After a dip in enrollment last year, Limestone College is on track to have a record number of students on campus this year.

Preliminary numbers show Limestone College could have as many as 320 new students attending classes this fall, president Walt Griffin said. The record number of new students comes one year after economic factors halted 15 years of annual enrollment increases for the college's day student enrollment.

Enrollment dropped from 770 full-time day students in 2007 to 748 students last fall.

It was a completely different story for Limestone College when classes started Wednesday for the 2009- 2010 academic year.

"We were very, very busy," Griffin said. "We could have between 790 to 810 students when our enrollment figures become final next Wednesday with the end of the 'drop and add' period. This is a record enrollment for the college."

Limestone College had 33 student-athletes enroll to become a part of the school's first men's volleyball and women's field hockey teams. Limestone now has 22 athletic teams competing on the Division II level.

All students on the new sports teams are from out-of-state schools. The men's volleyball and field hockey players come from Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, New York, Florida, California, and Colorado.

Students arrived last week to find some construction still under way. New brick pavers are being placed around the main classroom buildings. Blacksburg contractor McDaniel Construction is working to complete a $4 million renovation project at Winnie Davis Hall of History. Griffin said the project is expected to be completed in October.

"We hope to begin using the six multimedia classrooms in Winnie Davis next spring," Griffin said. "We are very tight with our classroom space right now."