For the second half of the season, the Muhlenberg field hockey team always heard Kayleigh Thies’ voice before its home games.

It’s not that the sophomore spoke up in the pregame meetings – although the all-conference forward is one of the team’s leaders on the field. The Mules heard their teammate in a recorded version of the national anthem.

Even though she’s never had a voice lesson, Thies is a veteran singer. She has been involved in musical theater and singing with her father’s band Doghouse since she was 5. Thies traveled all over her home state of New Jersey performing with the Paper Mill Playhouse and says she has been in more than 50 musicals, with roles ranging from Elphaba in Wicked to a Bad Girl in Suessical to Jack’s mother in Into the Woods.

Thies stopped doing musicals when she was a sophomore in high school so she could devote more time to field hockey and lacrosse, but she took her talents to a new medium when she posted a video for a song she wrote on YouTube.

“It got a lot of hits in a short period of time, so my Mom said I should record some popular songs,” she said.

Thies’ YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/kthiesx3lax) now features her covers of songs by artists such as Lady Gaga, Adele, Jason Mraz and Christina Perri.

One of the many visitors to the channel was Muhlenberg field hockey coach Megan Eddinger.

“Coach saw my videos, and I’m always singing and being goofy at practice, so she asked me if I wanted to sing the anthem,” said Thies, who sung it at her high school basketball games. Being on the field with her teammates for pregame and lineup introductions was important to Thies, so rather than sing it live each time, she recorded the national anthem in one of the Life Sports Center classrooms.

On the second take, she wrapped up the final version (click here to listen), which made its debut before the Mules’ game against Washington College on October 6 – her 20^th birthday.

“It was kind of motivating,” said Thies of hearing her recording before a game for the first time. “I got to show people that I have this talent and I also play sports. Some people who sing, that’s all they do. It was a way for me to show that I have a broad spectrum of things that I do.

“And it also pumped a lot of my teammates up.”

So what’s next for Thies? A tryout for American Idol, X-Factor or The Voice? Going from Team Mule to Team Cee Lo?

“People always tell me I should try out,” she said. “A lot of the auditions are in August, and that’s when field hockey starts. So maybe after college.”

Or maybe she’ll just keep singing for fun. “I don’t know if I could do it as a career,” said Thies. “Right now it’s just a stress reliever for me.”