FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Athletes, coaches and fans of the Finlandia Lions were dealt a tough blow Wednesday when the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference announced the cancellation of all of its conference-scheduled competitions this season, which includes conference championships for the fall and winter seasons due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a press release, the conference said the decision was finalized by the C2C Board of Directors and will affect all fall and winter sports including men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, and men’s and women’s track and field.

The release also said the decision was endorsed by the conference’s athletic administrators and was made with the consideration for the well-being of each campus community.

“I can only imagine how devastated our student-athletes will be at losing these opportunities,” Finlandia athletic director Curtis Wittenberg said. “They have put a lot of time and effort in getting ready to compete for Finlandia. While it is disappointing, the health and safety of our campus is first and foremost for us. We continue to work on a way for our winter sports to compete in a non-conference schedule come January.”

The C2C also said in its release that it continues to support individual institutions if they are able to safely schedule competition within their own regional areas, while relying on local and state guidance.

Other teams in the 11-team C2C include University of California-Santa Cruz, Christopher Newport (Va.), University of Mary Washington (Va.), Mills College (Calif.), Mount Mary (Wis.), Pine Manor College (Mass.), Pratt Institute (N.Y.), St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Salisbury (Md.) and Southern Virginia.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.