Conferences: Stevens Institute of Technology will join the Empire 8, beginning with competition in field hockey in fall 2006 and in all other sports in fall 2007. The school, currently a member of the Skyline Conference, will join eight current full members of the Empire 8. “The addition of Stevens Institute to the Empire 8 is an exciting development,” said Charles M. Edmondson, president of Alfred University and of the conference. “Not only does Stevens share our conference philosophy of athletics as a learning experience for students, it also adds to our already strong reputation for academic excellence.” Added conference Commissioner Chuck Mitrano, “They have an outstanding academic profile and field highly successful athletics programs. They are a perfect fit and we are proud to have them as part of our family.” The school will compete in all of the 22 sports sponsored by the Empire 8 except football. Conference officials said they hope to eventually add a 10th full member.
Sports sponsorship: George Fox University will launch a women’s golf program this fall to give the institution its 14th intercollegiate sport and eighth women’s program. The Bruins’ home course will be Chehalem Glen Golf Course in Newberg, Oregon, which opened last summer. “Intercollegiate competition is a valuable component of the education of our student-athletes,” said David Brandt, university president. “The availability of an outstanding new golf course and the opportunity to add an excellent coach soon makes this a great addition to our intercollegiate athletics program.” With the move, all nine members of the Northwest Conference now sponsor women’s golf, and George Fox officials also expect to establish a men’s program at an undetermined time. Three days after announcing the founding of the women’s team, the university also announced receipt of a $4,000 donation by the Brian Henninger Foundation to support women’s golf. Henninger, a two-time PGA tour winner who lives in nearby Wilsonville, Oregon, and played collegiately at the University of Southern California, supports a variety of programs benefiting youth and others through the foundation. “We hope to build a program that will represent the university well,” said George Fox Athletics Director Craig Taylor, “and gifts such as this are, and will continue to be, an important component of any success we might have in the future.” ... The University of Minnesota, Morris, will add men’s soccer this fall, in response to increased interest in the sport among youth in the state, according to a school official. “Youth and high school soccer programs are thriving across Minnesota and the Midwest,” said Sandy Olson-Loy, the university’s vice chancellor for student affairs. “With this high interest, we want to expand our UMM soccer tradition for men who wish to have a collegiate varsity soccer experience.’ Minnesota-Morris, which currently sponsors women’s soccer, will be the only public institution in the state sponsoring soccer for men in Division III and will compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. The school is reclassifying from Division II to Division III, with active membership scheduled to begin in 2008-09.
Facilities: Allegheny College plans to modernize its Robertson Athletic Complex in a renovation project beginning this spring. The project includes a new eight-lane track, synthetic playing surface, scoreboard and lights. The field, used by the school’s football and lacrosse teams, will be named in honor of Frank Fuhrer, a Pittsburgh businessman and former college trustee who was a four-sport standout at Allegheny in the 1940s. The project is being funded by Fuhrer’s lead gift of $1 million and by other donations from school alumni and friends. “Frank Fuhrer’s inspiring generosity will transform our athletics facilities and the experiences of our students,” said Allegheny President Richard Cook. The work is expected to be completed by August 1, in time for the school’s home football opener September 16 against Hiram College.
Milestones: Jan Forsty became only the 10th Division III coach to win 500 games in softball with a March 19 victory by Bethany College (West Virginia) over Pennsylvania State University Erie, the Behrend College. Forsty’s 19-year coaching record includes 80 victories during a five-year stint at Wheeling Jesuit University. “I am real happy to get 500,” she said. “Once I realized it was within reach, I really wanted to get there. Now that I’ve accomplished this, I just want to stay in the game as long as my desire to win and compete remains.” ... Kelley Anderson collected her 200th coaching victory in softball with Transylvania University’s March 5 win over Centre College. Anderson, who is in her ninth season at the school, has coached the Pioneers to three Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season titles in the last four years ... Lew Jenkins earned his 200th victory in baseball when St. Mary’s College of Maryland defeated Messiah College March 4. He is in his 12th season at the school.
Miscellaneous: Robin Sheppard, associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator at Trinity College (Connecticut), recently was honored by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association with its Diane Geppi-Aikens Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring her service to the collegiate game. Sheppard, former field hockey and women’s lacrosse coach at the school, remains ranked among the top 15 coaches in career victories in women’s lacrosse, six years after retiring from coaching to devote full time to athletics administration ... A recent episode of ESPN’s Outside the Lines program featured two teams that qualified for the Division III Men’s Basketball Championship field: Illinois Wesleyan University, which advanced to the semifinals for the fourth time in 11 years, and Lincoln University (Pennsylvania), making its first appearance behind high-scoring senior guard Kyle Myrick (he finished the regular season with a 62-point game against Pennsylvania State University, Abington). The program featured interviews at the two schools’ campuses with players and coaches and coverage of the teams’ games in the tournament, in which Lincoln won two games before it was eliminated on a late three-pointer by eventual champion Virginia Wesleyan College’s Ton Ton Balenga. The program also featured Illinois Wesleyan’s upset of top-ranked Lawrence University and advancement to the semifinals, where the Titans also fell to Virginia Wesleyan.
—Compiled by Jack Copeland
