Bubby Dent Biography

DuPont High School / (Class of 1985) Belle, West Virginia

Classification: AAA

Specialty: Distance

University of Charleston /Charleston, West Virginia

Glenville State College / (Class 1989) Glenville, West Virginia

Charles W "Bubby" Dent, Jr (born June 18, 1966), a Kanawha County native and DuPont High School athlete, was a former Glenville State star, and a distance-running state track champion in high school who was also an outstanding football player. He is the son of the late Charles and Helen Dent, Sr, and has an older sister, Sherri.

Early Years:

Tragedy struck early in Bubby Dent’s childhood. When he was in the fourth grade he lost his mother as a victim to a drunk driver. By the time he was in the seventh grade, his father was shot to death.

At that time, he turned to sports as an outlet. As a ninth grader, he led Dupont Junior High’s football team to an 8-0 record and the Kanawha County Championship. He also ran a 2:06 800-meters in track to establish a county mark. All this was just a preview to what he would accomplish in high school.

High School (1983-1985):

Dent attended Class AAA Dupont High, ending his high school career with five state track titles (four individual), one state meet record, one high point title and several personal records.

As a sophomore, Dent won the state title at 800-meters in 1:57.39, while Brian Redman, who was a distance standout at Keyser, finished runner-up with a time of 1:58.30.

As a junior, Dent ran a record that would last twenty-six years at the state high school championship track meet. At the meet, Dent broke the Class AAA 800-meter run record with a time of 1:54.32. He was selected by USA Today as an honorable mention runner on its All-USA High School Track & Field Team.

During his senior year of high school, Dent won the 800m again. He just missed breaking his 1984 state meet record by .08 hundredths of a second with a 1:54.4 time. He also won the 1600-meter run in a time of 4:19.2 (only a second off the state record). He was anchorman for DuPont’s state champion 4 x 800m relay team (Roach, SanMiguel, Jordan, Dent) with a time of 8:02.7 and was the top individual scorer in Class AAA with 22 ½ points.

For his efforts that year, he was named All-Kanawha Valley Conference Track & Field Team, West Virginia Track Athlete of the Year, and was selected for the second straight year by USA Today as an honorable mention runner on its All-USA High School Track & Field Team.

Dent was the captain of DuPont’s football team as a senior. He was the Kanawha Valley’s all-conference tight-end that season.

On May 22nd, 2010, Andy Bailey of St. Albans broke a 26-year-old record in the Class AAA 800. His time of 1:54.03 broke the mark of 1:54.32 set by DuPont’s Bubby Dent in 1984.

After graduation Bubby went to the University of Charleston to run for the Golden Eagles.

College (1986-1989):

In the fall of 1985 (cross country season), while at the University of Charleston, Bubby Dent placed 7th at the WVIAC Cross Country Championship with a time of 28:31, while earning All-Conference honors. The UC Men’s Cross-Country Team won the WVIAC cross country title with 33 points, while West Liberty was 2nd (37), D&E 3rd (58), West Virginia State 4th (120), Glenville 5th (121), West Virginia Tech 6th (132). [Note: Fairmont only had 3 runners.] The meet was held at West Virginia Tech. During the post-season, Bubby Dent was the top Golden Eagle runner, finishing the 8K course in 30:08 for the 208th spot at the NAIA Cross Country National Championship at Kenosha, WI, while the UC Men’s Cross-Country team finished 38th place.

During indoor track season, Dent finished 13th in the nation at 800-meters at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championship.

In the spring of 1986 (outdoor track season), he won WVIAC titles in the 800, 1500, and 5000 meter races as a freshman for the University of Charleston. His 3:53 time in the 1500m ranked him third in the nation and his 1:56 800m was a conference record.

Tragedy struck again while Bubby Dent was attending college. During the winter of 1986, his best friend through childhood, Bobby Roach (also a teammate on DuPont’s state champion 4x800 team) was involved in a wreck and paralyzed. Again, the accident was caused by a drunk driver.

The University of Charleston dropped their running program, so Bubby transferred to Glenville State College to run for the Pioneers. When asked why he chose Glenville, Dent replied, "There are several reasons why I chose Glenville. I wanted to be on a good team, and I really liked the guys up here. Training up here sure beats training in the heart of the city, and the track here is simply the best in the state. Coach Geary kept in touch all last summer and eventually convinced me that Glenville would be best for me."

Later at GSC he ran for Coach Jesse Skiles, a Belle native and DuPont High graduate, who was a standout runner at Glenville State during his college days. Skiles got the coaching position at the age of twenty-two before even getting his diploma in hand.

While at GSC, Dent was a three-time All-Conference runner in Cross Country, winning the Individual Championship twice in his college career (1988, 1989). He also competed in track, excelling in the 800m, 1500m, and steeplechase.

In February of 1987 (indoor track season), Dent represented GSC in the 880-meter run at the Indoor Nationals at Kansas City. He missed being an All-American by one place and .57 of a second.

In the fall of 1987 (cross country season), he placed 5th with a time of 25:42 at the WVIAC Cross Country Championship, while earning All-Conference honors. The Glenville Men’s Cross-Country Team won the WVIAC cross country title with 30 points, while D&E was 2nd (56), West Liberty 3rd (63), Fairmont 4th (82), WV Tech 5th (137). Note: West Virginia Wesleyan only had 1 runner. The meet was held at Glenville State College. In the post season, Dent was GSC’s second finisher in 26:44 for 165th place at the NAIA Cross Country National Championship, while the Pioneers finished 25th as a team.

In the spring of 1988 (outdoor track season), in only his first meet of the track season, Bubby Dent qualified in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the NAIA national meet. Dent won the event in a time of 9:24.1, breaking the existing GSC school record by almost two seconds. The record was set by Dent’s teammate, Andy Jarrell, in 1987. In the post season, he ran fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:07.2 at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championship at Azusa, California. He earned NAIA All-American honors in the steeplechase.

In fall of 1988 (cross country season), Dent collected an impressive number of individual cross-country titles with a total of five titles. These titles were results of the Glenville Invitational, Davis & Elkins Forest Festival, West Liberty Invitational, Davis & Elkins Meet and the WVIAC Finals. Dent won the individual title at the WVIAC Cross Country Championship, while earning All-Conference honors. Once again, the Glenville Men’s Cross-Country Team won the WVIAC cross country title with 18 points, while D&E was 2nd (73), West Liberty 3rd (83), WV Tech 4th (143). [Note: Fairmont only had 4 runners, while West Virginia Wesleyan had 1 runner.] The meet was held at Glenville State College. In the post season, Dent finished 37th in a time of 25:45 at the NAIA Cross Country National Championship in Kenosha, WI, missing All-American honors by 12 places. Glenville's men finished 19th overall, for the highest place ever in NAIA competition by a West Virginia Conference team.

In the spring of 1989 (outdoor track season), he set a school record and qualified for the NAIA meet in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:30, while competing in the Marshall Twilight Invitational. In the post season, he finished second to earn All-American in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NAIA Outdoor National Track and Field Championship at Azusa Pacific College in Azusa, CA.

In the fall of 1989 (cross country season), Dent repeated as the individual champion at the WVIAC Cross Country Championship, while earning All-Conference honors. The D&E Men’s Cross-Country Team won the WVIAC cross country title with 33 points, while WV Wesleyan was 2nd (41), Glenville 3rd (58), Concord 4th (94). [Note: Fairmont only had 3 runners, while West Liberty had 2 runners.] The meet was held at Davis & Elkins College. In the post season, Dent finished 59th out of 351 runners in the NAIA Cross Country National Championship at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside at Kenosha, WI.

Dent holds five Glenville State College Men’s Track & Field Records: 1,500m (3:55.2); 5,000m (14:30); 10,000m (32:33); Marathon (2:32.3); Steeple Chase (9:03.8).

Bubby Dent was inducted into the Glenville State College / Curtis Elam Athletic Hall of Fame for Men’s Cross Country and Track & Field in 2001.

Post-Collegiate:

After graduation, Bubby spent more than seven years in the U.S. Army from 1989-1997, while serving in Desert Storm. Following a short time as a nurse at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he got into pharmaceutical sales. He was married to the former Deidra Burrows '88, and they have two daughters, Alexandria and Victoria.

In the late 1980’s, Bubby Dent took over as the best road runner in the Kanawha Valley.

In the fall of 1989, Steve Taylor, a St. Marys native, won the Charleston Distance Run 15-Miler for his third time, while Scott Depot’s Bubby Dent finished second for the men with a time of one hour, nineteen minutes and thirty seconds. Dent’s time ranks him tenth on the Top All-Time Best West Virginia Performances at CDR. In early December, Dent then entered and won his first marathon. He ran the Almost Heaven Marathon (26.2 miles) in freezing temperatures, in a time of 2 hours, 32 minutes, 31 seconds around a three-loop course in Kanawha City.

Dent captured many road races throughout the late 1980’s such as: Coonskin Classic 10K, Great Teays 10K, Poca River 15K, Hurricane Centennial Run, Thomas Memorial Hospital Run for Lifeline, West Virginia 20-kilometer, 5K Sundown Showdown, CPA Mile, Valentine 5K, Elkins Forest Festival 10K and Kanawha City 10K.

Dent ran as part of the Armed Forces team. He represented his Fort Benning Georgia post in 1991 at the Army 10-miler in Washington D.C., placing third overall, and he was the first soldier to finish. He also represented the United States in the Military Cross-Country Championship held in Lagos, Nigeria in March 1991.

In April of 2009, on Easter weekend, Nick Passero was running at Ritter Park when he collapsed. Chuck Dent happened to be nearby, performed CPR and revived Passero. He even drove Passero's daughters to the hospital. After three months passed for the first time they saw each other again.

In the summer of 2009, Dent placed 8th at the West Virginia 5K Championship in Huntington, WV with an amazing time of 15:59.1 on the USATF certified course, while winning the men’s 40-44 age division. A month later he ran the USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships 5000 Meter Run at The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, while finishing 8th in a time of 16:47.

In the fall of 2011, he won the 8th Annual Marshall University Marathon in a time of two hours, thirty-seven minutes and eighteen seconds. He placed third in 2013.

In the spring of 2015, Dent competed in the 119th annual Boston Marathon race. He was 585th out of the 30,000 runners who covered the hallowed 26.2-mile course, while finishing 21st in his age group. Dent finished in an impressive time of two hours, forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.

Bubby Dent is still an avid runner at 51 years old, you can find him training up and down Teays Valley Road, and he can be seen at most of Tori’s cross country and track meets.

Family Running Tradition:

Running's in the family as daughters Alex and Tori ran for Hurricane High and then in college. Alex went to West Virginia University, while Tori is currently at Marshall University.

(Alex Dent):

His eldest daughter, Alexandria Danielle Dent (born August 19, 1992), graduated from Hurricane High School in the spring of 2010. While at Hurricane she ran cross country and track for Coach Bill Posey.

In cross country, she was a two-time all-state runner in Class AAA, while she was the individual state champion in 2009, and placed fourth in 2008 at the West Virginia State Cross Country Championships at Ona, West Virginia. Alex was awarded the Gatorade West Virginia Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year award for 2009-2010.

In track, she helped lead the Redskins to a 2008 Class AAA State Team Championship. She was an all-state runner in the 800m, while placing 5th (2008). She was a three-time all-state runner in the 1600m, while placing 1st (2010), second (2009) and 5th (2008). She was a four-time all-state runner in the 3200m, while placing 1st (2010), 6th (2009), 5th (2008) and 6th (2007). She was an all-state runner in the 4x400m relay, while pacing 4th (2009). She was a four-time all-state runner in the 4x800m relay, while setting the 2009 State Meet record in the AAA Girls 4 x 800m Relay (Sahara Assi, Alex Dent, Sarah Davis, Josie Crouch) with a time of 9:31.14.

Her personal prep records: 800m - 2:21.88; 1600m - 5:04.97; 1 Mile (in) - 5:10.40; 3200m - 10:57.30; 5K (xc) - 18:14.00.

Alex was a highly touted recruit. She signed her National Letter of Intent to run at West Virginia University.

(Tori Dent):

His youngest daughter, Victoria Renee Dent (born May 7, 1996), graduated from Hurricane High School in the spring of 2014. While at Hurricane she ran cross country and track for Coach Jason Henley.

In cross country, she was an all-state runner in Class AAA, while placing seventh at the 2011 West Virginia State Cross Country Championships at Ona, West Virginia.

In track, she helped lead the Redskins to a 2014 Class AAA State Team Championship. She was a three-time state runner-up in the 800-meter run (2011, 2012, 2014), while she was runner-up and placed third in the 1600-meter run (2012, 2014). She was a two-time all-state runner in the 4x800m relay, while placing 1st (2014) and 4th (2012).

Her personal prep records: 400m - 1:01.14; 800m (in) - 2:21.31; 800m - 2:15.41; 1600m - 5:07.15; 1 Mile (in) - 5:15.90; 3200m – 11:16.68; 5K (xc) - 18:20.

Tori signed her National Letter of Intent to run at Marshall University, where she studies Healthcare Administration. While at Marshall she runs cross country and track for Coach Jeff Smalls.

Tori’s distance coach, Caleb Bowen (Assistant Track and Cross Country) is a former Hurricane High School cross country and track runner himself, getting his first chance of coaching with the Herd after graduating in 2015.

In 2014, Tori was named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll.

Personal:

On June 29, 2016, Charles W Dent, Jr of Scott Depot married Deidre L Summers of Hurricane, which they just recently celebrated their one year anniversary. He has a step daughter, Baylee, who also attended and ran for Hurricane High. She graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College, and now studies at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. His daughter Alex has a son, Ryan. The Dent’s currently live in Hurricane, West Virginia, while Chuck works at Novartis Pharmaceuticals as a Senior Area Business Leader.

Bubby Dent on West Virginia High School State Meet All-Time Lists:

· 7th All-Time All-Class 800 Meters

· 7th and 9th All-Time AAA 800 Meters

· 1st and 3rd 1980's AAA 800 Meters

· 4th 1980's AAA 1600 Meters

Bubby Dent’s Glenville State College Men’s Track & Field Records:

· 1,500 Meter Run – 1987 – Bubby Dent - 3:55.2

· 5,000 Meter Run – 1989 – Bubby Dent - 14:30

· 10,000 Meter Run – 1988 – Bubby Dent - 32:33

· Marathon (26.2 Miles) – 1989 – Bubby Dent - 2:32.3

· Steeple Chase – 1989 – Bubby Dent - 9:03.8

Other Notable Alumni Athletes from DuPont High:

· Bobbie Howard / NFL Linebacker

· Randy Moss / NFL Receiver

· Jason Williams / NBA Guard

· Ciara Chic / WFL Running Back

· John & Jerry Dotson / Track & Coaching

· Jesse Skiles / Track & Coaching

Submitted by Mike McMillion (07/07/17)

Results courtesy of RunWV & Jesse Skiles