University of North Carolina Athletics
Tony Waldrop Named To NC High School Track Hall Of Fame
December 13, 2021 | Track & Field
CHAPEL HILL—The third 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. Former University of North Carolina star Tony Waldrop is part of the group.
Elected to the third class: former indoor mile world record holder and 1975 Pan Am Games 1500-meter champion Waldrop (Polk Central); Olympian and six-time Track & Field News High School All-America Anna Cockrell (Charlotte Providence Day School); U.S. Junior Champion and 5-time Track & Field News High School All-Amerian Kamorean Hayes (Charlotte Harding); 2014 Track & Field News and National High School Coaches Association National High School Track & Field Athlete of the Year Trentavis Friday (Cherryville); 2006 Track & Field News High School National Athlete of the Year and 2006 USATF Youth Track & Field Athlete of the Year Gabby Mayo (Southeast Raleigh);17-time state champion Darius Brewington (High Point Andrews); as well as DePaul Mittman (Western Guilford), who has contributed immensely to the sport as a coach and official, as well as founding and leading the North Carolina Track and Cross Country Coaches Association and serving as volunteer director/coordinator for various national meets; and Norman Trzaskoma (Winston-Salem R.J. Reynolds), a 7-time state championship coach who the Forsyth County Track & Field Championships is now named (Norman Trzaskoma Invitational).
TONY WALDROP NOTES
*Set the world indoor mile record of 3:55 in 1974
*Six-time All-America at the University of North Carolina
*2-time NCAA champion (NCAA indoor 1,000-yard title, 1973; NCAA indoor mile title in 1974)
*Won gold in the 1,500 meters at the 1975 Pan Am Games while in college
*Won the mile at the prestigious Penn Relays in 1974.
*In high school, he won 3 NCHSAA state outdoor titles in the 800 (1969), and mile (1968 and 1970).
*Before high school national meets were prevalent, his times of 1:53 and 4:18 were incredible considering he ran those at the 1A/2A state meet an on inferior surfaces.
A statewide committee of 20 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 Jan. 29 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 elected class will also be held at a meet during the indoor track season at JDL Fast Track.
