Jim Helmer (coach)
| Sport(s) |
Track & Field Cross Country |
|---|---|
| Current position | |
| Title | Head Coach, Cross Country Head Coach, Men's Track & Field |
| Team | Southwestern College |
| Playing career | |
| 1968-1971 | Southwestern College |
| Position(s) | Distance Runner |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1978-present | Southwestern |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
|
NAIA Coach's Hall of Fame, 2001 KCAC CC Coach of the Year (26 times) KCAC M Track Coach of the Year (25 times) NAIA Dist 10 CC Coach of the Year (8 times) NAIA Dist 10 M Track Coach of the Year (11 times) NAIA Area 3 M Track Coach of the Year (4 times) NAIA Area 3 CC Coach of the Year (2 times) NAIA Grt Plns Reg CC Coach of the Year (1 time) NAIA Reg IV Coach of the Year (2 times) NAIA Reg IV M Ind Track Coach of the Year (2 times) NAIA Reg IV M Track Coach of the Year (1 time) |
|
Jim Helmer (born c. 1950) is the Head Cross Country & Men's Track Coach at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. He has held the position since 1978 where he has achieved consistent success. Helmer was elected to the NAIA Coach's Hall of Fame in 2001.
Helmer is known not only for his ability to produce both athletic and academic all-Americans, Helmer is considered by peers to be a true fair-play sportsman. This sense of fair play is reflected in the statement by McPherson College head coach Dave Smith concerning a chance that Helmer had to secure home-field advantage for the 2005 regional Cross Country meet.
This sense of sportsmanship and fair play has appeared to "rub off" on the teams he coaches. One day at practice in 2002, an alleged shoplifting youth ran in to the Cross Country team. While attempting to make his escape, the team scattered and chased him down, turning him in to local police.
Helmer started his coaching career as the track and cross country coach at Winfield High School in Winfield, Kansas in 1971 and coached for seven years. During this time, his teams won state championships in cross country in 1973 and 1974. The boys track teams won regional championships in 1977 and 1978 and the school won the first league track crown in school history.
In 1978 Helmer became the head Cross Country and Men's Track & Field Coach at his Alma Mater. After finishing third in the KCAC cross country championships in 1978 and 1979, Helmer’s cross country runners have won 31 straight men’s KCAC fall cross country championships from 1980-2010. Friends University stopped the streak in 2011 under head coach Brad Peterson [1]. He also coached the Men's Track & Field team to 29 consecutive conference crowns 1983-2011 after four straight second-place finishes.
Helmer’s work has produced a total of seven NAIA National Champions in men’s cross country and track. 81 of his athletes have earned NAIA All-American status a total of 188 times, and 440 separate athletes have earned All-Conference status during his tenure.
Helmer was placed in the Southwestern College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991 and was elected to the NAIA Coach's Hall of Fame in 2001. He has also been recognized 82 "Coach of the Year" awards at the conference, regional, adistrict, and area levels. While coach of the Moundbuilder men’s track and cross country program at Southwestern, Helmer been given the following coaching awards:
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