HARROGATE, Tenn. — The Lady Railsplitters' secret formula isn't the kind that's tucked away.
 
Anyone that watches the Lincoln Memorial University women's bowling team gets a sense of how the third-year program uses not only its talent, but also each personality to form a strong culture that makes LMU so lethal.
 
"We do a lot of different types of training, and as long as everyone works their hardest everyday," LMU Director of Bowling Joseph Slowinski said, "we are going to have a great season. That's exciting every year, but more importantly we are going to represent LMU and ourselves in a manner that other schools notice.
 
"To me, that's what makes me the most proud — when parents from other schools mention how the team dynamic is and they like our energy and how we do things. That says a lot about our program culture."
 
It's a pretty simple recipe that Slowinski stirs up by recruiting first-class ladies to represent the university followed with laying out his expectations, and then he allows his bowlers to explain the rest in their preparation and performance.
 
So far in just two seasons, so good. And the crazy part is, it's just the beginning.
 
"We pride ourselves on a 'no divas' mentality,'" Slowinski said. "We don't want divas in our program. We want to focus on selfless behavior — what's best for the program, what's best for the team and not solely one's self. That's very important. I think we've been blessed with the people who have come here and chosen LMU and the people that we are bringing in the near future.
 
"They are very humble and they are hard-working and that's a dangerous combination. If you are humble, hungry and willing to be disciplined both in the mind and body in regard to training, you are going to lead yourself and the team to a higher level than those who just take things for granted."
 
The program culture has evolved through all 11 bowlers, the diversity each brings and the ability to look to the woman to their left or right before themselves. That part is the true ingredient to the secret formula paired with, of course, tons of talent, which paced the Lady Railsplitters to their first East Coast Conference title and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth a year ago.
 
Those achievements put instant expectations on LMU this upcoming season, which starts Friday and goes until Sunday at the Bearcat Classic in Fairview Heights, Ill.
 
The Lady Railsplitters were tabbed a new-program best No. 14 and No. 2 in the National Tenpin Coaches Association overall preseason poll and DII/DIII poll, respectively.
 
LMU, who received nine out of 13 first-place votes as the ECC preseason favorite to repeat as champions, will come off its historic season with an immediate test in this tournament which features four of the top five teams in the nation.
 
Those teams being No. 1 and defending national champion Vanderbilt, No. 2, host team and top DII bowling institution McKendree, No. 3 Nebraska and No. 5 Arkansas State. The teams outside the top-5 impress too, as No. 11 NC&T, No. 18 Central Missouri, No. 21 Wisconsin Whitewater and No. 22 Maryville will be in attendance.
 
The No. 14-ranked Lady Railsplitters will bring eight bowlers to represent themselves in the five-game baker on Friday, five traditional team games Saturday and the three best-of-seven baker matches Sunday.
 
LMU's core starts with a trio of sophomores— Justine Brookover, Tyra Sanchez and Christine Hansen — who came to form a season ago.
 
Brookover, the reigning NTCA DII/DIII Rookie of the Year and ECC Preseason Bowler of the Year favorite, heads the sophomore class after her monstrous rookie campaign. 
 
The Parkersburg, W. Va., native finished her freshman season ranked in the top‐50 across the NCAA in traditional frame average, overall frame average, baker frame average and filled-frame percentage. Brookover also sat among the top‐five of the ECC in numerous statistical categories and led the league with the lowest-split-leave percentage of 6.9 percent. 
 
Brookover will be complimented by Hawaiian native Sanchez, who like Brookover showed out at the U20 Team USA Trials this past summer, and Danish National Hansen.
 
Hansen, like her fellow classmates, had a busy summer, where she bowled in the European Women's Championship in Belgium and finished in 35th place of 132 women competitors. 
 
"I have high expectations, obviously for our three sophomores who all had outstanding freshman seasons," Slowinski said. "I have big expectations for them to continue that evolution.We are starting to see things click now in training."
 
Joining the force of the powerful top three Lady Railsplitters is freshman Haley Youker. The Minoa, N.Y., native brings a dynamic in which the LMU women's bowling program hasn't had: a lefty.
 
Youker, like the sophomore trio, had a productive summer in which she saw herself continue to evolve on the lanes. Slowinski is rather pumped of the freshman addition because she allows the Lady Railsplitters to add yet another ingredient to their secret formula.
 
"I think Haley Youker comes in with a storied past in a good way and a good, strong résumé – fourth at a major national tournament this past summer," he said. "She has a history of performing at a very high level. I expect once she gets settles down she'll be a major contributor. It's our first left-hander on the women's team and that opens up a whole lot of opportunities because the left side there is less play there. If a left-hander can get locked in, a good quality left-hander like she is, we will be able to exploit a lot of scoring opportunities and won't have to transition and move as much.
 
"It's not just adding a quality player; it's also a quality lefty. When she matches up, she's going to, I think, light up in a major way and have an outstanding season. She's worked really hard. She's very open-minded and very coachable so we've made some improvements trying to increase the fluidity in the approach and things are coming together very nicely now. She's very comfortable."
 
Marisol Dodson and Mary-Kate Kersting, who have been with Slowinski since the very beginning, secured the next two slots as juniors. The pair's elevation from their freshmen season to now has been noticeable as they've used increased training to up their quality and transform as potential threats.
 
"They struck a lot more and had a lot more baker doubles last year, so their frame average increased significantly," Slowinski said. "They both are throwing the ball very well in practice. We've seen them reach their highest level so far in the preseason, so I think they are ready to take that next step. If we can have five or six people at higher levels, that means we are going to win more matches against anybody. I'm looking at those two."
 
The next is Heather Trapp, the program's first-ever signee, who is considered the mom of the family with the charisma every program needs within its unit. The junior from Chester, Va., not only has the get-me-up trait, but has worked tirelessly to enhance her performance on the lanes.
 
"She's been working very, very hard on her game," Slowinski said. "We just made a fit change, which is certainly leading to an improved release off of the hand so I'm expecting as she gets comfortable with that her performance level will increase."
 
The last piece of the eight-woman opening weekend roster is Hawiaan Chelsea Nakaoka. Slowinski believes his sophomore is one toss away from a breakthrough that would give the program yet another 'It' factor.
 
Whether it's Nakoaka on this trip or one of the other seven women, or maybe Kathleen Elder, Sabrina Fautheree or Hailie Savoie joining on the next tournament weekend, LMU is itching to have every player poised to step up if one falls down.
 
And if the Lady Railsplitters are able to do that, their secret formula just got a lot sweeter.
 
"We need to perform at a high level with more people and when they aren't performing at their best, our substitutes can come in and fill that and perform at a higher level than they have ever performed before," Slowinski said. "That's our expectation this season. As we move forward through the season, we want that level of consistency at the high level to increase, including our best players. I don't want the burden of expectation to hamper us so we will also be engaging in a higher level of sport psychology this season.

"As we improve and have higher expectations, sometimes that can be mentally crippling and we don't want that to be the case. We want that to be fresh, exciting and look at it as an opportunity to compete at the highest level."