With not only the year 2025 coming to an end, but also the first quarter century of the 2000s, we thought it would be appropriate to look back at the best Muhlenberg teams of the last 25 years.
The top 25 teams of 2000-2025 will be presented in three installments, and at the end fans will have the opportunity to vote for the top team of the quarter century!
Here's how we came up with the list:
• We excluded women's wrestling, which has only one complete season under its belt. We expect that there will be plenty of great women's wrestling teams to choose from in 2050 when we do the half-century review!
• We combined the indoor and outdoor track and field teams into one sport.
• That leaves 20 sports, each of which got one of its teams on the list from 6-25.
• Five sports were given a second team on the list, and it is from those five that fans will vote for the top Mule team of the quarter century.
Without further ado, then, here are teams 25 through 16:
25 Women's Cross Country 2011
Just two years after placing 25th at the NCAA Mideast Regional, the Mules jumped up to seventh, posting their highest finish ever. They came in fourth at the snowy Centennial Conference Championships, matching their best finish ever.
24 Men's Basketball 2001-02
The Mules finished with a record of 19-6, winning the Centennial Conference East Division title and tournaments in Ohio and California along the way. The 19 wins were the most by a Muhlenberg team in 16 years, and the six losses remain tied for the fewest since 1948.
23 Men's Tennis 2000
The Mules went 10-4, reaching double digits in wins for the first time in 59 years, and finished in sole possession of second place in the Centennial Conference for the only time in program history. In its final match, Muhlenberg played Washington College, who at that time had never lost a CC match, in the de facto CC title contest.
22 Women's Track and Field 2013
After finishing seventh at the Centennial Conference Championships both indoors and outdoors in both 2011 and 2012, Muhlenberg showed the biggest single-season improvement in program history, tying for second indoors and placing third (just a half-point out of second) outdoors. For the first time ever, the Mules had two different athletes earn All-America honors in the same year.
21 Men's Lacrosse 2024
Don't let the final record of 10-8 fool you: Muhlenberg was 3-7 at one point before ending the regular season with seven straight wins to finish with its best Centennial Conference record ever (6-2). The Mules, who earned an NCAA regional ranking and votes in the national poll, were the third seed in the CC playoffs and lost by one goal to eighth-ranked Dickinson in the semifinals.
20 Baseball 2002
The fourth seed in the Centennial Conference playoffs, Muhlenberg advanced to the championship series by winning at third-seeded Ursinus (the program's first postseason win in 22 years) and then defeating second-seeded Franklin & Marshall on an extra-inning home run. In the final, the Mules lost two games to eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins by a total of three runs, ending their winningest season ever with a record of 23-17.
19 Men's Track and Field 2003
Just five years after finishing last at the Centennial Conference indoor and outdoor meets, the Mules took the runner-up spot in both meets, claiming three of the four Most Outstanding Performer awards. Muhlenberg had NCAA qualifiers in five events, still a program record, and came home from the national meets with three All-America performances.
18 Women's Golf 2007
Muhlenberg won its second Centennial Conference championship, finishing 30 strokes ahead of five-time defending champion McDaniel. The Mules' total score of 724 was the second-lowest in CC history at the time and broke the school record for a two-day tournament by 42 strokes.
17 Women's Lacrosse 2017
One of the most exciting wins in any sport during the first quarter of the 21st century was the Mules' 8-7 win against Gettysburg, then ranked first in Division III and the eventual national champion. It was part of a season that saw Muhlenberg go 13-4, tying the school record for wins in a season, and earn both its first national ranking and its first NCAA regional ranking.
16 Volleyball 2014
Muhlenberg won 20 of its first 22 matches, getting to 20 wins faster than any team in College athletic history since the 1945 men's basketball team started 20-1. The Mules earned votes in the national poll for the first time ever and would go on to finish with a 25-8 record. They came the closest they ever have to winning a Centennial Conference championship, taking Franklin & Marshall to five sets in the final.
Coming tomorrow ... teams 15-6!
