The track and field scene in Delaware over the years has produced multiple Olympians and several others who have represented the United States in international competition.
With the United States nearing its 250th anniversary of gaining independence, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time.
At the root of that are the high school athletes who became familiar names in their schools, communities and the state of Delaware while making headlines with their athletic exploits.
The USA TODAY Network hopes to first spotlight those individuals.
Here in Delaware, we’re compiling lists of the best players in several sports. We recently published a collection of the top Delaware athletes in football, field hockey, girls and boys basketball, baseball, softball and girls track and field. Now, it’s boys’ turn.
These are our choices for Delaware’s 10 best female track and field athletes, considering achievements across all levels of the sport, listed alphabetically:
Lamar Bruton
As a Howard senior, Bruton ran 47.02 at the 2013 Meet of Champions to set a 400 state record that still stands. In a postseason meet, the eight-time Division II champion set a high school personal best of 46.21 that is the state’s No. 1 all-time performance.
Over a collegiate career at Ohio State and LSU, Bruton was a three-time NCAA semifinalist in the 400.
The Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame inducted Bruton in 2025.
Eric Cannon
National champion in the 55 hurdles in 1985, Cannon is Delaware’s greatest high hurdler. He won state championships in the 110 hurdles outdoors three times and held the state record for 34 years before Middletown’s Brahmir Vick beat the mark by four hundredths of a second in 2019.
He was a six-time All-American at Pittsburgh. The Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame inducted Cannon in 2000.
Leshon Collins
The Glasgow Dragon graduated with state records in the 100 and 200 and the indoor 55, and won five Division I titles. After high school, he had an accomplished career at Houston as a multiple-time All-American before turning pro. In 2017, he ran on a World Relays-winning 4×100 team in the Bahamas.
Marquis Dendy
At Middletown, Dendy set state outdoor records in the long and triple jumps and was a two-time Penn Relays high school champion in the triple jump. Dendy was then a seven-time NCAA champion in the horizontal jumps at Florida. In 2015, he won The Bowerman as the NCAA’s top track and field athlete.
At the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Dendy finished first (2015), second (2017) and third (2013 and 2018) in the long jump and was also the 2016 U.S. indoor champ. He was the 2016 long jump winner at the World Indoor Championships and took bronze in 2018. Dendy made the 2016 and 2021 U.S. Olympic teams.
Chris Dunn
Dunn was state high jump champ at Newark in 1968 and 1969. He then went to Colgate, where he soared to IC4A, Penn Relays and NCAA indoor championships. Dunn cleared 7 feet, 3 inches to make the 1972 U.S. Olympic team. The Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame inducted Dunn in 1994.
Mike Roberts
Few have come close to matching Roberts’ string of excellence in the jumps. Roberts won five consecutive Division II state championships in high jump and four straight in triple jump. He graduated with the triple jump state record and also won state titles in the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and long jump. Roberts was the first male to win the same event four straight years at the New Castle County meet. He led Tower Hill to three D-II team titles.
Roberts placed eighth in the triple jump at the 2002 NCAA Championship at Seton Hall and later placed 10th in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials. The Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame inducted Roberts in 2015.
Dayne Ross
Ross set state records at 55, 100 and 200 as a high schooler at Hodgson. He won national outdoor high school championships in 1997 in the 100 and 200 while finishing third in the 60mand second in the 200 at the 1997 indoor high school championships.
Ross was a 15-time All-American and four-time NCAA Division II champion at Lincoln. The Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame inducted Ross in 2015.
Terry Thomas
Thomas entered his senior outdoor season at Howard ranked as the nation’s top shot putter. He did not disappoint, setting meet records throughout the spring and resetting his own shot put and discus state records. His discus record stood for 43 years before it was broken by Tatnall’s Max Martire in 2025. His shot put record of 64-8 set in 1982 still stands.
Thomas was Penn Relays high school shot put champion in 1982. He went on to earn all-conference honors at Florida and North Carolina State.
Kieran Tuntivate
Tuntivate won five Division I titles between the 1,600 and 3,200 at Charter of Wilmington and held the 1,600 state record for nine years. He remains second all-time in the 1,600 and fifth in the 3,200.
At Harvard, Tuntivate became the second Delawarean to break four minutes in the mile. He now runs professionally for Bowerman Track Club and represents Thailand in international competitions. He has set multiple national records, including in the 1,500, 5k and 10k. Tuntivate competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Vic Zwolak
Zwolak set the mile state record running at Salesianum, then kept galloping to more triumphs at Villanova. He won NCAA 3,000 steeplechase titles in 1963 and 1964 and also captured the NCAA cross country title over four miles in between. In the 1964 IC4A meet, he won the three-mile run in meet-record time and, in a race that started 33 minutes later, prevailed in the 3,000 steeplechase. Zwolak then ran for the U.S. in the steeplechase at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.
Kevin Tresolini contributed.
Brandon Holveck reports on high school sports for The News Journal. Contact him at bholveck@delawareonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Who is Delaware’s all-time best male track and field athlete? VOTE now
