HARROGATE, Tenn. — The Lincoln Memorial University athletic department has announced the hiring of Luke Bolanos as director of athletic communications. In his role, Bolanos will oversee all the athletic department’s media relations efforts, in addition to promoting all 22 Railsplitters’ programs.

With over five years of experience as a sports information director at NCAA Division I and Division II members, Bolanos has worked in athletic communications and media relations at both the school and conference office level.

“Luke comes to LMU with a breadth of experience in collegiate athletics,” said Assistant Athletic Director for Internal Operations Cameron Whicker. “His overall skill set and knowledge within the industry will undoubtedly enhance our administrative team as we strive to continue serving our student-athletes. We are very excited about this addition and the value he will bring to the department.”

Bolanos arrives in Harrogate after serving the past two years as an assistant director of athletic media relations at Division I Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas. During his time in Texas’ oldest town, Bolanos handled all communication efforts for the FCS Lumberjack football program while also in charge of the promotion of the SFA softball and men’s and women’s golf teams.

Additionally, Bolanos was the primary sports information contact for the national champion Ladyjack bowling team and was the media relations liaison for the 2019 National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) Nacogdoches Regional.

Prior to his time at SFA, Bolanos held the same title at now fellow South Atlantic Conference member The University of Virginia’s College at Wise in Wise, Va. from 2015-17. While working within Division II in Wise, Bolanos was responsible for all communication efforts of the Cavaliers’ men’s basketball, softball, volleyball, men’s and women’s tennis, and men’s and women’s cross country programs. Additionally, Bolanos was the secondary contact for the UVa-Wise football program, where he conducted postgame press conferences with coaches and players and supervised Carl Smith Stadium’s press box on game days.

For the two seasons, Bolanos was the radio/audio color commentator at Cavalier men’s and women’s basketball games and sometimes filled in as the play-by-play announcer. He also often helped with UVa-Wise’s softball audio broadcasts. In the spring of 2017, Bolanos oversaw the media relations side of the NCAA Division II Softball Championship Atlantic Regional hosted in Wise.

Bolanos brings additional Division I experience to the position after completing internships with the Southland Conference (2014-15) and the Ohio Valley Conference. While working as a communications assistant at the Southland, Bolanos was the primary contact for volleyball, softball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field, and men’s and women’s tennis. He worked most of the conference’s championships and assisted with the 2015 Southland Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament in Katy, Texas. Bolanos was with the conference when the Southland Bowling League was formed and took over as the league’s director of communications.

While with the OVC in the spring of 2014, Bolanos was the media relations contact for men’s and women’s tennis and handled the communication responsibilities at the tennis championships. Additionally, he managed all social media during the 2014 OVC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments in Nashville, Tenn., and the 2014 OVC Baseball Tournament in Jackson, Tenn.

Prior to his stop at the Southland and the OVC, Bolanos interned with Vanderbilt University Athletics in the Commodores’ marketing and sales and then communications department. While in graduate school at Belmont University, Bolanos was a graduate teaching assistant where he taught six different undergraduate physical activity courses.

Throughout his career, Bolanos has worked major collegiate sporting events, including serving as a media relations assistant at the 2015, 2018 and 2019 NCAA Division I Football Championship in Frisco, Texas, and assisting the NCAA media coordination team at the 2019 College Word Series in Omaha, Neb.

Bolanos was a part of the media coordination team at the 2014 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Nashville and worked as a communications assistant at the 2013 SEC Football Championship game in Atlanta, Ga. He also has professional sports experience as a public relations assistant on game days with the Dallas Mavericks during the 2014-15 season and working as an intern in the Tennessee Titans’ ticket office.

Bolanos is an active member of College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and attends the annual convention.

A native of DeBary, Fla., Bolanos was a four-year tennis letter winner at Palm Beach Atlantic University. As a student-athlete in West Palm Beach, Fla., he served as team captain during his junior and senior seasons and earned the Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sportsmanship & Leadership Award for the Division II Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) South Region in 2011 and 2012. The former Sailfish achieved a personal best ITA Division II national doubles ranking of No. 13.

Bolanos earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Palm Beach Atlantic in 2012 before adding a master’s degree in sport administration from Belmont in 2014.