Five new coaches in the fold at Wauconda
Wauconda High School enters the 2015-16 school year with five new head coaches: Ryan Whitfield (boys and girls tennis), Mike Jacobs (boys soccer) and Jeff Helberg (boys and girls cross country).
Whitfield will take over both tennis programs after Melissa Hoffmann and Scott Cittadino stepped down after their long tenures as head coaches. Whitfield will teach math at Wauconda.
A native of Crystal Lake and 2005 graduate of Crystal Lake Central, Whitfield has made coaching stops at Johnsburg, Richmond-Burton and Wauconda. Prior to arriving at Wauconda, he was the boys and girls JV tennis coach and the sophomore boys basketball at Johnsburg. This past school year Whitfield coached freshman boys basketball at Richmond-Burton and the JV boys tennis at Wauconda.
Jacobs takes over the boys soccer team from Patrick Heckmann, who stepped down this past spring. A new teacher at Wauconda, Jacobs will teach physical education, driver education and health.
A native of Naperville and 2001 graduate of Neuqua Valley, Jacobs had been the head boys soccer coach at Yorkville since 2007. Prior to his arrival in Yorkville, the high school had never fielded a boys or girls soccer team. In 2007, Yorkville hired Jacobs to begin the task of building a championship-level soccer program. In his eight years, Yorkville won the 2014 Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference title, helped 18 athletes continue their playing career in college, and was a finalist for the 2014 Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association coach of the year.
While at Yorkville, Jacobs also served as the girls head soccer coach for two years and produced three all-sectional athletes. He also coached boys basketball and was an adaptive physical education teacher.
Helberg takes over the cross country programs after Al Wilhoit stepped down after a long tenure. Helberg began his teaching career at Wauconda in 2009 as a social studies teacher while taking on the duties of assistant track and field coach, assistant football coach and middle school wrestling coach.
During his tenure in the track and field program, Helberg has coached many successful athletes, including the 2011 Class 2A sectional champion in the 300 hurdles, the 2012 Class 2A sectional champion in the long jump, and a host of all-conference athletes.