Ellis joined the Tornado staff prior to the 2019-20 season as an assistant coach was was named interim head coach for cross country and track & field in August on 2021. In October of 2021, the interim tag was removed as Ellis was named head coach for both the cross country and track & field programs. Ellis led the Tornado women's cross country team to a Conference Carolinas championship in 2021 and was named Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year.

Athlete Honors - Women's Cross Country

• As head coach
  • 10 All-Conference Carolinas selections
  • 2 Conference Carolinas Elite 23 Award recipients
  • 2 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selection
  • 1 Conference Carolinas Runner of the Week honoree
  • 4 Academic All-Conference Carolinas honorees
  • 2 USTFCCCA Academic All-Region honorees
• As assistant coach
  • 1 USTFCCCA All-Region honoree
  • 2 Academic All-Conference Carolinas selections
  • 6 All-Conference Carolinas honorees

King Highlights - Women's Cross Country

• As a head coach
  • 2022 Conference Carolinas champions
  • 2022 Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year
  • 2021 Conference Carolinas champions
  • 2021 Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year
• As assistant coach
  • Runner-up at the 2020 Conference Carolinas Championship
  • Conference Carolinas Championship (2019)
  • Conference Carolinas Messick Sportsmanship Award (2019)

Conference Carolinas Finishes

2022 - 1st (head coach)
2021 - 1st (interim head coach)
2020 - 2nd (assistant coach)
2019 - 1st (assistant coach)

Year-By-Year Highlights

2022: King won their second straight Conference Carolinas title, edging Converse University and UNC Pembroke. Ashley Doyle earned first team All-Conference Carolinas accolades while Tea Troche-Jones, Emily Ward and Mandy Lowery earned second team honors and Morgan Whitley garnered third team recognition. Katy Neubert won the Conference Carolinas Elite 23 award for the second straight year and became the second Tornado athlete to win the Conference Carolinas Murphy Osborne award. She also garnered College Sports Communicators Academic All-District for the second straight year.

2021: The Tornado made a comeback for the ages at the Conference Carolinas Cross Country Championship. King trailed UNC Pembroke, but put together an outstanding final 2k to win the Conference Carolinas championship. Ellis was named Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year while five Tornado earned All-Conference Carolinas honors. Chloe Wade was named to the first team, Ashley Doyle and Meg Davis were on the second team and Destiny Haller and Morgan Whitley were on the third team. Katy Neubert was also the recipient of the Conference Carolinas Elite 23 Award. At the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship, the Tornado finished 14th.

2020-21: In what was an odd year as the Conference Carolinas Championship was run at the end of January due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tornado finished runner-up. Meg Davis earned first team all-conference honors while Katy Neubert and Destiny Haller garnered second team recognition.

2019: The Tornado won their fourth Conference Carolinas title and had three runners garner all-conference honors. Kirstin Barton earned all-region and first team all-conference honors while Kaitlin Rivera earned second team all-conference recognition and Katy Neubert garnered third team all-conference accolades. The Tornado finished 12th at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championships.

Athlete Honors - Men's Cross Country

• As head coach
  • 6 Academic All-Conference Carolinas honoree
  • 1 USTFCCCA Academic All-Region honorees
• As assistant coach
  • 6 All-Conference Carolinas honorees
  • 5 Academic All-Conference Carolinas selections

King Highlights - Men's Cross Country

• As assistant coach
  • 2nd at Conference Carolinas Championships in 2020
  • 5th at Conference Carolinas Championships in 2019
  • 19th at NCAA Division II Southeast Regional

Conference Carolinas Finishes

2022 - 11th (head coach)
2021 - 9th (interim head coach)
2020 - 2nd (assistant coach)
2019 - 5th (assistant coach)

Year-By-Year Highlights

2022: King finished 11th at the Conference Carolinas Championship and 16th at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship. Mason Thomas, Jake Allison, Josh Booher, Jordan Keith, Jesus Pacheco all earned Academic All-Conference Carolinas.

2021: The Tornado finished ninth at the Conference Carolinas Cross Country Championship, led by Blaine Metcalf. Kade McDonald was named Academic All-Conference Carolinas and Josh Booher garnered USTFCCCA Academic All-Southeast Region. The Tornado then finished 17th at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship.

2020-21: In what was an odd year as the Conference Carolinas Championship was run at the end of January due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tornado finished runner-up. Jordan Keith led the way, earning first team all-conference honors. Kade McDonald garnered second team all-conference honors while Josh Booher, Jesus Pacheco and Jake Allison all earned third team distinction.

2019: The Tornado finished fifth at the Conference Carolinas Championships and were led by Kyle Hart who finished 14th to earn third team All-Conference Carolinas honors. The Tornado then finished 19th at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championships.

Athlete Honors - Men's Track & Field

• As head coach
  • 1 USTFCCCA All-Region selection
  • 2 All-Conference Carolinas selection
  • 1 USTFCCCA All-Region honoree
  • 5 Academic All-Conference Carolinas honorees
• As assistant coach
  • 1 USTFCCCA All-Region honoree
  • 1 Conference Carolinas Scholar-Athlete of the Year
  • 2 indoor All-Conference Carolinas selections
  • 7 outdoor All-Conference Carolinas honorees
  • 5 Academic All-Conference Carolinas honorees

King Highlights - Men's Track & Field

Conference Carolinas Finishes

2022 - indoor - 10th; outdoor - 10th (head coach)
2021 - indoor - 8th; outdoor - 8th (assistant coach)
2020 - indoor - 9th; outdoor - canceled due to covid-19 pandemic (assistant coach)

Year-By-Year Highlights

2021-22: Kolin Miller earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the weight throw during the indoor season. The Tornado finished 10th at both the indoor and outdoor Conference Carolinas Indoor Track & Field Championships. Miller finished third in the weight throw and set the school record throughout the season. Clathon Henfield finished runner-up in the long jump at the Conference Carolinas Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Miller also set the school record during the outdoor season in the hammer throw.

2020-21: Kolin Miller earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the hammer throw during the outdoor season. During the outdoor season he earned second team all-conference honors in the hammer throw and third team honors in the shot put while Blaine Metcalf earned third team recognition in the 3000 meter steeplechase. In the indoor season, Miller earned third team all-conference honors in the weight throw while Reed Samuel garnered second team honors in the long jump.

2019-20: During the indoor season, the Tornado finished ninth at the Conference Carolinas Indoor Championships. The outdoor season was canceled due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.The four seniors were selected All-Conference Carolinas

Athlete Honors - Women's Track & Field

• As head coach
  • 2 Conference Carolinas Freshmen of the Year
  • 11 All-Conference Carolinas selections
  • 1 CoSIDA Academic All-District selection
  • 4 Academic All-Conference Carolinas honorees
• As assistant coach
  • 1 Conference Carolinas Elite 23 award recipient
  • 5 Academic All-Conference Carolinas honorees
  • 4 indoor All-Conference Carolinas honorees
  • 6 outdoor All-Conference honorees

King Highlights - Women's Track & Field

• 10th at Conference Carolinas Indoor Championships

Conference Carolinas Finishes

2022 - indoor - 6th; outdoor - 11th (head coach)
2021 - indoor - 9th; outdoor - 10th (assistant coach)
2020 - indoor - 10th; outdoor - canceled due to covid-19 pandemic (head coach)

Year-By-Year Highlights

2021-22: The Tornado finished sixth at the Conference Carolinas Indoor Track & Field Championships and 11th at the Conference Carolinas Outdoor Track & Field Championships, and had numerous outstanding individual performances. The distance medley relay team won the conference championship during the indoor season. Ashley Doyle was selected Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons. She won conference titles in the 3000 meters during the indoor season and the 10,000 meters during the outdoor season. Doyle also finished runner-up in the 5000 meters at the indoor and outdoor championships. Chloe Wade (mile) and Katy Neubert (800 meters) both took runner-up finishes as the indoor championships while Ruthie Fripp took third at the outdoor championships in the discus.

2020-21: Katy Neubert won the 800 meter dash at the Conference Carolinas Indoor Championships with Meg Davis taking second for the second straight year. At the outdoor championships, Whitney Christian finished third in the 400 meter hurdles to earn all-conference honors.

2019-20: Katy Neubert won the 800 meter dash at the Conference Carolinas Indoor Championships with Meg Davis taking second. The duo garnered first and second team all-conference honors, respectively. The Tornado finished 11th at the Conference Carolinas Indoor Championships. The outdoor season was canceled due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The four seniors were selected All-Conference Carolinas

Prior to King

Ellis was a captain of the cross country and track & field teams at Milligan College. In that time he was a three-time NAIA All-American and the 2017 Milligan College Athlete of the Year. He also was a seven-time NAIA National Championships qualifier and 2014 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Runner of the Year.

Following his graduation, Ellis worked in community relations for the international justice mission in Gulu, Uganda. While there he planned and implemented numerous community outreach events and interviewed clients and staff for publications. When he returned to the States, Ellis most recently worked as an insurance agent at the Mackie Financial Group in Johnson City, Tenn.

Personal

Ellis graduated from Milligan in 2017 with a Bachelor of History and Bachelor of Business Administration in Legal Studies.