The Muhlenberg track and field teams finished up the second day of the Centennial Conference Indoor Championships with a sweep of the high jump and more rewriting of the record books by junior Christopher Short.

The Mule men ended up fifth with 80 points, the most points they scored at the CC indoor meet since 2012. The women came in sixth with 60 points, improving their place by one for the second straight year and scoring their most points since 2020.

Short, who broke four school records during the indoor season, broke one of his own records and set two meet records, although one was only temporary.

Short won the gold medal - the first of his career in an open event - in the 400 meters, setting a meet record of 48.76 seconds. He broke the previous mark of 49.43, set by recent Muhlenberg College Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Peter Rice '12 in his senior season.

In the 200 meters, Short won the seventh heat, edging out an Ursinus runner in the final stretch, breaking his own school record of 22.14 and the meet record of 22.03 with a clocking of 21.93. In the eighth heat, however, two other runners topped Short's time, and he took the bronze.

Senior Avery McNulty won her fourth career gold medal in the high jump, clearing 5-2½. It was only the second time competing in the high jump this winter for McNulty, who also plays basketball. In five career CC meets, she has four golds and a silver in the high jump.

Freshman Kadon Harris became the fifth different indoor high jump champion in the history of the men's program, leading a 1-2-4 Muhlenberg finish by clearing 6-2 on his first attempt. Sophomore Sean McNeil was successful on his second try at 6-2, tying for second and winning his second silver medal of the meet. Junior Jaden Snow placed fourth at 6-0.

pictured above, left to right: Harris, McNulty, Short

Short, Harris, and juniors Sultan Almosbeh and Raam Ravishankar combined to win a silver medal in the 4x400-meter relay.

Junior Maya Richwine took silver in the 60-meter hurdles, earning her fifth career CC medal. Senior Niki Matthews came in fifth in the same event. 

The shot putters on both teams had an extraordinary day, with three men and two women reaching the finals and setting personal bests. 

For the men, sophomore Dami Shote threw 46-11, landing at seventh on the all-time performance list and placing fourth. He topped his previous personal best of 44-3¼ by more than two feet. Freshman Matthew Bertolino (fifth place, 41-2¼ to 44-6¼) and sophomore CJ Mersky (ninth place, 41-7¼ to 42-9½) also recorded huge PRs.

Freshman Sophia Xenakis placed seventh at 36-11¾, 11 inches than her previous best and good for fourth on the Mules' all-time list. And just as she did in the weight throw, sophomore Kelly Stephen finished in ninth place, setting a personal best of 36-0.

Other meet highlights:
• Ravishankar placed seventh in the 800 with an indoor personal best of 1:56.88, just five hundredths of a second from 10th on the Muhlenberg performance list. 

• Freshman Charlie Vanecek placed sixth in both the long jump and the heptathlon.

• Matthews (seventh) joined senior Shira Gamson (fifth) as a placewinner in the long jump. Gamson placed in the top five in three events in the meet.

complete results

Men's Team Scores
1. Johns Hopkins 188
2. Ursinus 127
3. Dickinson 104
4. Haverford 100
5. MUHLENBERG 80
6. Gettysburg 66
7. Swarthmore 38
8. Franklin & Marshall 29
9. McDaniel 8

Muhlenberg Placewinners
200m: 3. Christopher Short, 21.93 (school record)
400m: 1. Christopher Short, 48.76 (meet record)
800m: 7. Raam Ravishankar, 1:56.88
4x200m: 5. Isaac Schaffer-Neitz, Kadon Harris, James Williams, Christopher Short, 1:31.97
4x400m: 2. Kadon Harris, Sultan Almosbeh, Raam Ravishankar, Christopher Short, 3:25.80
4x800m: 7. Alex Stefaniak, TJ Cook Jr., Andrew Smolowitz, Niklas Haraldsson, 8:59.07
DMR: 7. Niklas Haraldsson, Sultan Almosbeh, Andrew Smolowitz, Raam Ravishankar, 10:53.62
High jump: 1. Kadon Harris, 6-2; 2t. Sean McNeil, 6-2; 4. Jaden Snow, 6-0 
Long jump: 6. Charlie Vanecek, 21-0¾; 8. Michael Bugler, 20-5
Triple jump: 2. Sean McNeil, 46-9½
Shot put: 4. Dami Shote, 46-11; 5. Matthew Bertolino, 44-6¼
Heptathlon: 6. Charlie Vanecek, 3520

Women's Team Scores
1. Johns Hopkins 277
2. Ursinus 108.5
3. Franklin & Marshall 66
4. Dickinson 56
5. Haverford 54
6. MUHLENBERG 50
7. Gettysburg 44
8. Swarthmore 43.5
9. McDaniel 23.5
10. Bryn Mawr 17.5

Muhlenberg Placewinners
200m: 6. Maya Richwine, 26.23
60m hurdles: 2. Maya Richwine, 9.01 (8.87q); 5. Niki Matthews, 9.44 (9.32q)
4x200m: 4. Lauren Siesky, Niki Matthews, Shira Gamson, Maya Richwine, 1:47.59 (school record)
4x400m: 8. Lauren Siesky, Katie Shepard, Isabelle Hoffman, Ella Borello, 4:33.49
4x800m: 7. Ella Borello, Isabelle Hoffman, Katie Shepard, Julia Tassone, 10:50.15
High jump: 1. Avery McNulty, 5-2½
Long jump: 5. Shira Gamson, 16-4½; 7. Niki Matthews, 16-3
Triple jump: 2. Shira Gamson, 35-7¼; 8. Molly Curtis, 33-2½
Shot put: 7. Sophia Xenakis, 36-11¾