Former Middletown High School Athlete Leaps His Way to 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics
This post was originally written by Digital Content Intern Patrick LaPorte. LaPorte is a senior media communications major at the University of Delaware, working as a news and sports reporter for The Review and sports director for 91.3 WVUD at UD.
Middletown alumnus Marquis Dendy secured his spot to represent the United States in the upcoming Olympics after finishing second in the long jump with a jump of 27 feet, 6 inches (8.38 meters) at the U.S. Olympic Trials for track and field. The top three finish marks his second time qualifying for the Olympic Games. Dendy qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. He did not compete in the previous Olympiad due to a leg injury that forced him to withdraw before the beginning of the games.
Dendy, a graduate of Middletown High School in 2011, holds multiple state records that still stand to this day in the outdoor long jump and both the indoor and outdoor triple jump. Dendy set the state’s triple jump record with a jump of 50 feet, 10 3/4 inches in 2010. He followed up in the winter of 2011 with a jump of 52 feet, 1 1/2 inches to break the indoor state triple jump record. In his final season of outdoor track as a Cavalier, the future Olympian set the state record in the long jump with a leap of 24 feet, 6 1/4 inches.
From 2012-2015, Dendy attended the University of Florida while competing for its track and field team. As a collegiate athlete, Dendy broke the school’s record for triple jump in both indoor and outdoor track, while breaking the Florida indoor long jump record. Along with his numerous records as a Gator, he became a two-time indoor and two-time outdoor NCAA Champion in the long jump, along with a total of three NCAA Championship wins in the triple jump. He is also a 2015 USATF Outdoor Champion in the long jump.
Dendy’s second Olympic qualification came as former Padua Academy distance runner Lydia Olivere made her debut at the trials. She placed 28th overall in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:03.13. Olivere is a 2018 graduate that won a total of 12 state titles as a member of Padua’s cross country and track and field programs. She also won the Gatorade State Player of the Year five times from 2014 to 2018 and was the state MVP all four years in cross country. In the steeplechase, Olivere earned national and international recognition in the event after her freshman year at Villanova. She won the USATF U20 Championships with a time of 10:33.08 and followed up with a win in the Pan American U20 Championships in 10:12.16.
The Olympic games are set to begin on July 25 with track and field competition spanning from July 30 to Aug. 8.