Sept. 18, 2014
COLUMBIA, S.C. – On Sept. 19, South Carolina assistant head coach for track and field, Delethea Quarles, will be inducted to Liberty University’s Athletics Hall of Fame. Quarles is one of a five-member class, the sixth to be inducted by the University.
“Getting the phone call from Liberty’s athletic director Jeff Barber was one of the most exciting calls I ever received,” Quarles said. “Since that call it’s been moments filled with so much joy but also disbelief. `Me? A hall of famer?’ This is truly an honor to be recognized as an ambassador of my university.
“Liberty is home and a place that assisted in my growth as a student athlete, young adult, coach, and woman of God,” Quarles continued. “My upbringing by my parents with lessons about the importance of academics and to be responsible and accountable, kind and caring to all people, and living a life that is pleasing to our Savior was the foundation to stand on as I have been given the opportunity to be a part of the world’s most powerful platform, athletics.
“The sport of track and field has given me opportunities to change the world one student at a time. The sport has allowed me to travel all 50 states and many other countries. I have encountered coaching the best athletes in the world. I am grateful to my beginnings in small Covington, Va., where my parents were the teachers and examples of hard work, respect, discipline, responsibility, accountability, and most important, making the best of what you were given.”
The five-member class will have an induction ceremony at the Club Pavilion level of the Williams Stadium Tower on Sept. 19, while the class will receive special recognition during the football game versus Bryant the following evening.
The Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame honors those who helped shape the face of Liberty Athletics. The Hall of Fame’s now 32 members have each played a key role in helping Liberty athletics’ growth since its inception as a NCAA program in 1972.
After joining Liberty following her freshman season in college, Quarles helped the Lady Flames start a dominant run in the Mason-Dixon Conference and jumpstart the program’s success at the Division I level.
Quarles helped Liberty claim indoor and outdoor track conference championship titles during her junior and senior campaigns (1988 and 1989), thanks to her standout performances in the heptathlon. She earned All-America honors in the event in 1987 and 1988, placing fifth in the heptathlon at the NCAA Division II National Championship.
A three-time All-American, Quarles was the first student-athlete in program history (men’s or women’s) to score more than 200 points in a season and one of only 11 in program history to do so at any level of competition (227.5 points as a senior). The 1989 Penn Relays 100-meter hurdles champion held the program record in the event for more than 20 years before it was broken in 2010.
“An opportunity that impacted my set of choices was meeting my college coach, Brant Tolsma,” Quarles noted. “My journey that took us to Liberty was improved resources to be better at what we did. It became the next level of opportunity for me to be a better student-athlete and I believe showcased the great coach he is. Liberty provided me the beginning stages in my coaching career, learning all aspects of running a successful program.”
She served as an assistant coach on Liberty’s staff for eight years (1990-97), before joining the coaching staff at South Carolina where she has helped more than 20 student-athletes earn All-America honors and six SEC championships.
“I feel that every `right now’ moment is cause `to seize the moment,’ to be your best and that moment will prepare you for the next chosen opportunity,” Quarles added. “The things I learned before taking the job at South Carolina prepared me to handle athletics on a bigger stage, faster pace, and performing at a high level.”
Since joining South Carolina, Quarles has coached 11 of the 14 school record holders in the events for which she is responsible for, and was a member of the staff that guided the women’s team to the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
“Coach Quarles came [to South Carolina] 18 years ago, an outstanding athlete and an outstanding lady from Liberty University,” South Carolina head track and field coach Curtis Frye said. “I saw Coach Quarles as an athlete when I was at NC State coaching and she was a fantastic athlete at Campbell College, and then she disappeared. I found out later that she had gone to Liberty and went on to be an All-American. Then I saw her as a coach a few years later and said, `if I ever get an opportunity as a head coach, that’s the kind of coach I would like to have, someone who related to the athletes well.’ Then I got the job at South Carolina. She had turned down a lot of jobs when she came down to interview for us, because others had seen what I saw. She was someone who could relate to young athletes and still could coach. She didn’t just make a decision based on South Carolina and the SEC, she had her support system in place to help her with the decision. Liberty is inducting a great spirit and a person that is a role model for young women and a great coach who was a former great athlete. There’s nothing like going home and being appreciated.”
“I am approaching my 18th season here at Carolina,” Quarles said. “I have experienced several Southeastern Conference team titles, the first team national championship title in the university’s history. A 10-year stint of being a Top 10 team in the country, holding a host of school records in my disciplines. I have been responsible for coaching the jumps and combined events, which has produced many All- Americans, several All-SEC honors, conference champions and NCAA runner-ups.”
As the team’s academic liaison since 1997, Quarles has helped propel GPAs for the women’s team to 3.4 and 3.0 for the men. Both teams have had NCAA Scholar teams, several individual CoSIDA awards and NCAA scholar athletes.
In addition, under Quarles’ guidance, former Gamecock Chelsea Hammond became the first multi-event student-athlete in South Carolina history to qualify for the Olympics as she competed for Jamaica at the 2008 Olympic Games in the long jump. In 2012, Jeannelle Scheper became the first Gamecock to earn an All-America certificate in the high jump, doing so in both the indoor and outdoor season. She added another pair of All-America honors in 2013 to go with an indoor SEC title, the NCAA Championships indoor silver and the SEC outdoor bronze, all firsts for a Gamecock. Scheper also qualified for the 2013 IAAF World Championships. The St. Lucia native returned in 2014 to capture her second-straight silver at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Quarles’ success over the years has also given her the opportunity to gain extensive international experience working with Team USA. She has served on the past two staffs for the IAAF World Championships, being responsible for the jumps and multis for the women’s team in 2013 in Moscow and jumps in 2011 in Daegu, South Korea. In 2007 Quarles was the head coach of the USA Pan American Junior Championship Women’s Team that competed in Brazil. In 2006, she was an assistant coach for Team USA at the World Cup in Athens, Greece, and in 2005, she helped the USA capture 57 medals, the second-highest all-time at the Pan American Championships that were held in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
“I’m grateful for every person that has invested in me and every place of opportunity that has made me who I am today,” Quarles noted. “No place for me has been a stepping stone but a place that has prepared me for my next thing in life.”
