BEREA, Ohio – Baldwin Wallace University Head Men's and Women's Track and Field Coach Dan Simpson has announced the hiring of United State Olympic and NCAA Division I Champion pole vaulter Matt Ludwig as an assistant coach in charge of pole vault.

"We are beyond thrilled to add the caliber of athlete as Matt to our coaching staff," stated Simpson. "It's not every day that you can bring on a coach that has competed at the highest levels from the Olympics to NCAA Division I Championships.  His knowledge and experience in pole vaulting will help to mentor our incoming vaulters to levels we expect to be the best in the Ohio Athletic Conference and in Division III.  We can't wait for him to get started and to ignite a new tradition of excellence for our track and field program."

Ludwig, who competes professionally, comes to BW after serving last season as the pole vault coach at NCAA Division I University of Illinois.

"I am excited to work alongside Coach Simpson to support and develop a great team at Baldwin Wallace," said Ludwig.  "I am grateful to bring experience as a professional athlete, Olympian, and NCAA coach to help further the program.  I value the opportunity to work with a program near my hometown and be involved with this hard-working community.  The Yellow Jackets have a good leader and a promising future, and I'm thrilled to be on board."

Professionally, Ludwig placed 19th in the pole vault at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad hosted in Tokyo.  He has also taken home medals at the 2021 Golden Fly Event Series Jumps Meet, 2021 International Golden Roof Challeng2020 USA Indoor Championships, 2019 International Pole Vault Invitational, 2021 USA Track and Field Golden Games, 2020 Grand Prix Meeting, 2020 USA Indoor Championship and 2019 International Pole Vault Invitational.

Ludwig, a native of Chardon and a graduate of Lake Catholic High School, earned a Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering from the University of Akron in 2019.  While at Akron, he was a six time All-American (three each indoor and outdoor), three-time Mid-American Conference (MAC) Indoor Pole Vault Champion, two-time MAC Indoor Most Outstanding Field Performer, 2019 NCAA Division I Great Lakes Region Indoor Field Athlete of the Year Award recipient, the 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Pole Vault.  Off the track, Ludwig was a four-time Academic All-MAC performer and 2018 MAC Distinguished Scholar Honor winner.