Delco Community College Athletes Qualify For National Track Meet

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — Six student-athletes from Delaware County Community College have secured their sports in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Outdoor Track and Field National Meet, all without a track of their own.

According to the college, the nationals qualifiers, with their events and high school and hometowns, are:

• Fatumata Kaba, Academy Park High School, Sharon Hill – Women’s 100m, Long Jump and Triple Jump
• Daishon Billops, Imhotep Charter High School, Darby Township – Men’s 110m High Hurdles
• Aidan Heppard, Ridley High School, Swarthmore – Men’s 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m Relay
• Fred 'Tre' McCray, Upper Darby High School, Upper Darby– Men’s 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m Relay
• Daniel McLaughlin, Strath Haven High School, Rutledge – Men’s 110m High Hurdles, 400m Intermediate Hurdles and 4 x 100m Relay
• Jimmy Love, Ridley High School, Ridley – Men’s 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m Relay

The meet will be held May 8-10, 2025, in Utica, New York.

Throughout the cold, rainy late winter and early spring, the athletes have been working out twice a week at 6:30 a.m. at Interboro High School track in Prospect Park and twice a week at DCCC’s Marple Campus.

And each weekend, they have continued to run faster and jump farther, setting school and personal records in the process of qualifying for nationals.

Thrilled for their athletes are Phantoms head coach Cara Fordenbacher and assistant coach Elisa Ford.

Fordenbacher ran cross-country and track and field for Eastern University in St. Davids, and was a member of the first indoor track conference championship team in Eastern’s history.

Ford has experience herself on a national stage. She competed in track and field for Arizona State University and was a 1980 Olympic hopeful whose dreams were dashed by the U.S.’s boycott of those Games. She continues to compete and will be participating in the 2025 National Senior Games this coming July.

"Being a part of a Varsity Athletics program at a community college affords students with a robust collegiate experience. Athletes can take college classes at an affordable price, while also representing their school as an athlete," Fordenbacher said. "DCCC in particular offers great resources and support to students to help them on their academic journey, as well as many opportunities to get involved on campus whether in a sport or club, in a work-study position, or through participating in events on campus."

DCCC Athletics Director Dwayne Saunders is extremely proud of what the student-athletes and coaches have achieved thus far and is looking forward to their performances at the NJCAA Div. III National Meet

"This provides a great opportunity for Delaware County Community College athletics, and DCCC as a whole," he said.