Harrogate, TN -- Lincoln Memorial University has promoted Jeff Kavalunas to Director of Track & Field/Cross Country programs. Kavalunas has served as an assistant with the program since 2022 and enters his fifth year at the university for the 2026-27 season. During his tenure as an assistant, he helped coach two individual conference championship winners, the program's first-ever regional indoor track and field athlete of the year, a top-ten national finisher, 27 Academic All-District athletes, and 17 all-region selections. Over his thirty-plus year career, Kavalunas has developed highly competitive distance runners, producing two national champions, forty-five All-Americans, and over ninety conference champions. Serving as the head coach of the Lincoln Memorial men's and women's cross country programs, Kavalunas has guided the men and women cross country teams to consistent top-six conference finishes and regional appearances, producing a multitude of all-conference and all-region selections.

Prior to his arrival in Harrogate, Kavalunas built an extensive head coaching resume that began at Northwood University, where he led the program to six school records and an individual national title, followed by his tenure at Ferris State University, which featured twenty-four All-Americans, an NCAA National Champion, and a 2004 Olympic Trials qualifier. He later held head coaching roles at Olivet College and the University of the Southwest, producing multiple national qualifiers and individual conference champions, before taking over at Eastern New Mexico University in 2017, where he mentored seventeen All-Americans and twenty-one conference champions. Outside of his collegiate roles, Kavalunas is a USA Track and Field Level Three certified coach and holds a master degree from Central Michigan University.