The Muhlenberg women’s indoor track and field team added two ECAC qualifiers to its list at the Frank Colden Invitational, hosted by Ursinus.

Although neither team competed to win the meet, the Mule men finished third (behind two Division II teams) and the women fifth.

The women’s 4x200-meter relay team of junior Danielle Seiler, senior Ashlie Hankee, freshman Jenna Lombardi and senior Danielle Bovelle captured first place with a time of 1:51.04, which qualified for ECACs and missed the school record by just 13 hundredths of a second.

Hankee, already on the ECAC-qualifier list for the 55 high hurdles, lowered her qualifying time to 8.81.

Senior Jenna Belisonzi was the women’s third qualifier of the meet, running the 3,000 meters in 10:41.14 – the second-best performance in school history – to finish second.

The men received strong performances from their middle-distance and distance runners, placing two in the top three in both the mile and 3,000 meters. Sophomore Tim Seeley won the latter event, while sophomore Lex Mercado took second place in the mile.

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WRESTLING
Bonus points were the difference as Muhlenberg defeated Gettysburg, 26-21, in a match in which each team won three bouts and two forfeits.

The Mules (6-9, 3-3) got a technical fall at 157 from junior Dale Mills and a pin at 197 by sophomore Matt Loesch for the

Junior Chris Gibson scored three takedowns in his 10th win of the season, an 8-5 decision at 165.

five-point difference. Mills, wrestling for just the second time in two months, engaged in an entertaining match that featured five takedowns, three reversals and six near-falls. He scored the final near-fall with just four seconds remaining in the third period to extend his lead to 25-10 and secure his sixth career technical fall.

Loesch had an 11-4 lead in the last minute when he finished off his seventh pin of the season.

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MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Mules (8-12, 5-8) made a strong bid for their first win at Gettysburg in 10 years, but were turned away down the stretch and fell, 56-53.

Muhlenberg led for most of the game, and by as many as nine points in the second half. After the Bullets (12-8, 9-4) came back to tie the game, the Mules took their final lead at 53-52 when sophomore Jeff Stewart made one of two free throws with 1:48 to play. Gettysburg made the go-ahead basket 16 seconds later.

Muhlenberg missed two shots on its next possession, but played good defense on the other end of the court and left the Bullets with only three seconds on the shot clock after senior Chase Licata blocked a shot out of bounds. Gettysburg scored right off the inbounds, however, to extend its lead to 56-53 with 27 seconds left.

The Mules missed a potential game-tying three pointer with six seconds to play, and got off a desperation shot that fell short after a missed Bullet free throw.

Stewart had a huge game, leading all players with 22 points and a season-high 15 rebounds for his 12th double-double. Licata and junior Jimmy O’Brien scored eight apiece.

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Muhlenberg suffered a blow to its playoff hopes with a 58-53 loss to Gettysburg. The Mules (9-11, 5-8) are now three games behind the fifth-place Bullets (11-9, 8-5) in the race for the five Centennial Conference playoff spots.

Trailing 37-25 after giving up four quick baskets early in the second half, Muhlenberg turned up the defense and held Gettysburg without a field goal for more than 11 minutes, going on a 16-2 run to take a 41-39 lead. The Bullets found their range, though, making their next three shots, two from the three-point arc, to reclaim the lead for good.

Sophomore Meghan Courtney led all scorers with 15 points, while junior Lacie Smith nearly notched her third straight double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds. Junior Stephanie Coluccini pulled down a game-high 11 boards.

Senior Gwen Doyle made two three-pointers to extend her consecutive-game streak to 49, but junior Kristen Piscadlo, despite scoring 10 points, had her streak end at 28.

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