COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – On Friday afternoon, University of Colorado Colorado Springs head track & field coach Ross Fellows announced the addition of Tom Ellis to the program as an assistant coach specializing in the pole vault event group.  
 
"Tom brings an incredible passion for the student-athlete experience, and the ability to create a family atmosphere," said Fellows. "His experiences as a vault coach as well as his connections with high school vault coaches were incredibly appealing. Tom brings a wealth of pole vault success as well as experience working meets, camps, and clinics. Tom will fit right in with our staff that creates a brand of track where student-athletes compete for their team and have a family atmosphere, with the goal of being a national contender and RMAC powerhouse."
 
Ellis will bring more than 15 years of experience in developing pole vault student-athletes at the high school, collegiate, and club levels to the UCCS track and field coaching staff for the 2025-26 campaign.
 
"I am very excited about this opportunity," exclaimed Ellis. "As a Colorado native, I have strong ties to Colorado Springs. To be able to coach in the RMAC where my son competed and won a national championship will be special!" 
 
Ellis, whose coaching philosophy focuses on putting an emphasis on fostering technical proficiency, mental resilience, and competitive success, has served as the head pole vault coach at Chaparral High School since 2015 while also developing student-athletes as a club coach at Above the Bar. Throughout his time working with the Wolverines' track & field program, Ellis has coached at least one boy and one girl to the state meet every year and has had several seasons in which he qualified multiple student-athletes from each gender. With a minimum of 15 pole vault student-athletes under his supervision during each year of his tenure at Chaparral, Ellis has also seen multiple boys and girls school records fall as part of his excellent track record of development in the event.
 
In his role at Above the Bar, Ellis has helped coach the top club vaulters in the state of Colorado and has played an integral part in coaching multiple athletes to the Nike Indoor and Outdoor Nationals. In addition, he also had the opportunity to coach his son, Nolan Ellis, throughout his exceedingly successful high school, collegiate, and post-collegiate pole-vaulting career. While a member of the track & field program at fellow RMAC member Colorado Mesa University, Nolan was a five-time USTFCCCA First Team All-America honoree in the pole vault and earned an individual national championship in the event at the 2017-18 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships.
 
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