Former Wittenberg athlete, 24, dies of COVID-19

“It’s gut-wrenching,” Wittenberg track and field coach Paris Hilliard said Friday. “He had so much life ahead of him. For something tragic like this to happen, it’s devastating. He was a great kid. He was a great teammate. He would do anything for anybody.”

Dorsey was a member of the Wittenberg football team’s 2015 recruiting class and played for the junior varsity team that year, which was his only season on the football team.

From 2015-19, Dorsey competed for the track team. He was the team’s most valuable field athlete in his final three seasons.

“He had a tremendous career,” Hilliard said. “He was a powerlifter in high school and played some football. He never did track until he got to college. In the fall of his freshman year, he decided he was done with football.”

As a sophomore in 2017, Dorsey won the shot put at the North Coast Athletic Conference outdoor championships. As a junior in 2018, he earned All-NCAC honors again in the shot put as a senior with a third-place finish at the NCAC championships and also placed fifth in the hammer throw. In 2019, as a senior, he broke the Wittenberg record in the hammer throw (51.69 meters) and finished second in the NCAC.

“D’Anthony was a great young man,” Hilliard wrote on Facebook. “He made his mark here at Wittenberg and his legacy will last forever. He will truly be missed.”

According to a GoFundMe.com fundraiser created by Dorsey’s family, he was teaching marine biology and physical science at Auburndale High School, not far from his hometown of Lakeland, Florida.

“As a lifelong athlete and competitive chess player,” his family wrote on GoFundMe.com, “D has always been a pillar of positivity and would light up any room with his big smile. He will be missed more deeply than words can say. He was loved by all who knew him & will continue to have a special place in each of our hearts, until we meet again ...”