Lindenwood Athletics Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Brad Wachler announced the sponsorship of two new student life sports on Tuesday morning. The Lindenwood athletics department will officially add the programs of archery and Olympic weightlifting as student life sports beginning in 2021-22.

"The opportunity to add two programs to our athletics department is exciting," said Wachler. "The inclusion of archery and Olympic weightlifting to our University will allow prospective Lions to pursue their passions in their respective sports while also receiving an excellent education at Lindenwood University."

The Lindenwood archery program is set to begin competition in the Fall of 2021. Lindenwood will sponsor both men's and women's archery teams in the disciplines of barebow, compound bowhunter, compound freestyle, and Olympic recurve. Lindenwood will compete in the USA Archery's Collegiate Archery Program and plan to shoot at the 3D Nationals, Indoor Nationals, Outdooor Nationals as well as other local, regional, and national level tournaments. Derek Schaub and Steve Wolk are set to lead the team as coaches. Lindenwood will become the first school in the state of Missouri to offer scholarship opportunities within the sport of archery.

"I'm very excited to get this program started," said Schaub. "With the groundwork and support we have here at Lindenwood I have high expectations for us to be a national powerhouse in a very short period of time. This program will provide a great opportunity to both young archers working to be more competitive as well as top level archers looking to compete for a National Championship and potentially develop their skills to take them to the professional ranks."

Lindenwood has partnered with St. Louis Bowhunters to be the home of the archery program. This partnership will give the program access to a facility located just 1.5 miles from campus that features an 18-lane indoor range, where student-athletes can shoot from distances up to 30 yards as well as indoor 3D. The Lindenwood archery program will also utilize three other outdoor and field ranges, which are also conveniently located near campus.

"I am really looking forward to being a part of this team," said Wolk. "Being able to work with students that have a common passion for archery, and that are striving to be the best that they can be both on and off the range, is an outstanding opportunity."

Lindenwood Olympic weightlifting returns to the athletics department after previously being offered as a student life sport from 2009-2020. The Olympic weightlifting program had previously achieved high levels of success, claiming four coed National Championships (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018), three men's titles, and two women's titles.  Lindenwood athletes have won 10 individual national championships from 2015-2020.

Trent Crain will serve as the head coach of the Olympic weightlifting program. Crain was an assistant coach for the Lions from 2015-2019.

"I am honored to be back at my alma mater," said Crain. "I was a part of this team starting as an athlete and now as the head coach. Having the chance to develop athletes through the same program I evolved through is a coach's dream. It feels good to be back home."

For those interested in receiving more information about the Lindenwood archery program, please contact Derek Schaub (dschaub@lindenwood.edu) and/or Steve Wolk (swolk@lindenwood.edu).

For those interested in receiving more information about the Lindenwood Olympic weightlifting program, please contact Trent Crain (tcrain@lindenwood.edu).