Track & Field
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Coach Ellenwood comes to Starkville after serving as Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach with Bethune-Cookman University. Ellenwood, who is in his second year as an assistant coach at Mississippi State, brings a wealth of coaching experience on both the national and collegiate level.
He believes that a successful coach must have consistency in both recruiting and teaching. During the 2009 indoor and outdoor season Ronnie Ash captured the Division I National championship in 60m hurdle as well as the 110mh titles. In this same year the men's team finished 12th at the NCAA outdoor East Regional championships and 23rd at the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, AR.
Garfield Ellenwood is an exciting teacher and outstanding recruiter. "When student-athletes can learn the nature of the sport in the collegiate setting, their dedication and performance can excel to the highest level," states Ellenwood. His belief system is not only believed by many pro and up-and-coming athletes around the world, but it proven in a variety of different ways with a multitude of track & field stars in the ever-growing sport.
In the spring of 2006, Ellenwood was hired to serve as the head coach of the Liberian National Team for the upcoming 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. "My ultimate goal as a coach is that student-athletes graduate and strive to reach the highest level of collegiate track and field ... that being the NCAA Championship," expresses Ellenwood. "This is gratifying for the student-athlete and myself.
Most recently, Ellenwood coached two athletes to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Jeff Porter and Gloria Asumnu. Porter competed in the 110-meter hurdles for the U.S. Team, where he obtained a personal best time of 13.08 seconds. Asumnu competed for Nigeria in the 2012 Games, earning a personal pest time of 7.07 seconds in the 60-meter dash. Ellenwood also led Asumnu to a fifth-place finish at the 2012 Indoor World Championships. This is the third consecutive Olympic Games in which Ellenwood has had individual athletes compete.
Prior to B-CU coach Ellenwood spending two years as an assistant coach at the University of Las Vegas (UNLV). While at UNLV, he helped to guide the Runnin' Rebels women's program into a national competitor out of the Mountain West Conference. In 2005 under Coach Ellenwood's tenure Christine Spence earned a two-time NCAA All-American status (HJ, 400H), Halima DeCree also earned NCAA All-American status (100m), and in 2006 Ashley Owens was the NCAA All-American 60meter runner up by .01 second at the Indoor National Championship.
Prior to his time at UNLV, Ellenwood spent two years as an assistant coach at Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. While at Campbell, he was responsible for guiding several student-athletes to both conference and national championship levels.
He helped guided former Campbell student-athlete Eric Bergemann to the NCAA Indoor Championship, making him the first Camel track & field athlete to advance to the NCAA Division I National championships and All-American honors in school history. Fellow Campbell track & field student-athlete Akeisha Flegler won the conference [Atlantic Sun] 100-meter championship as a sprinter for the Camels under the guidance of Ellenwood. She went on to set school records in the indoor 55-meter, 60-meter and 200-meter events. She also set the school mark in the outdoor 200-meter event for the Camels. Meanwhile, Ellenwood helped the men's side of things with the 4x100 meter relay team earn all-conference honors with a third place finish at the league championships.
During the summer of 2005, Ellenwood served as an assistant coach at the World Junior Championships in Windsor, Canada. While there, he helped coach six gold medalists and a total of 17 medalists for Team USA. Meanwhile, Ellenwood is no stranger to the track himself after being an All-American athlete at his alma mater of Seton Hall. A 1998 graduate, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Behavioral Sciences/Psychology. On the track, Ellenwood set a Big East Conference record in the 55-meter dash during the indoor campaign, as well as finishing third in the event in the 1997 NCAA Indoor Championship. During his illustrious career, Ellenwood won five (5) Big East titles and was a three-time NCAA All-American.
While running with the Reebok Enclave, Ellenwood competed in the 2000 US Olympic trials in both the 100 and 200meter dash competitions. During the 2000 indoor season, he placed fourth overall in the US indoor Championships in the 200meter.
For his previous coaching experience, Ellenwood has enjoyed stints as a volunteer assistant coach at Essex County College in Newark, N.J., as well as coaching track & field athletes in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y. That includes volunteer efforts with SWAN (Southwest Area Neighborhood) and the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP).
"Giving back to your surrounding community is vital to inspire youth and others that may develop into great contributors to the sport of track and field in the future," comments Ellenwood. He is a USATF Level I Certified coach. During the 2004 USATF annual convention, Ellenwood was named the AAC event leader for the men's sprints.
Off the track and on the football field, Ellenwood enjoyed a brief stay with the Rochester Brigade during the 2001 season Arena 2 Football League. Coach Ellenwood is a native of Rochester, N.Y. and currently lives in Starkville, Miss. He resides with his wife, the former Joyce Harris, their six-year-old son Chadwick Ellenwood and their daughter Diamond Ellenwood, who is in her sophomore year at Mississippi State University.
