Athlete. Jill could possibly have been the first four-time state girl’s cross country champion had that sport been sanctioned by the NSAA in 1979, her freshman year at York. So she ran with the boys that year and finished second in her first race. In her next three years, she never lost a race in girls cross country and only one in girls track and field. She was the all-class gold medal champion in the first girls state high school cross country meet. She continued her efforts in track and field and accumulated eleven state medals. She was selected all-state, all-city, and all-academic in both cross country and track and was a varsity letter winner all four years in cross country and track. Jill represented the state of Nebraska and finished second in the National High School Cross Country Meet in Albuquerque New Mexico in 1983. She went on to compete for UNL and paced the Husker women in their first Big 8 cross country championship. She earned eight varsity letters at Nebraska and won Big 8 and All-American academic honors, reaching the dean’s list all four years in school.
