14 Inductees Headline The Second NC Hall Of Fame Class


2019 Inaugural Hall Of Fame Class

CONTACT INFORMATION:

N.C. High School Track & Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame

Brett Honeycutt, Founder

Cell: 704-236-4204

brettrhoneycutt@hotmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

SECOND CLASS TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE NORTH CAROLINA

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD AND CROSS COUNTRY HALL OF FAME

14 Headline the Second HOF Class


WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA, DEC. 23, 2019 - The second class of the North Carolina High School Track & Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame will honor athletes, coaches and officials who have significantly impacted the sports on the high school level.


Olympians Jim Beatty (Charlotte Central High), Joan Nesbit Mabe (East Mecklenburg), and Wayne Davis II (Southeast Raleigh), high school track & field national athlete of the year Greg Artis (Wilson Fike), 21-time state champions Karen Godlock (Polk County), and Dr. DeAnne Davis Brooks (Burlington Cummings), and 16-time state champion Julie Stackhouse (Hayesville) were among athletes selected, while legendary state championship coaches Donnie Davis (Burlington Cummings), Dennis Cullen (Durham Academy), and Dr. Harvey P. Barret (Charlotte Central), were elected. Also, four who contributed significantly to the sport were also elected: philanthropist and track builder Irwin Belk, National Scholastic Athletic Foundation's Jim Spier (who brought the high school national outdoor track and field meet to North Carolina), Richard Prince (Myers Park), who directed and officiated national level meets and also coached state championship teams, and Frank Davis (Durham), who also directed and officiated national-level meets.

A statewide committee of 18 track and field and cross country coaches, officials and media representatives who cover the sport extensively nominated and elected the class.

The induction ceremony will be Feb. 1 in Winston-Salem during the Mondo Elite High School Invitational at the JDL Fast Track, which will also house the Hall of Fame. Each subsequent class will be nominated and elected each summer, and each induction ceremony will be held during the indoor track season at JDL Fast Track.

"North Carolina has had state championships in track and field since 1913, and has had indoor track meets since 1922 when the first meet was held at the old Star Brick Warehouse in Durham, and we've had cross country meets since 1929 when Winston-Salem High dominated the sport, so we're far behind on recognizing those who have accomplished so much and given so much to the sport. That's our goal, though; we want to honor those who have helped make this sport so great in North Carolina, and the last two classes are a collection of some of the best athletes, coaches and contributors in the history of our sport." Brett Honeycutt, N.C. High School Track & Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame Founder.


NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD

AND CROSS COUNTRY HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2020

GREG ARTIS, WILSON-FIKE

Artis was the 1977 Track & Field News and High School Yearbook Track & Field National Athlete of the Year. Nearly 42 years later, he still holds the 4A state meet triple jump record of 51-feet, 5.5 inches. He is a three-time state champion, winning the triple twice, in 1976 (48-6) and 1977 (51-5.5) and setting a record each time, and the long jump in 1977, when he set a record of 24-8 that stood for 20 years (only two performances since have bettered that mark at the 4A state meet).

In college at Middle Tennessee State, he earned seven NCAA All-American honors, including two in one day when he won the long jump and triple jump after completing trials in the morning session for both events. He was also the Ohio Valley Conference indoor and outdoor track male athlete of the year, and the overall OVC athlete of the year. He was a 2001 inductee in Middle Tennessee State's Blue Raider Hall of Fame.

 

WAYNE DAVIS II, SE RALEIGH

Davis set a World Junior record, World Youth and U.S. high school record in the 110-meter high hurdles and won the prestigious World Juniors, Pan Am Juniors and World Youth Championships.

He also set three national high school records (55-meter hurdles, 60-meter hurdles, and 110-meter hurdles; the 110-meter hurdle record still stands), and is a two-time national high school indoor champion (60-meter hurdles, 2008 and 2009), a two-time national high school outdoor champion (110-meter hurdles, 2007, 2009); and a three-time state champion (two in the 55-meter hurdles in 2008 and 2009, and one in the 110-meter hurdles in 2009). Davis won the 2009 U.S. Junior title (ages 19-under) in the 110-meter hurdles (13.16), and was also a member of the 2012 Trinidad & Tobago Olympic team.

In college at Texas A&M, Davis was an eight-time All-American (outdoors in the 110-meter high hurdles, and indoors in the 60-meter high hurdles, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011), and an NCAA Champion (2013, 110-meter high hurdles), and two-time NCAA runner-up (2013, 60-meter high hurdles; 2012, 110-meter high hurdles); he also was a two-time SEC Champion in the 110-meter high hurdles (2013, 2014) and one-time Big 12 Champion in the 110-meter high hurdles (2012), and was SEC runner-up in the 60-meter high hurdles (2013) and Big 12 runner-up in the 60-meter high hurdles (2011).

 

DEANNE DAVIS, BURLINGTON CUMMINGS

Davis won 21 NCHSAA state track titles (14 in outdoor track and seven during indoor track), was a 6-time state meet MVP (four outdoors and two indoors), and helped her teams win four teams titles (three in outdoor track and one during indoor track).

During outdoor track, she won four state titles in the 100-meter hurdles (1993, '94, '95, '96, setting a 3A record in 1993 and a 2A state meet record in 1995); four in the 300-meter hurdles (1993, '94, '95, '96, setting a 2A state meet record in 1995); four in the triple jump (1993, '94, '95, '96, setting a state meet record the last three years), and two in the long jump (1995, '96, setting a 2A state meet record each year). She also was the 3A outdoor state meet MVP in 1993 and the 2A outdoor state meet MVP in '94, '95 and '96, while helping her team to the state title in '94, '95 and '96.

During indoor track, she won four 60-yard/55-meter hurdle titles (1993, '94, '95, '96); two titles in the triple jump (1994, '96) and one in the long jump (1996), while also helping Cummings to the 1996 all-class team title and earning meet MVP in 1994 and '96. She graduated ranked No. 1 all-time in North Carolina in the 55-meter hurdles, 60-meter hurdles, triple jump, and No. 4 in the long jump. She is still No. 2 all-time in the triple jump. She was one of the NCHSAA's "100 to Remember" female athletes.

            In college at the University of North Carolina (1997-2000), she was a three-time All-American in the triple jump (two indoors, one outdoors), and a three-time ACC champion in the triple jump, 60-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles. In 2000, she won the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars Award.

 

KAREN GODLOCK, POLK COUNTY

A 21-time state champion and the 1993 North Carolina Gatorade Track & Field Athlete of the Year; She is the first North Carolina girl to win the prestigious Foot Locker Cross Country South Region title (1992) and the first North Carolina girl to qualify for nationals twice, 1991 and '92 (only four North Carolina girls have qualified for nationals two times).

One of the most decorated track and cross country athletes in North Carolina history, winning 21 NCHSAA state titles (three in cross country; 18 in track). She won the NCHSAA 1A/2A individual cross country title in 1990, 1991, 1992; In track and field, she won 13 outdoor state titles and five indoor titles. She won the distance triple three times at the state outdoor meet (winning the 800, 1600 and 3200 in 1991, 1992 and 1993, while also running on the winning 4x800-meter relay each year, and in 1990, as well), while leading her team to the 1991 1A title.

During indoor track she won five state titles, while also winning the meet MVP in 1992 when it was an all-class state meet (her five titles were in the mile in 1992 and 1993; two-mile in 1992 and 1993, and 1,000-yard run in 1991). She was one of the NCHSAA's "100 to Remember" female athletes.

            In college at the University of North Carolina, Godlock was a two-time All-American (indoor track), the Tar Heels' first ACC cross country champion, winning three straight titles (1994-96), and she also won the ACC 1,500 meters during outdoor track.

 

JULIE STACKHOUSE, HAYESVILLE

One of the most dominant and diverse athletes in state meet history, she won a still-standing state meet record 15 individual state outdoor track titles (1A) in 7 different events over 4 years (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, 1600 meters, and high jump, setting 1A state meet records in every event), and she also won the 1995 1A cross country state meet. She was the 1A state track meet MVP all 4 years, as well, and helped her team to titles in 1994 and 1996.

She won fourt state titles in the 100-meter hurdles (1994, 95, 96, 97, setting state meet records in 95 and 97); 2 state titles in the 300-meter hurdles (1994, 95, setting a state meet record in 95 that stood for 6 years); 3 state titles in the high jump (1995, 96, 97, setting a 1A record in 1995); 2 state titles in the 200 meters (1994, '95, setting a 1A record in 1995), one state title in the 400 meters (1997, setting a 1A record); two state titles in the 800 (1996, '97, setting a 1A record in '96) and 1 state title in the 1600 meters (1996, setting a 1A record). The only year she didn't win 4 titles was her freshman year in 1994, when she won three state titles. She was one of the NCHSAA's "100 to Remember" female athletes.

            In college, she earned All-ACC honors twice at Clemson before transferring to Furman, where she won Southern Conference titles in the 800 meters (2000 and 2002), set school records in the heptathlon, 800 meters, and 4x800-meter relay, and also helped Furman win the 2000 Southern Conference title in cross country. She was a five-time All-Southern Conference performer and a three-time academic honor roll member.

 

JIM BEATTY, CHARLOTTE CENTRAL

The 1962 US Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News and the AAU after becoming the first person in world history to run under 4 minutes indoors in the mile (1962); a 1960 Olympian, he held 11 American (from the 1500 to the 5,000) and three world records.

In college at the University of North Carolina, he was a three-time All-American (1955 and 1957 in the two-mile, and 1956 in the 5,000 meters), and an 11-time ACC champion, winning the ACC Indoor Mile and 2-Mile double three consecutive years, the ACC Outdoor Mile twice, and the ACC Cross Country Championship three times. 

In high school at Charlotte Central, he won the NCHSAA all-class state title in the mile in 1952 and 1953 and helped Central to the 1952 team title. He was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1963, and the USA National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1990. He was one of the NCHSAA's "100 to Remember" male athletes.

 

JOAN NESBIT MABE, EAST MECKLENBURG

A 1996 Olympian, 1995 World Championship bronze medalist (indoor 3000 meters), four-time World Cross Country qualifier (placing as high as sixth in 1995), two-time U.S. champion (1995 in cross country and 1995 in the indoor 3,000 meters), and three-time All-American in college at the University of North Carolina (the first UNC Tar Heel woman to earn All-American in cross country, indoor and outdoor track). 

At one point she held University of North Carolina school records in the 1,500, 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000. Nesbit won the 1984 ACC 10,000 meters and 3,000 meters.

In high school at East Mecklenburg, Nesbit won the 1980 NCHSAA All-Classification 1600 meters in 5:05.7, and was one of the first girls to run cross country in North Carolina, running on the boys' cross country team before there was a state meet offered for girls.

 

DR. HARVEY PARK BARRETT, CHARLOTTE CENTRAL

Coached one of the first track dynasties in North Carolina, leading Charlotte Central High to seven state titles in eight years from 1923-1930 (winning in 1923, '24, '25, '26, '27, '29 and '30), and coaching 30 individual state champions during that eight-year span.

A 1940 Charlotte News article (by sports writer Burke Davis) after Dr. Barret passed away, said he was "...a quiet and unassuming man who was famous all over America for his work as a pathologist. In his field he was known as one of the best-but the people who will miss him most and hold his memory longer are those young men who were kids at Charlotte's Central High in the Twenties; the boys who made Charlotte track teams the finest in the South, because he was there with them. This man was a coach of another day, and he was known as the father and dean of Dixie's scholastic track because he built winning teams of almost any boys who came to him. His teams were teams, not collections of point-making stars; and the Barrett legend among Charlotte athletes says there was never a man who knew better the psychology of handling boys, and leading them patiently to fine performances and championships."

"There was no money in those days to buy good equipment for teams as there is today, and Dr. Barrett, with the help of a few friends, equipped the team himself, took his boys off on trips at his own expense. His method of training were the finest yet evolved, and a long friendship with Coach Bob Fetzer at Chapel Hill led to the use of many of his methods at North Carolina. As his kids grew up, wanting to see them have every chance they could, he continued to send many of them to college, enlisted friends to help. Many a Charlotte boy owes his education to The Doctor."

Besides the seven state championships, Central also finished third, second and first at the Southern Championships in Maryland, and was unbeaten in dual meets during his tenure.

 

DENNIS CULLEN, DURHAM ACADEMY

Coached one of state's most dominant cross country and track and field programs spanning five decades, winning 38 state titles from 1976 to 2009 (17 boys cross country titles; 6 girls' cross country titles; 9 boys' track titles and 6 girls' track titles), and 65 conference titles (17 in boys' cross country; 6 in girls' cross country; 24 in boys' track and field and 18 in girls' track and field). In one unprecedented stretch, his boys' cross country teams won 13 straight state titles (1983-1995).

As head cross country and track coach at Durham Academy, he had 10 boys and 7 girls win individual state cross country titles, and 82 boys' and 104 girls' win state titles in track and field.

 

The Durham City-County Cross Country Championship also named an award after him, the "Dennis M. Cullen Trophy," given each year to the best combined boys' and girls' program at the Durham City-County Championship Championships.

Cullen has also been a key organizer for Durham County Special Olympics for more than 20 years, and was given Durham Academy's prestigious F. Robertson Hershey Distinguished Faculty Award.

He is the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Hall of Fame and the Durham Academy Hall of Fame.

 

DONNIE DAVIS, BURLINGTON CUMMINGS

Davis has coached nearly 150 individual state champions in his time at Cummings, beginning as a volunteer assistant coach. He was named head coach of the track and field program in 2003. 

In his 29 years at Cummings, where he is currently the head track coach, he has been a part of 28 team state championships. After being named head coach in 2003, his teams won 18 state titles: 1A/2A/3A Girls' Indoor (5): 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012; 1A/2A Girls' Indoor (3): 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019; 1A/2A/3A Boys' Indoor (1): 2013; 2A Girls' Outdoor (7): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2019.

Davis has been named state coach of the year 16 times, and conference coach of the year nine times. He has been inducted into North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame (2017) and the Cummings Hall of Fame (2011).

 

IRWIN BELK, TRACK PHILANTHROPIST AND BUILDER

Belk was the largest individual philanthropists in track and field in North Carolina (and one of the largest in the U.S.), donating funds to construct 29 collegiate track and field facilities in North and South Carolina. Numerous high school athletes in North Carolina have benefitted from his kindness and generosity, as nearly all of the NCHSAA state championships over the past 25-30 years have been run on tracks funded by Belk. 

He was a volunteer member of the U.S. Olympic Committee for 45 years. In 2002 at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City he received the Olympic Order which is the highest honor a volunteer can receive.

Some of the 29 tracks that were built by Belk: Appalachian StateCampbell UniversityDavidson CollegeElonFurman, High Point University, Johnson C. Smith, Lenoir-Rhyne, Livingstone, University of North Carolina, N.C. A&T, UNC Charlotte, UNC Pembroke, Queens University, Wingate University and Winthrop University, and at least 13 more.

 

FRANK DAVIS, OFFICIAL/COACH/MEET DIRECTOR

Davis has provided numerous opportunities for high school athletes for 45 years, through coaching in high school (since 1993), leading the Durham Striders Track Club (since 1980, after serving as assistant director for 5 years), established and serving as meet director for the Eastern High School Challenge Indoor Meet (at the University of North Carolina), directing one of the largest summer track meets on the East Coast (Russell Blunt/East Coast Inv.), serving as meet director for the North Carolina State Games (20 times since 1993), serving in numerous officer roles with USATF and AAU, and helping kids with their academics through a program that emphasized "personal, emotional and mental development as well as physical fitness."

Also, he has officiated more than 300 track meets at all levels, including NCAA National Championships, National Sports Festival and numerous international meets. USATF (TAC) Master certified since 1982.

 

RICHARD PRINCE, OFFICIAL, COACH, MEET DIRECTOR

Longtime Myers Park track and cross country coach (who followed Hall of Fame coach Stuart Allen) coached 17 individual state champions in cross country and track and won 2 state track and field team titles (1972, 1980), and has more than 50 years of high school and college coaching experience in Florida and North Carolina. Event more than that, he has given back as an official and meet director, and is one of the most experienced officials in North Carolina.

As an official, he has officiated 15 high school track nationals, and numerous indoor and outdoor state track meets, college meets, regional track meets, cross country invitationals and regionals, as well as the Bislett Games (Oslo, Norway), World University Games, U.S. Olympic Trials, Olympic Festival, USATF indoor and outdoor nationals, U.S. Juniors, international track meets at Duke (1974 and 1982), and various college meets, including NCAA nationals, NAIA nationals, National Junior College nationals, ACC Championships, Big South, and several other conferences.

As a meet director: Along with Hall of Fame coach Larry McAfee, Prince helped the state meet grow as co-meet director (1980-2002), co-found and was co-meet director of the Wendy's Invitational (1974-2006, North Carolina's first, long-running, major invitational) and was the Queen City Relays meet director (1972-2000, the state's oldest relay meet). Also, along with McAfee, Prince introduced all-state recognition in cross country (both McAfee and Prince paid for the certificates each year for each classification, not asking the state to pay them back).

He was also the Foot Locker/Kinney National Cross Country Championships assistant meet director (1982-2003, as well as working with the Foot Locker South meet), and NCHSAA state track and field meet co-director (1988-1999), NCHAA Regional Track & Field Meet Director (1978-2002), and NCHSAA Sectional Meet Director (1972-78, 1988).

Misc.: He served on the state high school advisory committees for track and field (1985-1990); was a National Federation Track and Field Rules Committee member (1985), and the North Carolina representative to the committee for Olympic development (1982-1985).


JIM SPIER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NSAF

Along with the late Mike Byrnes in 1990, Spier helped form the National Scholastics Athletics Foundation, which owns the New Balance Indoor and Outdoor Nationals, and Great American Cross Country Festival (the latter two events are in North Carolina). He has been involved with track and field for about 60 years in a variety of roles, but his main contribution is helping give high school track the indoor and outdoor nationals, and bringing the outdoor nationals (as well as the Great American Cross Country Festival) to North Carolina. Those two events alone have helped promote both sports in North Carolina immensely, and, because of the location of the events have given countless North Carolina high school athletes and coaches exposure and easy access to national events that otherwise wouldn't be available to them because of travel burdens.