HARROGATE, Tenn. - Lincoln Memorial University's Athletics Director Don Grigsby has chosen Nate Garcia as the new Director of Bowling, announced Wednesday afternoon.

Coach Garcia, a two-time national champion bowler, arrives in Harrogate after serving as the coach at Life University. Garcia will become the third director of bowling in LMU history.

"I am super excited to join the LMU family. I first want to thank Mr. Grigsby for taking a chance and believing in a young, aspiring coach. The support from the staff at LMU is truly amazing," Garcia said. "This university is truly a family and I'm super excited to work alongside some great coaches and faculty." 

During Coach Garcia's time at Life University, the Running Eagles finished in the top-10 of the Mid-South Conference on the men's side both years.  In his first year, the number of tournaments they participated in was few, but the results were beyond satisfactory with two top-five finishes. In year two, the Running Eagles were one of the top finishers in four out of their five tournaments and advanced to the 2nd round of the conference tournament.  Garcia also had one academic all Mid-South Conference member in the postseason.

Garcia was a collegiate bowler at Webber International for four years where he was a part of two national championship winning teams in 2017.  During his senior season in 2017, he was a part of a men's bowling team that won eight tournaments on their way to the NAIA and ITC National Championships.

"It takes structure, dedication and determination in order to perform and win at the highest level. I want to pass on my collegiate and professional experience on to these kids in order for them to achieve the highest accomplishments not only at a collegiate level, but at the professional level," Garcia said. "We have a great group of student-athletes on the bowling team. LMU has had amazing success in the past and we will only look to add on to the many accomplishments this program has achieved. I believe this group of students-athletes and future LMU student-athletes will be ready to get to work and win on a larger stage very soon."

Garcia will be taking over the bowling programs coming off championship seasons that saw both the men's and women's programs bringing home conference titles in the Conference Carolinas. He will be overseeing a women's team that included the Conference Carolinas Bowler of the Year in sophomore Cassidy Anschutz, along with Freshman of the Year, Lorrie Decker and four others that were named to the all-conference teams.  On the men's side, the Railsplitters were led by the Conference Carolinas Most Outstanding Player in Ian Friesner, in addition to  Zachary Cook and Alex Linnenbrink who were named to the all-tournament team.     

How to Follow
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms —@LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram — for complete coverage of Railsplitter bowling through the 2022-23 season.