A seventh men’s basketball coach joined Division III’s 600-victory club when Colby’s Dick Whitmore claimed the milestone victory in the Mules’ recent New England Small College Athletic Conference opener.

Whitmore, who claimed the win over his alma mater, Bowdoin, was mobbed by team members and awarded the game ball after Saturday’s victory.

He becomes the seventh Division III men’s coach to win 600 games and the 52nd men’s coach in all NCAA divisions.

“When I knew that we were going to win in the closing moments, I wasn’t thinking that it was Bowdoin and feeling good about that,” Whitmore said. “It was more the realization of 600 wins and all the thoughts about the teams I’ve had over the years.”

Whitmore is in his 38th year at Colby, where his teams have won 65 percent of the games he has coached.

Women’s coaches record milestone wins

Joining Whitmore in claiming recent milestone wins was a quartet of women’s basketball coaches, led by Moravian’s Mary Beth Spirk, who picked up victory No. 400 as the nationally ranked Greyhounds beat Susquehanna January 10. The 22-year head coach is the 30th Division III mentor to reach that mark and is among 24 active coaches with 400 wins.

Brian Morehouse claimed his 300th victory in Hope’s victory last Saturday over Olivet. Morehouse, who led the program to a Division III title in 2006, needed only 108 games to step up from the 200-victory plateau during his 13th season at the school.

TCNJ’s Dawn Henderson picked up her 300th victory at the school and her 200th New Jersey Athletic Conference win Saturday in the Lions’ victory over Rutgers-Newark. It was her 346th overall victory in a 20-year coaching career.

Also Saturday, Kim Rybczyk collected her 200th coaching victory when Western Connecticut State downed Southern Maine. She is in her seventh season at the school.