Harrogate, TN. – The Lincoln Memorial University track and field lead off their 2023-24 indoor season on Saturday at the Commonwealth College Opener. The indoor meet will be held at the Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center in Louisville, KY. The meet is hosted by the Kentucky Track and Cross-Country Coaches Association.

The Railsplitters will take on numerous high-level Division I teams such as Stanford, Louisville, and Texas. Stanford's men and women each earned podium (top four) team finishes at the NCAA championships in 2023. The Stanford men were third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and the women were fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The Texas Longhorn men's team were named the NCAA Outdoor Champions in 2023 and the women were named second. The Railsplitters will also join fellow SAC competitors, Lenior-Rhyne and Tusculum.

The Lincoln Memorial University men's and women's track teams finished their cross-country seasons strong at the NCAA Southeast Regional. The men finished 6th out of 28 teams in the 10k race while the women finished 8th of 24 teams competing in the 6k. The Railsplitters look to see where their off-season training puts them in the start of the season. When Coach Kavalunas was asked about the meet, he stated, "This weekend is an opportunity, especially for the kids who worked hard through the fall semester to get an idea of how their training has gone." The Railsplitters lost some top competitors due to graduation such as Brooke Foster, Elizabeth Close, and Sam Peters. However, the Railsplitters will be greeting their largest-ever cohort of new students this season. The women's team will debut Cate Lensch, the first ever women's pole vaulter at Lincoln Memorial University.

Commonwealth College opener is just the first of eight meets in the Railsplitters' indoor season. There will be a full squad coming back in January to compete every weekend until the week before the SAC Championships.

The meet will start on Saturday, December 2, 2023. Doors to the facility will open at 9:00 a.m., while running events begin at 10:00 a.m. with the 60-meter hurdles preliminaries. Field events will also start at 10:00 a.m. The rest of the meet will run on a rolling schedule. Admission to the meet will cost $14.99.