The group of schools informally referred to as the Interstate 8 have chosen a name of their own. Catholic, Drew, Goucher, Juniata, Moravian, Susquehanna and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy will be known as the Landmark Conference when league play begins in the fall of 2007.

The conference's name was announced Friday by Thomas Kepple, chair of the executive committee of the Landmark Conference and president of Juniata, at an inaugural meeting of athletic directors and coaches June 8-9 in Bethlehem.

Elsewhere in the region, the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference announced plans to admit Notre Dame (Md.) and Centenary as members in 2007-08.

The most literal inspiration for the Landmark Conference's name, according to a league release, comes from the well-known physical landmarks of the Mid-Atlantic region encompassed by the conference. The name also reflects the significance of the institutions' decision to align themselves with other colleges and universities of similar size, educational philosophies, and high academic standards.

The members of the Landmark Conference will compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, field hockey, indoor and outdoor track and field, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, and volleyball.

An eighth member institution and a commissioner are expected to be announced by the end of the summer.

In addition to competing on the playing field, members of the new conference will explore ways to develop and expand curricular and co-curricular relationships among their faculty members, administrators, coaches, and students.

Catholic will continue to play football in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and effective 2007, Susquehanna will play football in the Liberty League and Moravian and Juniata in the Centennial.

The dominoes continue to fall in the region. Since the formation of the league, the Capital Athletic Conference (which lost Catholic and Goucher) has added Hood, Villa Julie and Wesley. The Middle Atlantic Conference (which lost Drew, Juniata, Moravian and Susquehanna) has added Arcadia and Manhattanville. The Skyline lost Manhattanville, Merchant Marine and Stevens earlier and today lost Centenary to the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference. The PAC lost Arcadia and Wesley and is adding Centenary and Notre Dame (Md.).