Delethea Quarles - Director of Track & Field and Cross Country - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

2023 JMU Invite - Senior Photo w/Coaches

Delethea Quarles

Title:
Director of Track & Field and Cross Country
Email:
Phone:
540-568-6544
Physical Address:
Convocation Center 1046 (895 University Blvd) / MSC 4705

Delethea Quarles enters her fourth season in Harrisonburg and was hired to lead the Dukes’ track and field and cross country programs as director in August of 2022.

In 2024-25, the Dukes notched five school records across the indoor and outdoor seasons and posted a second-place finish at the ECAC Indoor Championship.

The outdoor season saw JMU host the Sun Belt Championship where five Dukes earned all-conference honors: Holly Mpassy (Second Team), Christine Fitzgerald (Third Team), Erica Moolman (Third Team), Esther Saint-Germain (Third Team) and Kadence Wilson (Third Team). At the world-famous Penn Relays, Kaia Putman, Mpassy, Faith Fuqua and Kyndal Turner produced a school-record time of 45.21 in the 4x100-meter relay.

At the ECAC Indoor Championship, Jordyn Henderson captured the 60-meter hurdles crown, while Alayna Gifford, Esther Saint-Germain, Merrick Mock and Kylie Brooks earned gold in the distance medley relay. The SBC indoor meet saw Henderson and Mpassy achieve Second Team All-Conference status in the 60-meter hurdles and 400-meter dash, respectively.

During the cross country season, Katherine Lawson placed second at the Sun Belt Cross Country Championships with a personal-best 5K time of 17.10.5 to be named First Team All-conference.

The 2023-24 school year saw the Dukes finish second at the Sun Belt Conference Cross Country Championships and 26 top-10 program marks across the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons, highlighted by school records set by distance runner Miranda Stanhope (10,000m - 33:43.48) and hurdler Jordyn Henderson (60-meter Hurdles - 8.30).

During the outdoor season, Stanhope captured the 10,000-meter crown at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships and set the program record in the event earlier in the season at the Penn Relays (33:43.48). Pole vaulter Erica Moolman earned bronze at the conference meet, clearing 3.72m (12-2.5).

Stanhope (3,000m & 5,000m) and Henderson (60m Hurdles) earned all-conference honors at the league’s indoor meet. At the ECAC Indoor Championships, sprinter Kaia Putman won the 60-meter dash and second in the 200-meter dash and was named Women’s Athlete of the Meet for leading JMU to a runner-up team finish.

In her first year at James Madison, the Dukes set eight program records across the outdoor, indoor, and cross country seasons. The outdoor season saw Skyla Davidson (triple jump) and Shelby Staib (javelin) qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Championships. The Dukes finished ninth out of 13 teams at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships, with six JMU student-athletes making it to the podium. Sprinters Holly Mpassy (400m) and Asia Powell (100m) produced program-best times of 54.36 and 11.50, respectively.

The Dukes wrapped up their indoor slate with a runner-up finish at the ECAC Indoor Championships, highlighted by an event title in the triple jump from Davidson at 12.60m (41- 4.25). Miranda Stanhope set the school record in the 3,000-meter (9:23.40) and 5,000-meter (16:14.31) races. Stanhope notched a first-place finish in the 3,000-meter competition at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships in 9:35.15 for First Team All-Conference Honors.

Quarles brought on fellow Liberty alumna Rebekah Ricksecker to lead the James Madison cross country team. Ricksecker guided the team to an eighth-place finish at the ECAC Championships (10/14/2022) and a third-place finish at the program's first-ever appearance at the Sun Belt Cross Country Championships (10/28/22). Stanhope earned Second Team All-Conference honors and set school records in the 5K (17:05.9) and 6K (20:12.4) distances.

Quarles spent the last 25 years with one of the nation’s elite track and field programs at South Carolina, including the last 18 years as assistant head coach with oversight of the jumps and multi-events along with factoring prominently in all recruiting, operational and academic activities. “Coach Dee” helped guide the Gamecocks to a NCAA national championship in 2002 and coached a pair of NCAA individual champions

The Covington, Va. Native arrived at South Carolina in 1997 as assistant coach and was promoted to assistant head coach in 2005. USC captured SEC team outdoor championships in 1999, 2002 and 2005 to go along with the 2002 national title. The Gamecocks achieved 57 total top-25 team finishes with Quarles on staff, including 29 top-10 team results.

Four women earned national athlete of the year honors with Quarles on staff. Altogether, the program tallied 43 individual and relay titles since 1998, including a pair of outdoor high jump champions in 2015 and 2021. Of the 621 total All-Americans at USC during her career, 50 came from her direct oversight of the jumps and multi-events. Her student-athletes accounted for nine of the squad’s 82 total points en route to the 2002 national title, the first for South Carolina in any sport.

At America’s premier annual track meet, the Penn Relays, Quarles’ jumpers won 10 Championship of America and two college division titles, including three straight men’s long jump wins by Yann Randrianasolo from 2017-2019. Since 1998, Carolina athletes also won 26 Championship of America relay wagon wheels, and Gamecock alumni claimed 19 USA vs. the World relay victories.

While Quarles’s primary focus is on her athletes, her tremendous impact throughout the industry has led to numerous individual awards and honors. She’s served on the Team USA staff at each of the last four IAAF World Championships, including serving as the women’s team head coach at the 2015 event in Beijing. Collegiately, she was named USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year in 2018.

Throughout her three decades as a college coach, including 25 seasons at South Carolina, Quarles has stood for much more than on-track success. In fact, Quarles served as the coaching staff’s academic liaison for nearly two decades, and she worked just as hard to instill the importance of academic success as she does helping her athletes clear the next bar. During Quarles’s tenure, the Gamecock program earned four USTFCCCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Carolina has also earned five SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year titles. As a team, the Carolina women were honored as USTFCCA Academic National Champions in 2006, and the Carolina men won the award in 2009 for their classroom prowess.

Citizenship and community service are also pillars of Quarles’s mindset as she guides her student-athletes. With Quarles serving as mentor, Carolina’s Maya Evans was named the 2017 SEC Brad Davis Community Service Leader of the Year, an all-sports award.

A USTFCCCA member since 1997, Quarles is an important voice in the world of track & field far beyond what happens inside of the oval. She’s served on the USTFCCCA’s Women’s Development and Heptathlon Committees for 25 years, helping to set the sport’s agenda in both areas. She was part of the NCAA’s Minority Coaches Leadership Development program in 2017, which was also the first year she began serving on the USATF’s Women’s Commission.

Quarles began her career at her alma mater, Liberty, serving as an assistant coach for eight seasons. The Flames captured both men’s and women’s titles in the Big South in 1994, 1995 and 1996. She also represented the athletic department on the NCAA’s Gender Equity Committee.

A member of the Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame, Quarles helped the Flames capture outdoor conference titles in 1988 and 1989. She is a three-time All-American and placed fifth in the heptathlon at the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championship. She was the first athlete in program history to accumulate 200 points in a season and claimed an event title in the 100-meter hurdles in the 1989 Penn Relays. Her program record in the event stood for more than 20 years.

Quarles is a 1990 graduate of Liberty with a Bachelor of Science in psychology.