Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, Ben Thomas, has announced the addition of John Ellis to the 2024-2025 coaching staff. Ellis will assume the position of assistant coach for jumps and multis.
In his most recent role, Ellis spent five years as the jumps and multis coach at Arizona State. In those five years, Ellis' athletes recorded seven program top-10 entries, with five of the marks coming from the triple jump.
Prior to Arizona State, Ellis spent five years with the Southern Mississippi program, where he wwas tabbed the 2019 USTFCCCA DI South Region Assistant Coach of the Year. With the Golden Eagles, Ellis led his athletes to seven school records, 11 C-USA titles, and eight All-American honors. Individually, Ellis coached three athletes to the 2019 NCAA Championships where they acheived the first top-25 team finish in program history.
Ellis was the coach of four-time C-USA triple jump title holder, John Warren. Under Ellis' tutelage, Warren set the indoor and outdoor meet records and the indoor program record with a 55'2" triple jump. He also finished seventh overall at USATF Outdoor Championships and collected fifth place at NCAA Championships in the high jump, reaching 7'4.5".
Early in his career, Ellis served as the volunteer assistant coach at Georgia where he assisted in the training of heptathlon and pentathlon national champion, Kendell Williams. Also among the national champions Ellis has worked with are indoor and outdoor high jump national champion Leontia Kallenou, decathlon national champion Maciel Uibo, and triple jump national champion Keturah Orji.
His career began as a graduate assistant at Western Illinois where he led the Leathernecks to six individual All-Conference finishes.
Originally from Portland, Oregon, Ellis earned his master's degree from WIU in kinesiology and his bachelor's degree in applied exercise science from Azusa Pacific where he competed in the long jump and earned All-Conference honors under Hall of Fame coach Kevin Reid.