Most superior athletes have mentors and coaches they can point to as having been especially important to them for one reason or another at various points in their careers. For 2020 USA National Pole Vault Champion and SPIRE Local Elite alum Matt Ludwig, one of those inspirational coaches is SPIRE IA’s Director of Track and Field Charlie Powell.

An internationally acclaimed coach and track and field legend, Charlie Powell is one of the gifted, experienced coaches who has helped build individual athletes’ success for the past decade. A one-time decathlete and hurdler himself, Powell has had a 30-year career coaching collegiate track and field at the highest levels.

Powell, a Western Kentucky alum, led the University of Pennsylvania Quakers for 30 years. Highly regarded as one of the most passionate figures and effective coaches in collegiate track and field, Powell has been the Director of Track & Field at SPIRE IA since 2011.

Ludwig, a graduate of Lake Catholic High School, is currently a senior at the University of Akron. Earlier this year, in a dual meet against Kent State, the 22-year old First Team All-American cleared 19 feet, 1½ inches (5.83 meters) to claim the world’s best mark of the current indoor track and field season.

In addition to Ludwig, Powell has trained many other NCAA qualifiers, champions and All-Americans. He has also trained Olympians over the course of his illustrious coaching career and served as the US Olympic Development Director for the 800–400 group for 16 years.

According to Powell, SPIRE IA is one of the best—if not the best—track and field complexes in the world. Located in Geneva, Ohio near Lake Erie, SPIRE’s outdoor track and field facilities include an 8-lane, 400-meter polyurethane international track with 48” wide lanes, four long jump pits, eight high jump positions, four pole vault boxes and an adjacent “throw stadium” that meets IAAF standards. Indoors, SPIRE’s track and field complex includes an 8-lane, 300-meter Beynon track and a separate field event area with two high jump, two long jump and two pole vault pits, as well as two shot put circles and a portable weight throw cages for discus, shot and weight throws. Rounding out the training area is a 25,000 sq. ft. Performance Training Center that focuses on physical conditioning, mental skills training and nutrition/hydration education for track and field athletes.