Muhlenberg to Induct One Team, Five Individuals into the Hall of Fame
Muhlenberg College will induct one team and five athletes into its Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday.Tuesday, September 27, 2011 09:58 AM
The team is the 1991 softball team, one of the greatest women's teams in the College's athletic history. Muhlenberg compiled a record of 26-9, setting a school record for wins that has been topped only once in any sport since. Along the way the Mules reeled off 20 consecutive wins, which still stands as the College record for all sports.
During the season, Muhlenberg was ranked as high as No. 5 in Division III, and the Mules capped the tremendous year by defeating Scranton 1-0 to win the Middle Atlantic Conference championship. The team earned a bid to the Central Regional of the NCAA Tournament, where it split four games.
The starting third baseman on that team, Shenon Hottenstein '91, is one of the five individual inductees. The others are Jason Brader '99, Katrina Beck '01, John Brodowski '05 and Amy Schmidt '06.
Hottenstein was a four-year letterwinner in both softball and field hockey and started on three MAC championship teams. In softball, she was a career .304 hitter and was named to the All-MAC Southeast first team and All-Central Region team in both 1990 and 1991. She graduated holding the school records for career doubles, extra-base hits and RBI.
In field hockey, Hottenstein was named to the All-MAC Northeast first team as a back in 1990. She was a starter on the program's only MAC championship and NCAA Tournament team in 1989.
Brader played only two years at Muhlenberg but made quite an impact on the football program. He was the first Mule running back with two 1,000-yard seasons and broke the school rushing record with 2,684 yards in only 20 games. An All-Centennial Conference first-team selection both years, Brader averaged 4.9 yards per carry and scored 19 touchdowns. He was the 1997 ECAC South rookie of the year.
Beck reached new heights as a high jumper on the track and field team. She won the Centennial Conference high jump title seven times, becoming the first athlete in league history to capture the same indoor event all four years. The first female in program history to qualify for NCAA Championships, Beck holds the school record in the indoor high jump and shares the conference record in the outdoor high jump.
Brodowski displayed his outstanding athletic ability as a decathlete for the track and field team. He was a three-time NCAA qualifier in the decathlon and earned All-America honors by finishing fourth as a senior. Twice, he was named Most Outstanding Performer for field events at the Centennial Conference Championships, and he graduated holding nine school records; his marks in the high hurdles (indoors and outdoors), long jump (indoors and outdoors), pentathlon and decathlon still stand. Brodowski won 20 career CC medals, including six golds.
Schmidt was the top women's tennis player in school history, compiling a career record of 114-26, including a 65-7 singles mark. A two-time All-American and Centennial Conference player of the year, she was invited to the NCAA Tournament in both 2005 and 2006, reaching the national semifinals in the latter year. Schmidt was a seven-time All-CC first-team selection (four times for singles, three for doubles).
An NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient, Schmidt also was a standout on the soccer field, earning All-CC second-team honors two straight years. She had career totals of nine goals, six assists and 24 points as a midfielder.
