HANCOCK — Finlandia University still hopes to salvage a winter sports season and has scheduled a meeting with school officials during the first week of January to try to decide on a scheduling strategy.

In the meantime, officials will work on gathering information related to the coronavirus pandemic that can help make these decisions, according to a Friday sports news release from the Hancock school.

An important part of the info will be the latest regional, local, NCAA and conference recommendations and guidelines, Finlandia said.

“With the landscape of COVID-19 constantly changing, we need to wait as long as possible to give our student-athletes an opportunity to compete,” Lions athletic director Curtis Wittenberg said. “While we remain hopeful, we simultaneously share in the disappointment that our student-athletes feel in having championships canceled and seasons cut short.”

The university said it hopes to conduct men’s and women’s programs in both basketball and hockey that wouldn’t begin before Feb. 5. Officials still think that would allow seasons with at least a limited number of contests.

The Coast to Coast Athletic Conference, a new league for Finlandia this year for men’s and women’s basketball, has already announced that there will not be any conference play or conference championships for the winter season.

The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association in that sports continues to work on putting together a limited schedule and championship.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.