Melissa Ferry begins her second season as the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country and her sixth season as a collegiate head coach. The B. Reed Henderson High School graduate who was a 7-time PIAA state medalist, came home to West Chester in September 2021 from Virginia Union University where she spent the last four years running that Division II Track & Field and Cross Country program.

In her first year as the Director of the West Chester Track and Field and Cross Country programs, Ferry and the Golden Rams enjoyed ample success. In the 2021 cross country season, West Chester saw Sarah Supplee earn First Team All-Conference honors with a fifth-place finish, which was the highest finish by a Golden Ram at the Championships since Diana Dunn finished third in 2017. Supplee followed this up with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Regional Championships, hosted by Lock Haven, helping the Golden Rams finish 14^th as a team while qualifying individually for the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships, becoming the first Golden Ram women’s cross country runner to qualify since Amanda Eisman in 2015. Supplee finished 161^st in the 256-runner field after being scored as high as 94^th in the early stages of the race, which was good enough to allow her to finish fourth among competitors from the PSAC. On the men’s side, the team finished ninth at the PSAC Championships and 11^th at the NCAA Regional Championships. Chase Knorr led the way for West Chester in each race, finishing 33^rd at the PSAC Championships before finishing 35^th at the Regional Championships.

In the indoor season, the West Chester men turned in a litany of top-10 finishes led by a fourth-place finish in the pole vault from Andrew Puz along with multiple fifth-place finishes from Chad Mowbray (400), Tyrese Reid (60), and Aaron Williams (200). Will Rivers finished sixth in the triple jump to cap off what had been a solid indoor season for the Manheim, Pa. native, eventually earning All-Region honors from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in this event. As a team, West Chester finished eighth at the PSAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. On the women’s side, Maddie James captured the PSAC Pentathlon crown and qualified for the Division II National Championships in the event where she would later earn All-American status with a 12^th-place finish while Corah Krantz finished third in the pole vault with a school-record mark of 11-11 ¾. James registered another top-10 finish in the high jump at the PSAC Indoor Championships, finishing sixth in this event while Sarah Supplee finished second in the mile and seventh in the 3k and Zhayria Washington was fifth in the shot put at the 2022 PSAC Indoor Championships. As a team, West Chester finished 10^th at the Indoor Championships. James, Krantz, and Supplee all earned Indoor All-Region status from the USTFCCCA in their respective events from the PSAC Championships while James also earned Atlantic Region Indoor Field Athlete of the Year honors.

For the 2022 outdoor season, West Chester celebrated three more All-Region picks as Rivers repeated as an All-Region selection in the triple jump while James and Supplee each earned All-Region status in the heptathlon and 3k-steeplechase after winning Conference Championships in each of these events earlier in May. The 2022 outdoor season also saw Supplee set a new program record in the Steeplechase at the 126^th Penn Relays with a time of 10 minutes and 43.93 seconds, which is a program record by almost four seconds en route to a 19^th-place finish in the Division I laden field. At the PSAC Championships, the West Chester men finished seventh while the women finished 11^th highlighted by the two conference titles and a new program record in the javelin from Emma Urbine.

Academically, West Chester enjoyed a strong year in the classroom as the Golden Rams cross country programs were honored with team academic awards from the USTFCCCA while Chase Knorr, Phillip Smith, Evan Eshelman, Megan Cook, and Sarah Supplee all earned individual recognition from the USTFCCCA. Supplee also received cross country Academic All-Area honors from the Philadelphia Sports Information Directors Association (PhillySIDA). At the end of the Spring season, Maddie James became the final member of the Golden Ram track and field program to capture Academic honors as she earned COSIDA Academic All-District and First Team All-American honors in recognition of her efforts on the track and in the classroom.

In four years at Virginia Union, the Panthers' men qualified athletes for the USA Indoor National Championships and the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, collected a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Championship team title, earned 17 individual CIAA championships, earned an NCAA All-America award, collected 58 all-conference honors (41 individual, 6 relay, 11 cross country), a pair of CIAA Athlete of the Year honors, NCAA Atlantic Region Men's Indoor Athlete of the Year, 19 NCAA all-region plaudits, 26 NCAA Championship provisional qualifying marks and set 31 school records. The men's team reached the podium every season (XC/I/O) for 10 straight campaigns.

The women also churned out excellent performances, including seven school records across five different event specialties, a pair of NCAA Championship provisional qualifying marks and collected multiple All-CIAA honors, highlighted by Jamara Watson being ranked 25th nationally among all NCAA Division II hurdlers by DirectAthletics in the 60-meter hurdles that also set a new school record.

In October 2019, the men's cross country squad captured the CIAA Championship team title, individual title, and Athlete and Coach of the Year honors. Micah Kipruto captured four wins in five races for the individual title and AOY honors, with three teammates also earning CIAA all-conference.
 
In 2018, Virginia Union was represented at the USA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. in the men's 60-meter dash by Justin Hunter. Ed'Treon Wilcox was named USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, after being the first man to win both the 60m and 200m dashes at the CIAA Championships. He was the only individual in the Atlantic Region to be ranked No. 1 in two events, and his time in the 200m of 21.38 stands as the fastest time in school history. Additionally, Devin Simon was named the CIAA Men's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year just one year after walking-on to the program and lowering his high school best in the 400m by 47 seconds to 47.39.
 
Both the women's and men's programs received USTFCCCA All-Academic accolades from 2018 to 2021 and are eight-time recipients of the CIAA Highest GPA Award. In the fall of 2019, the men's CIAA champion cross country team was the only HBCU to be awarded USTFCCCA all-academic honors for cross country.

Ferry, who holds certification in IAAF Elite Coach/USATF Level 3 – Sprints/Hurdles, Level 2 - Sprints/Hurdles/Relays, Level 2 – Youth Specialization, and has been a grant recipient to attend the USATF Podium Education Project in Las Vegas, serves on the USTFCCCA Executive Committee. She was elected the 2021 CIAA Coaches Association President as well as a USA Track & Field (USATF) Coach Education Instructor. She also serves on the USTFCCCA Women in Coaching Committee an dhelps run the USTFCCCA Female Coach Mentor Program.

She was honored in December 2018 with the USATF Terry Crawford/Distinguished Female in Coaching Award, selected for the 2019 US Emerging Elite Coaches Camp in Sprints and named the 2019 CIAA Men's Coach of the Year for cross country.

Prior to her tenure at VUU, while at Mount Vernon High School Lady Majors won two USATF Youth Indoor national indoor titles (Long Jump, 55H), and three AAU national indoor titles (200m, 400m, 800m), while posting 20 New Balance National Championship qualifying marks, 11 All-State, 34 All-Region, and over 150 x All-Conference honors. They collected over 20 Region championship titles. Junior Jasmine Hill ranked #10 in the nation for her performance of 1:15 in the 500m in 11th grade, with graduates continuing their collegiate careers at Duke, VCU, SDSU, and Hofstra. While also assisting the boys' sprints program at MVHS Josh McGrigg clocked a 4.36 40-yard dash at the Nike Combine, collecting the Fastest Man Award.

Currently, Ferry is completing her doctorate in Health and Human Performance with a focus in Biomechanics from Concordia University–Chicago. Previously she completed a master's in Education from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012 and a bachelor's in Education from George Mason University in 2008. She spent seven years as a Health and Physical Education teacher for Fairfax Country Public Schools. Previously, she served on the Virginia High School League (VHSL) Coach Education Committee. She has twice presented at the US Coaches Conference, sponsored by the US Olympic Committee, NCAA, and NFHS, as well as at other national conferences on sport leadership, such as the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), and the National Association for Women Athletic Administrators (NACWA).

As an athlete, Ferry qualified for the 2004 U.S. Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 800m, and co-captained NCAA Division I George Mason University's women's track & field program.