New Coaches Hired At Lincoln-Way West, Central Ahead Of '25–26 Seasons

NEW LENOX, IL — Lincoln-Way District 210 administration this week announced the hiring of new coaches for several of its teams at all three schools.

At Lincoln-Way Central, both girls and boys volleyball will have a new head coach. Amy Bernhard will lead the girls team after six years as assistant varsity coach for the Knights. Prior to working at Central, Bernhard spent three years coaching girls volleyball in Yorkville.

Matthew Small, who comes to Lincoln-Way from Homewood-Flossmoor, will lead the boys team and also teach social science. Small has more than 14 years of experience coaching both girls and boys volleyball at the high school level.

The Knights will also have a new head coach for girls swimming and diving in Ryan Meske. Meske is currently a teacher at Lincoln-Way East and has been leading the JV swimming program at Central this school year.

Lincoln-Way West will have a new coach for girls golf, with Ryne Foster rounding out the district's new coaching hires.

Foster is a graduate of Lincoln-Way East where he spent four years on the golf team and continued playing at the collegiate level. He has spent the last eight years serving as a coach for both the boys and girls soccer programs at Lincoln-Way Central and Lincoln-Way West. He has also coached boys golf at Lincoln-Way Central.

At East, Luke Yaklich will lead the boys varsity basketball team next year. Yaklich has a long history of success as a college coach, including assistant coaching at Illinois State, Michigan, and Texas, and serving as the head coach at the University of Illinois-Chicago. He has also taught and coached at LaSalle-Peru High, Sterling, and Joliet West. Yaklich will teach social science for the Griffins as well.

Jared Bruni, a 2018 graduate of Lincoln-Way East, will take over as head boys water polo coach for the Griffins next school year. Bruni was a standout water polo athlete during his time as a student, and has spent the last two years as an assistant coach for the Griffins.