MANSFIELD — Superintendent Teresa Murphy is pleased to announce that Mansfield High School teacher Derek Ellis has been voted into the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Ellis, who currently coaches girls track at Attleboro High School, is a wellness instructor at Mansfield High. He has been a teacher in the district since 2000, and has worked at both the Jordan/Jackson Elementary School and Mansfield High School as a physical education teacher.
He was the girls cross country, girls indoor track and girls spring track head coach at MHS up until 2019, bringing numerous titles to Mansfield including most recently the Hockomock League Meet Title for indoor track in 2019, Hockomock Dual Meet Title for indoor track in 2019, and the Hockomock Dual Meet Title for spring track in 2019.
Ellis will be inducted as a member of the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame, E-MAS division. His nomination was sent to the MSTCA executive board earlier this year for consideration and was then chosen as one of this year’s recipients.
Being named into the Hall of Fame is MSTCA’s highest honor.
In addition to his time coaching and teaching, Ellis has given a great deal of his time as an official timer for the Boston Marathon, serving recently as a live data feed timer in 2021 and 2022. He started his own timing company, Kick to the Finish, LLC, which times cross country and track and field meets as well as road races.
Throughout his 22 years in Mansfield he has also been a staple with Special Olympics at the district level, assisting in the planning process, training athletes to be prepared and supporting athletes at the event. He has consistently shown his ability to make accommodations and modifications to all of his programs to ensure that all students/athletes excel at every level.
For his commitments to student athletes he has been named Boston Globe Coach of the Year multiple times, among many other awards.
“We congratulate Mr. Ellis on this terrific achievement, which is the result of many dedicated years helping student-athletes reach their full potential,” Superintendent Murphy said.
Ellis will be presented with a formal award recognizing his induction at the MSTCA annual awards banquet on Sunday, Sept. 11 in West Bridgewater.
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