The 2025-26 season marks Tom Ellis' first as the pole vault coach for the UCCS track & field program, bringing more than 15 years of experience in developing pole vault student-athletes at the high school, collegiate, and club levels to the Mountain Lion coaching staff.
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.
