Godlock selected for state Track and Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame

Former Polk County standout Karen Godlock has been chosen for induction into the North Carolina High School Track & Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame.

Godlock has been named part of the Hall’s 2020 class, which will be inducted Feb. 1 in Winston-Salem during the Mondo Elite High School Invitational at JDL Fast Track. JDL will house the Hall of Fame.

A 21-time state champion and the 1993 North Carolina Gatorade Track & Field Athlete of the Year, Godlock 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 1992 (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, Godlock win 21 NCHSAA state titles (three in cross country; 18 in track). She won the NCHSAA 1A/2A individual cross country title in 1990, 1991 and 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 4×800-meter relay each year as well as in 1990) while leading Polk County 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-classification 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) and the Tar Heels’ first ACC cross country champion, winning three straight titles (1994-96). She also won the ACC 1500 meters during outdoor track.

Godlock currently teaches physical education and is the athletic director at Bartlett Yancey High School in Yanceyville.