LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV track & field program has tabbed Jim Dilling to serve as a volunteer coach, announced Rebel head coach Yvonne Wade. Dilling, who is currently a firefighter with the Henderson Fire Department, will assist with both the horizontal and vertical jumps.
 
"We are honored to have Coach Dilling join the coaching staff," said Wade. "He has competed at a high level and has coached athletes to do the same, and I have no doubt that he will bring that same level of excellence to our team."
 
Dilling joins the Scarlet & Gray after a distinguished collegiate and international career as well as a coaching stint at his alma mater, Minnesota State Mankato, from 2012-17. In 2017, he was inducted in both the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame and MSU Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
"I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the Rebel track & field family," noted Dilling. "I cannot thank UNLV, Coach Wade, her staff, and the team for their support on my transition into their program. This team has become a top contender in the Mountain West, and I have been blessed with motivated student-athletes that share the drive to continue to develop themselves and this program to the highest of levels."
 
As a student-athlete at MSU, Dilling was a four-time NCAA Division II national champion in the high jump – two indoor (2006 and '07) and outdoor (2005 and '07) – and earned All-America status six times over. Additionally, he was a six-time North Central Conference champion, winning four high jump titles and two long jump crowns. When his collegiate career came to an end, he sat atop the MSU and NCC record book in the indoor and outdoor long jump, with identical 7-6.75. He also set the NCC outdoor record in the high jump with a mark of 7-1.75.
 
Dilling returned to Mankato to serve as an assistant (2012-14) after a run as a volunteer coach (2008-11) at Kansas State in Manhattan, Kansas. Following a two-year run as an assistant at MSU, he was promoted to oversee the men's program in 2013. Three years later, Dilling took on head coaching duties for the women's program after the athletic department restructured and reorganized the track & field programs.
 
At MSU, he led the men's team to a fourth-place finish at the 2014 NCAA DII Championships, which was the squad's highest finish since 1989, and eight consecutive men's indoor and outdoor titles at the NSIC Championships. At the 2016 NSIC Championships, he guided the women to an indoor title and a runner-up finish in outdoor competition.
 
Dilling was a five-time Central Region Coach of the Year and eight-time NSIC Coach of the Year, following a tenure that saw him mentor one Olympian, nine individual NCAA DII national champions and 65 All-Americans. Moreover, he coached a combined 22 NSIC individual champions and 104 all-conference performers.
 
In 2007, Dilling was ranked as high as No. 4 in the USA and No. 19 in the world rankings in the high jump. He represented Team USA and the 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan after winning the US Track & Field high jump title. He was also a 2008 and '12 Olympic Trials qualifier in the high jump.
 
Dilling is a two-time graduate of MSU, earning his bachelor's degree in construction management in 2007 and master of arts degree in sports management in '13.