nearly a month off before putting its ranking to the test with consecutive home games against No. 13 Scranton (Jan. 3) and No. 22 DeSales (Jan. 7).