Head Cross Country Coach Jill Chestnut (4th season)
Assistant Track Coach
High School: St. Joseph-Hammonton
College: Rutgers University-Camden (2002)
Major: English
Grad School: Holy Family University
Degree: Special Education
Jill Chestnut continues to build the Rutgers-Camden cross country programs as she heads into her fourth season as the head coach in 2025.
The 2024 season featured several highlights, as the men’s team saw Jacob Dinerman become the first New Jersey Athletic Conference First Team runner during Chestnut’s coaching career, while the women’s program earned four All-NJAC Academic honors. Both teams also featured an NJAC Runner of the Week, while the women added an NJAC Rookie of the Week recipient. To cap off the success, both programs earned their best finish as the conference meet in years, with the women placing seventh of nine teams and the men finishing sixth of seven.
Chestnut also saw her men’s team compete in the NCAA Metro Regionals, where they finished 20th of 27 teams. Dinerman led the way, finishing 21st out of 186 runners to cap his sensational season.
Jill Chestnut's coaching record
A former Rutgers-Camden cross country and track star, Chestnut took over the cross country program shortly before the 2022 season and, with no time for recruiting, her maiden season resulted in a small roster, incomplete teams at many meets and one win between the men’s and women’s programs. After expanding her roster during the 2023 cross country season, Chestnut’s second teams combined for 16 more wins, with the women’s 14-50 record marking the most victories at the school since 2018 and their 1-7 record at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships giving the Raptors their first conference win since 2019. The men’s 3-66 record, meanwhile, marked their most victories since 2019.
The two programs combined for 45 wins during the 2024 campaign.
Chestnut, who also begins her fourth season as an assistant coach with the indoor and outdoor track programs during the 2025-26 school year, has produced 11 All-NJAC Academic athletes during her three seasons coaching the cross country teams.
Chestnut transferred to Rutgers-Camden after attending both Atlantic Cape Community College and the Art Institute of Philadelphia. During her two years at Rutgers-Camden (2000-01 and 2001-02), she served as a team captain for both the women’s cross country and outdoor track teams. Rutgers-Camden didn’t field indoor track teams during her collegiate career.
Chestnut was a two-time cross country team MVP (2000 and 2001) and captured All-NJAIAW honors both seasons. During the 2001 cross country season, she earned New Jersey Athletic Conference Second Team honors, placing 17th of 63 in the conference meet. She also added All-WIAC recognition.
Chestnut set numerous program records during her two seasons with the track program (2001, 2002) and still holds marks for 880 yards (2:36.93, set April 10, 2002 at the Albright Invitational), the mile run (5:40.81, March 28, 2001 at the Albright Quad), the two-mile run (12:40.80, March 28, 2001 at the Albright Quad), and the three-mile run (19:46.63, April 10, 2002 at the Albright Invitational). She also still holds the program record with the Sprint Medley team (4:25.25, April 14, 2001, at William Paterson’s Pioneer Relays).
At the 2001 New Jersey Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Chestnut earned NJAC Second Team honors with the 4x400 squad, while capturing NJAC Honorable Mention at 1,500 meters and with the 4x100 team. She earned NJAC Honorable Mention at 10,000 meters at the 2002 NJAC meet.
Following her Rutgers-Camden career, Chestnut attended Holy Family University for graduate school and earned over 30 credits in special education.
Chestnut has remained active in athletics, where she formerly served as the head track coach at Camden Catholic High School and as one of the head track and cross country coaches for a youth program called the South Jersey Track and Field Club. She has coached numerous All-American AAU athletes. She also coached Special Olympic athletes before the Covid shutdown.
A USTFCCCA (United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) certified coach for track and cross country, Chestnut also is ALTIS-trained in the sprint hurdles and has additional hurdle certification from Outperform called Hurdling Smarter. She is a USATF cross country specialist and a swim instructor at Royal Fitness in Barrington.
Chestnut runs her own training business called “aJillity Training,” coaching young hurdlers and distance runners, as well as future law enforcement officers who need to pass the PA test. She also teaches kayaking with Upstream Alliance. She won the Moorestown Kayak Race in 2024 and plans to expand her kayak racing in 2025.
Chestnut is a competitive Masters swimmer and has continued her running career. In her free time, she enjoys traveling to Puerto Rico to run, ocean swim and kayak.
Married to former Rutgers-Camden All-American Matt Collins, the couple have four children ages 18, 17, 14 and nine.
