Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 is proud to announce the hiring of several new head coaches for the 2025-2026 school year.
Lincoln-Way Central:
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 East:
Luke Yaklich will lead the Boys Varsity Basketball team next year at East. Yaklich has a long history of success as a 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.
Lincoln-Way West:
Ryne Foster, new head girls golf coach at West, rounds out the head coaching hires for the district. 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.