Ermelinda Spies

Assistant Track & Field Coach

Ermelinda Spies is in her sixth year as a full-time assistant coach in the Pittsburg State University track & field program. She came to Pitt State after spending three seasons as a full-time assistant coach at Virginia Military Institute.

Spies plays an integral role in all aspects of the track & field program, with an emphasis on fall training, recruiting and evaluation of student-athletes.  During indoor and outdoor competition seasons, Spies works closely with athletes competing in the sprints and jumps.

Spies, a native of Albania, competed collegiately at Western State (Colo.) College where she was a four-time NCAA Division II National Champion in the triple jump and a nine-time All-American in the long jump and triple jump.  Additionally, she was named the 1999 NCAA Division II Athlete of the Year and Western State inducted her into its Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.

Spies earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Western State College in 1999.  She earned a master’s degree in exercise science in 2001 from Fort Hays State University, where she served as a graduate assistant in the track & field program for two seasons prior to taking the full-time position at VMI.

Ermelinda and her husband Robert, the head track & field coach at Fort Scott Community College, reside in Pittsburg.  The couple have a son Davian Jacob, who turns four on July 9, and a daugher Sofia Adria who turns one on May 12.