From attending seven hour school days filled with several advanced placement classes, filling the role of team captain at track practice every day after school, completing hours of nightly homework, to leading in TEAM Westport’s club meetings, Chet Ellis’ ’19 schedule is nothing short of packed.

The track star finds time in his schedule to serve as the president of the club TEAM Westport, which he founded, that discusses the effect race and diversity has in Westport.

“I think the club is important because Westport is not a very diverse town and often issues pertaining to race are overlooked,” Ellis said.

For Ellis, joining the Staples track and field squad his freshman year fulfilled his hopes of getting in shape for the following soccer season and through it, found he had a “knack,” as he calls it, for the sport. So much so that he made a verbal commitment to Harvard University to begin school in fall 2019 as both a student and a track and field athlete.

“At first I couldn’t find my event, but eventually found high jump,” Ellis said. “The school that immediately struck me as home was Harvard University. The coaching staff was really excited to see what I could do, and I was equally excited to be a part of the team.”

Ellis started his high jump career jumping 5’6 on the path to reach 6’10.25 his junior year awarding him FCIAC outdoor records, first place, state champion and All-American titles. Additionally, from his performance at nationals his junior year, he was ranked fourth in the nation for high jump. Ellis looks to enjoy his last Staples track season as a team captain.

“Captainship means being a leader,” Ellis said. “It means even when I’m injured or can’t practice I still try to teach and inspire the youngins.”

Teammates of Ellis believe he is a strong leader and contributes a great deal to the team.

“[Chet] has provided a good source of leadership to the underclassmen and knows how to get the job done,” Henry Haas ’19, co-captain with Ellis, said. “As a co-captain he is a good person to work with. He has strong goals and works hard to achieve what he wants. He will always find a way to get it and it makes others around him want to do the same.”