Facilities: New Jersey City University honored a former basketball player at the institution who currently chairs its board of trustees with the recent naming of the John J. Moore Athletic and Fitness Center. Moore, a trustee of the institution since 1982, has worked during his tenure to increase resources and improve facilities for athletics. He played basketball at the school from 1952 to 1956, serving as team captain during his last two years. After graduation, he attended New York Law School and the New York University School of Law, and today is a partner in the law firm of Barry, McTiernan & Moore. Moore was inducted into New Jersey City's athletics hall of fame in 1989.

Sports sponsorship: Virginia Wesleyan College is sponsoring men's and women's track and field beginning this year, boosting its total of varsity sports to 19. The school, which has sponsored cross country since 1998, will enter the first season of track and field competition with nine men and 14 women student-athletes. "Right now, the program is limited, with only track events, but our plan is to have a track facility in place in the near future so we can get a full-fledged program going," said Sonny Travis, Virginia Wesleyan athletics director, who credited cross country coach Mat Littleton for his work toward establishing the program. "We've taken some big strides forward in strengthening our cross country program, and the addition of track is a huge step forward," Littleton said. "While track is a multifaceted sport and will provide new athletics opportunities for a large number of athletes, the distance events in track will help enormously in the development of the cross country program." The action marks the second time in three years and ninth time in 15 years that the school has added sports ... Macalester College announced December 14 that it is canceling the remainder of its 2004-05 women's basketball schedule. "Out of concern for safety and the well-being of these players, we are canceling the season," said Athletics Director Irv Cross, noting that the team was competing with seven players on its roster. "We have full intentions to maintain our women's basketball program and return to competition in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference." The team had compiled a 0-6 record at the time of the decision. The school announced that first-year coach Jeannine Ruh will continue in the position and rebuild the team for next year.

Conferences: The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has admitted three schools as affiliate members in women's gymnastics, effective in 2004-05. The addition of Gustavus Adolphus College, Hamline University and Winona State University boosts to eight the number of gymnastics teams in the league. "Each of these institutions has a strong tradition in women's gymnastics, which will add excitement and interest to what already is a very competitive conference," said Gary Karner, WIAC commissioner. "The addition of Gustavus Adolphus, Hamline and Winona State to the WIAC is viewed by many in the gymnastics community as a positive step toward retaining women's gymnastics as a viable intercollegiate sport in the upper Midwest." Other teams competing in the league are based at the University of Wisconsin campuses at Eau Claire, La Crosse, Oshkosh and Whitewater and the University of Wisconsin, Stout.

Milestones: Elizabethtown College's Yvonne Kaufman became the second coach in Division III women's basketball history and first woman coach to collect 600 career victories when her Blue Jays defeated Immaculata University, 91-38, December 8. Kauffman, who is in her 35th season at the school, improved her record to 600-229 entering the holiday break. Elizabethtown won Division III titles in 1982 and 1989 under Kaufman's tutelage and appeared in 13 Division III tournaments, and also has claimed eight conference crowns. She also has coached women's tennis at the school, winning 108 matches from 1970 to 1983, and field hockey, collecting 346 victories from 1967 to 1983 and 1985 through 2000. Kaufman joins Phillip Kahler of St. John Fisher as 600-game winners ... Bud Lewis and his men's soccer team at Wilmington College (Ohio) celebrated his 400th coaching victory November 20 by capturing the Ohio Athletic Conference postseason tournament title and qualifying for the Division III Men's Soccer Championship. The Quakers defeated John Carroll University, 2-0, in the tourney final to give Lewis the milestone victory in his 30th season at the school. Wilmington (Ohio), a four-time NCAA tournament qualifier, qualified for a Division III championship berth for the first time since 2001 ... Sharon Sexton of Otterbein College recorded her 100th victory in women's volleyball when her squad defeated Ohio Wesleyan University October 21.

-- Compiled by Jack Copeland