Facilities: Bates College will begin construction on three new outdoor athletics facilities this spring: an outdoor track and field, a softball field and a synthetic-turf, lighted field, which will be used for field hockey and also as a multipurpose field. When completed, the eight-lane bi-radial track -- which also has a 10-lane straightaway, similar to those used in European track designs -- will permit Bates to host outdoor track events for the first time since 1976. The track design also allows for a grass soccer field in the infield. The new softball facility will include permanent, enclosed dugouts and a portable outfield fence, permitting other sports to use the space during softball's off-season ... Shenandoah University broke ground recently for its new $2.5 million athletics fieldhouse. The 20,000-square-foot facility will include a large weight room, athletic training room, meeting rooms, locker rooms and offices for the staffs of football, men's and women's lacrosse and field hockey. Shenandoah added football for the 2000-01 season, and it will compete in varsity field hockey for the first time in 2001. In the next few months, the university also will begin construction on a 2,500-seat stadium that will be home field for football, men's and women's lacrosse, and field hockey... State University College at Oneonta recently announced a $3.5 million grant from New York state that will be used to construct and upgrade athletics fields on campus. The funds will permit an upgrade to the existing soccer facility as well as construction of a new, multipurpose all-weather track and an artificial-turf field with lights. The multipurpose field will be used for field hockey and men's and women's lacrosse. The soccer field, which will be home to the women's program as well as to the men's Division I program, will have natural turf and a sophisticated irrigation and drainage system. The project is scheduled for completion in September.

Conferences: The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) has announced the addition of an affiliate membership category. It also welcomed the State University of New York at Cortland as its first affiliate member. Cortland State's membership in football will take effect in fall 2000. Affiliate members must apply to the NJAC on a sport-by-sport basis. Cortland State's admission marks the first expansion of the NJAC since its inception in 1985. Conference officials report that the addition of Cortland State will ensure the conference automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III Football Championship in 2000 ... The 11 presidents of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) recently issued a joint statement against abusive drinking. The 11 institutions in the conference have increased their efforts to educate students about responsible choices, and they also have launched campaigns to alert students to the dangers associated with alcohol abuse. All institutions in the conference also have encouraged their students to sponsor alcohol-free social programs. "Students who elect to attend schools in this conference should understand that these campuses take strong stands against abusive drinking and its negative side effects," said John M. McCardell Jr., president of Middlebury College. "Those who abuse alcohol are addressed with a combination of discipline and education on each of these campuses."

Milestones: Mike Durbin, College of St. Benedict, 300 victories in women's basketball ... Bosko Djurickovic, Carthage College, 250 victories in men's basketball ... Brenna Kelly, Illinois College, 200 victories in women's volleyball ... Bob Bessoir, University of Scranton men's basketball coach, and Mike Strong, the Scranton women's basketball coach, recently tallied a combined 1,000 victories with wins over Drew University. Bessoir has 529 career wins, while Strong has 471.

Miscellaneous: Keene State College recently unveiled a new logo, designed by Joe Tolman, a 1994 Keene State graduate and former Owls baseball player ... Korey Coon, a senior guard at Illinois Wesleyan University, set an NCAA Division III record for consecutive free throws made with 70. Coon made 29 consecutive free throws last season, and he made 41 consecutive free throws this season before his streak was broken.