The Muhlenberg indoor track and field teams will send an all-time high 21 athletes to the ECAC Championships, which will be held this Friday and Saturday at Tufts.

The Mules are scheduled to have eight individuals and five relay teams compete. The meet is the last chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships, set for March 8-9 at Ohio Northern.

Muhlenberg’s best chance for a national qualifier is freshman Ashlie Hankee in the 55-meter hurdles. She ran a school-record 8.79 in the preliminaries at the Centennial Conference Championships last weekend and needs to lower her time to 8.69 to meet the NCAA provisional standard.

The men’s 4x200 relay team was ranked fourth among registered entrants as of today, and freshman John Brodowski had the fifth-best score in the pentathlon.

Last year, Muhlenberg set four school records at the ECAC Championships and had four individuals and two relays finish in the top 10.

While most of their fellow students travel South for Spring Break, four Muhlenberg wrestlers will go North to Wilkes-Barre this Friday and Saturday for the NCAA Division III Championships.

Seniors Tyler Cathey, Andrew Faust and Bill Holsinger and junior Nate

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Yeasted – all of whom have previous experience at the nationals – qualified by winning their respective weight classes at the Centennial Conference Championships on Feb. 16.

“It’s a tough tournament, and it can turn at any time in your favor or against you,” said Cathey, who is ranked eighth in Division III at heavyweight with a perfect 10-0 record. “It’s nice that all these guys have national experience. That could be a big factor.”

Last year, Muhlenberg crowned its first All-American when Jason McLean finished eighth at 141. “Watching him do that showed that Muhlenberg wrestlers do belong there,” noted Cathey. “I want to be up there in that category.”

Cathey is heading to the nationals for the fourth straight year, but so far is 0-6. “I’m kind of like the Buffalo Bills,” he quipped, “And I want to do something about that.”

In his second match last year, Cathey lost a 5-4 decision to second-seeded Brett Stender of Luther, who went on to finish fourth. “That was one of the best matches I’ve ever wrestled,” he said. “Even though I was eliminated, wrestling that match showed me that I had what it took to wrestle with those guys, so I’m pretty confident.”

Of the Mules’ qualifiers, only Faust has a previous win at the NCAAs. He qualified at 149 in both 1999 and 2000, winning one match as a sophomore, and will return as a 165-pounder after taking last season off. Faust brings a season record of 19-3 into the nationals.

Holsinger, the program’s all-time leader with 117 wins and 50 pins, is making his third NCAA appearance. He has a 28-1 record at 149 this season. Yeasted (31-7 at 141) lost a one-point decision in his nationals debut last year.