Track and Field Season Set to Start

The Delaware County Community College track team looks set to build off the momentum established by last year's successful campaign.

The 2023 season proved to be a historic one for the Phantoms as the men's track squad competed for the first time ever in DCCC athletics history.

Fred 'Tre' McCray assured the inaugural men's season was a memorable one as he ran into the record books as the first national qualifier from the men's program. McCray finished 12th in the 100 meter (11.06 seconds) and ninth in the 200m (22.49) at the NJCAA Division III Track and Field Championships in Utica, NY. 

Returning with McCray are fellow sophomores Thiernod 'Joseph' Faye, Ramadan Amm, and William MacIntosh. 

Javelin throwers Amm and MacIntosh, the lone field athletes on the roster, will serve as captains this year along with first-year Salah 'Dean' Iyun.

Head coach Cara Fordenbacher, a member of the 2020 Eastern University Women's Indoor Track and Field Middle Atlantic Conference Championship team, aims to continue to move the Phantoms forward  in her first year at the helm of the program.

Fordenbacher's roster will include several new faces among the 15 male athletes and one female athlete, Bintu Sheriff. 

Sheriff will be a short sprinter while the rest of the roster, besides Amm and MacIntosh, will consist of athletes in the short sprints, long sprints, and mid-distance events.

Another new face will be assistant coach Stephen Battle – a 2019 graduate of Neumann University who competed in middle-distance events as a Knight. Battle currently holds the Neumann program record in the 4x400m, 4x800m and 600m events. He also ranks among the Neumann program standouts for the 400m, 500m, 800m, and 1000m events.

Fordenbacher anticipates a memorable spring for the Phantoms.

"Coach Stephen and I are excited to see what this young group of athletes will accomplish this season," Fordenbacher said. "We believe we have some national-level talent and are excited to potentially represent the Phantoms in that way this season."

The Phantoms' first meet will take place on Saturday, March 16th at Towson University.