Sam Jilka - 2021 Nebraska Mens XC Coach of the Year
Lexington Public Schools would like to CONGRATULATE, Coach Sam Jilka!!!
Lexington High School’s Men’s Cross Country Coach, Sam Jilka, has been selected by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as the 2021 Boy’s High School Cross Country Coach of the Year for the state of Nebraska.
The Minutemen Boys XC team won the 2021 Class B Nebraska State Championship under Coach Jilka’s Leadership. This honor is a simple reflection of the hard work and dedication that Sam devotes to his students in the classroom, and his athletes in XC and Track.
Coach Jilka has been the head XC coach for 23 years….in that stretch his teams have achieved amazingly well. His teams have won Class B state championships three times, 2001, 2009, and 2021. His teams have been Class B Runners Up five times, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Almost every year of Coach Jilka’s career has seen our boys XC team finish in the top 5, and certainly in the top 10 in Class B.
Although we’re biased around here, we are so proud that our student athletes get to work with one of the best cross country coaches in the nation.
We would like to thank U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, and specifically Coach Dustin Llewellyn of Doane University, for identifying and selecting Coach Jilka for this well deserved and prestigious honor.
-Phil Truax, AD-Lexington High School
