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Add another item to Alan Peoples’ long list of achievements – Hall of Famer.

The veteran Polk County coach was inducted Saturday into the North Carolina High School Track and Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame during a ceremony at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem.

Peoples joined the fourth class of Hall inductees to be recognized during the Mondo Elite High School Invitational. He is the third Hall member with Polk County ties, joining Polk County High standout Karen Godlock and Polk Central great Tony Waldrop as Hall members.

Peoples is the only boys cross country and track and field coach in Polk County High School history. He has also coached the girls teams in both sports since 2003.

In a coaching career that began in 1972, he has coached 63 individual state champions and the 2016 1A boys state track and field team champs. He has also coached 64 athletes who went on to compete at the college level.

He has won 35 coaching awards, including the 2015 state cross country coach of the year and the 2018 state boys outdoor track and field coach of the year. He is a 19-time conference coach of the year.

Peoples also received the 2010 NCHSAA Charlie Adams Distinguished Service Award, the 2002 NCHSAA Dick Knox Award, was named to the 2001 NCHSAA Wall of Champions and the 1998 NCHSAA Unsung Hero Award.

Peoples has also been active in competitions as an official and judge, including service as state outdoor track and field meet director for 24 years, regional outdoor meet direct for 24 years and regional cross country meet director at the 1A, 2A and 3A level for 24 meets. He holds a national-level USA Track and Field certification for NCAA Division I, II, NAIA and JUCO meets.

Also inducted on Saturday were:

 

• Harrison (Clayton High), Olympian and three-time World Championships medalist
• J-Mee Samuels (Mount Tabor High, Winston-Salem), 2005 Track & Field News High School Athlete of the Year
• Johnny Dutch (Clayton High), four-time All-American, two-time Pan Am gold medalist, national indoor 60-meter hurdle champion and nine-time state champion
• Latasha Pharr (North Rowan), 17-time state champion and two-time All-American
• Pam Doggett (Grimsley High, Greensboro), 1984 Pan Am Junior bronze medalist and eight-time state champion
• E.V. Patterson, the “Father of North Carolina Track & Field” and coach of the state’s first dynasty, now-defunct Friendship (in Burlington)
• Charlie Brown, longtime Greensboro coach, coach of two U.S. teams and longtime meet director of two of North Carolina’s longest-running cross country meets
• Roy Cooper (Apex High), longtime Apex High coach, longtime Nike Southeast and Outdoor Nationals staff and longtime meet director of the prestigious Apex Lions Relays