Debbie started running track at 13th and Union Elementary School, where she still holds the standing broad jump record.  She then attended Northeast Middle School, where she also holds the long jump and triple jump record and helped lead the team to a County Championship in 1978.  She competed at the Districts and States during her three years at Reading High School, where she two goals: break the high school’s long jump record that Lynn Price Knotts and Joanne Gilmore held at 18 feet 2 inches, and
become a District and State Champion in the same year. Debbie broke the RHS long jump record with a jump of 18 feet 8 inches.  She has held the Girls Long Jump record for 33 years, and she helped the RHS Girls Track team become the Berks County Champions in 1979 and District Champions in her senior year.  Debbie then went on to coach the boys/girls at RHS for six years. During her coaching tenure, she helped several jumpers make Districts and States.