The 2025-26 season marks Ross Fellows’ 10th season at the helm of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs men’s and women’s track & field programs. Fellows was named head coach of the program in August of 2018 after serving as co-head coach for his first two seasons with the team.
Throughout his tenure at UCCS, Fellows has led the men’s and women’s track & field programs to unprecedented success on the track and in the classroom. Under his leadership, the Mountain Lions have earned a total of 19 RMAC Championship trophies, including the first indoor and outdoor conference titles in both men’s and women’s program history. A 17-time RMAC Coach of the Year recipient, Fellows has coached a total of 126 RMAC individual event champions, eight RMAC Track Athletes of the Year, 11 RMAC Field Athletes of the Year, and four RMAC Freshman of the Year. The Mountain Lions have become perennial contenders on the national stage under the supervision of Fellows, earning 198 individual entries and 18 relay entries to the indoor and outdoor national championship meets since the start of the 2016-17 season while also recording 15 top 25 team finishes, earning 174 All-America honors, and winning six individual national championships in the same period. In addition, UCCS track & field has performed well in the classroom with Fellows at the head of the program, compiling 66 RMAC All-Academic First Team honorees, six RMAC Academic Athletes of the Year, and 24 CoSIDA/CSC Academic All-America accolades.
In his ninth season at the controls of the UCCS track & field program in 2024-25, Fellows led the Mountain Lions to another outstanding campaign on both the conference and national stages. UCCS opened the 2024-25 academic year with an incredible indoor season in which the men's team secured the indoor conference title on their home track before both the men's and women's teams went on to record top 25 finishes at the indoor national championship meet. After their strong finish to the indoor season, the Mountain Lions carried their momentum into the outdoor campaign as the men's and women's teams went on to record a clean sweep of the outdoor conference championship meet and qualified a strong group of 15 student-athletes for outdoor nationals. Throughout the indoor and outdoor campaigns, the UCCS men's and women's teams combined for a total of 21 All-America accolades, 44 All-Region honors, 118 All-RMAC selections, 10 RMAC First Team All-Academic honorees, and three CSC Academic All-Americans.
Fellows and the Mountain Lions found strong success once again during the 2023-24 campaign as the men’s team collected their fourth consecutive outdoor conference title and both the men’s and women’s teams finished inside the top 25 at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships. Across the indoor and outdoor seasons, the UCCS men’s and women’s squads combined to earn a total of 21 All-America honors while the men’s team scored an indoor program-best 15 points at the indoor national meet. The Mountain Lions also continued their string of impressive work inside the classroom as they collected a total of 16 RMAC All-Academic First Team honors across the indoor and outdoor seasons and had six student-athletes earn CSC Academic All-America accolades.
The 2022-23 season saw continued success for the UCCS track & field program under Fellows' leadership, as the program combined to win three more RMAC Championships with the men's team sweeping the indoor and outdoor titles for the third straight season and the women's team earning their fourth consecutive outdoor conference title. At the national level, the Mountain Lion men and women teamed up to tally a total of 28 All-America honors across the indoor and outdoor seasons while the men's team put together a top-25 finish at the NCAA outdoor national championship meet, finishing tied for 17th with 19 points. The Mountain Lions also continued to raise the bar inside the classroom during the 2022-23 campaign, as they earned five RMAC All-Academic First Team selections and five CSC Academic All-America accolades. In addition, standout sprinter/jumper Audrey Bloomquist was tabbed as the NCAA Elite 90 Award winner for the 2023 NCAA Division II Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Fellows and the Mountain Lions put together yet another incredible season in 2021-22 as the men’s and women’s teams completed the sweep of the indoor and outdoor conference championships for a second consecutive year. At the RMAC Indoor Championships, UCCS tallied an incredible 31 podium finishes, including nine individual conference champions, and were subsequently awarded with 49 All-RMAC selections, three RMAC major awards, and 18 USTFCCCA All-Region accolades. On the national level, Fellows qualified an indoor program record 18 student-athletes for the indoor national championships while the team came away with a pair of top-25 overall finishes and 17 total All-Americans. Fellows kept the momentum rolling into the outdoor season as the men’s and women’s teams combined for 34 podium finishes and 14 gold medals while sweeping the RMAC Outdoor Championships. Following the conference championship victories, the Mountain Lions were recognized with 63 All-RMAC honorees, six RMAC major awards, and 23 All-Region honors. UCCS qualified an outdoor program record 20 student-athletes for the outdoor national championship meet as the team combined for nine All-America honors and distance runner Afewerki Zeru took home the seventh individual national championship in program history with an event win in the 5,000m run. At the conclusion of the season, the men’s and women’s track & field teams ranked among the top-10 in the USTFCCCA Program of the Year standings, with the men placing seventh and the women tying for eighth.
The Mountain Lion’s 2020-2021 season turned out to be another historic one as they pulled off a clean sweep of the RMAC Championships for the first time in program history. After successfully defending their 2019-2020 RMAC indoor titles on both sides, UCCS proceeded to surpass the competition at the RMAC outdoor championships with the men’s team registering their first outdoor conference title in program history and the women’s team being crowned outdoor champions for the second time. The Mountain Lions grabbed 11 RMAC individual indoor champions while collecting seven individual outdoor champions to go along with 58 indoor and 52 outdoor RMAC All-Conference honorees. Fellows went on to send 14 student-athletes to both the indoor and outdoor National Championships, racking up a total of eight indoor and three outdoor All-Americans as well as the individual indoor triple jump National Champion Dakota Abbott.
Though the 2019-20 season was out of the ordinary after COVID-19 cancelled the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, as well as the 2020 outdoor season, Fellows still made it a memorable season. Fellows and the Mountain Lions made school history as both the men's and women's teams topped the RMAC competition by claiming an RMAC Indoor Championship on both sides with men's team winning their first ever RMAC Championship and the women's team winning their second indoor conference title. The Mountain Lions garnered ten individual RMAC titles at the conference championships as they racked up numerous awards including 34 RMAC All-Academic awards, 47 All-RMAC awards, 15 USTFCCCA All-Region selections. Student-athletes William Ross and Maia Austin each were voted RMAC Academic Players of the Year as they went on to become CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. At the national level, 13 Mountain Lions qualified for the indoor national championships to total 18 All-America honors. Another historic season for the UCCS Track & Field teams resulted in Fellows earning RMAC Men's and Women's Coach of the Year.
The Mountain Lions made history once again with Fellows at the helm as the women’s team won their first RMAC Outdoor Championship in program history during the 2018-19 season. The men’s team was not far behind as they took second place in both the outdoor and indoor conference championships, while the women’s team also took second place during the indoor season. UCCS went on to record their highest team finishes in program history at the NCAA Indoor Championships with the women’s team taking eighth, and the men’s team taking 21st. The women’s team also went on to place 17th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Another successful season earned Fellows his second coach of the year award for the outdoor season in the last two years as he was named the RMAC Women’s Track & Field Coach of the Year for the outdoor season. Fellows went on to coach 14 All-Americans and two Academic All-Americans as the Mountain Lions broke 30 school records during the 2018-19 season. The Mountain Lions also saw a pair of student-athletes combine for three individual national championships as Skylyn Webb (800m) and Charlie Forbes (60mh) won their respective events at the 2018-19 NCAA Indoor Championships and Webb came back to win the 800m at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Strong performances on the national stage throughout the season by the Mountain Lion women landed them on the USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Programs of the Year for the second consecutive year, as UCCS Track & Field and Cross Country teams ranked as the No. 5 Program of the Year. The No. 5 ranking is the highest ranking in program history.
In 2017-18, Co-Head Coach Ross Fellows led the women’s program to their first ever RMAC Indoor Track & Field championship title, followed by a second place finish at the conference outdoor championship meet. The men’s program finished second overall at both RMAC indoor and outdoor championships. As a result, Fellows was named the RMAC Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year. Both programs would go on to break 20 school records in 2017-18, with a total of 22 student-athletes qualifying for the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships. At the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Fellows coached Skylyn Webb to the first individual national championship in program history as she bested the competition in the women's 800m race. The women’s program finished 13th overall at the NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championship meet, helping the program to earn a seventh place mark in the USTFCCCA Program of the Year standings (cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field).
In his first season as the co-head coach of the UCCS men's and women's track & field programs, Fellows helped the men's team finish fourth overall at the RMAC Indoor Championships and fifth overall at the RMAC Outdoor Championships, while the women's team finished in sixth place at both the indoor and outdoor conference championship meets.
Prior to joining the UCCS coaching staff, Fellows spent six years as Head Assistant Coach at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. He coached 13 NCAA DII All-Americans and 33 NCAA DII Indoor/Outdoor National Qualifiers and successfully prepared the Loper men to win the indoor RMAC championships, their first win in over 10 years indoors. His student athletes also broke 14 school records in sprints, jumps and the multi events.
Under Fellows’ guidance, Dillon Schrodt set and reset school records in the heptathlon and decathlon the past four years. Schrodt finished his collegiate career as a three-time All-American in the heptathlon and also was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American. In April 2015, he was tabbed as UNK's Male Senior Student-Athlete of the Year. Fellows continued to coach Schrodt post collegiately in the multi events and took him to the USA Indoor Championships where he placed 7th in 2016.
Next, Emily Everett was All-American in the high jump at the indoor national meet, Julianna Burr broke the school record in the 60 hurdles, as did the men's 4x4 relay team. Also in 2014-15, senior Brady Land was an All-American in the long jump at both the indoor and outdoor national meets. He broke the school outdoor record in the event while going 25-0.75 to set a new school indoor standard.
From 2011-13, Fellows helped Marty Molina earn All-American honors three times (twice indoors and once outdoors) in the triple jump. Molina also set new UNK marks in both the indoor and outdoor triple jumps, won seven RMAC titles and was named the 2011 and 2012 RMAC (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) Male Field Athlete of the Year.
Fellows also worked closely with Allen Osborn, a four-time All-American in the hurdles who under his direction, won the 2012 NCAA Indoor 60m Hurdles, running a time of 7.78 and shattering the school record. That marked just the eighth time a UNK man or woman won an individual NCAA title. Jena Isaacson also placed seventh in the pentathlon at the 2012 NCAA indoor meet to earn All-American honors. She also was the 2011 RMAC heptathlon and 2012 RMAC pentathlon champion.
Under Fellows direction at UNK, the Loper men won multiple Conference titles in the 60-meter dash, 110 meter hurdles, heptathlon, decathlon, Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump and 4x4 relay.
After starring at UNK, Fellows’ first coaching stop was at MIAA-member Emporia State where he studied to get his masters degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation and coached the horizontal jumps for the Hornets.
During his two years at ESU, Fellows coached two national champions as well as two national runner-ups. He also trained 11 All-Americans, 13 MIAA Champions, saw his student-athletes set five school records, and had two athletes qualify for the 2010 U.S. Outdoor Track & Field Championships. For example, under his direction, Josh Honeycutt (2013 USA Indoor Champion) improved over four feet in his first year. Josh won the indoor DII National Championship, and then went on to jump 53’ 9” in the outdoor season (the 14th best triple jump in the world – March, 2009). Brooke Kent, one of his women’s athletes, transformed from being strictly a long jumper to the school record holder and National Outdoor runner-up in the triple jump in just one year as a result of his training.
Fellows graduated from UNK in 2008 where he was a four-time NCAA qualifier, competing four times in the triple jump and once in the long jump. In 2005, he was named the RMAC Field Athlete of the Year. He was a back-to-back conference champion in the triple jump and was a 13-time All-RMAC performer in the sprints and jumps.
