The "Cobra Spotlight" is a weekly highlight of a student-athlete at Coker College. Each week we take a different athlete from a different sport and display some facets to get more familiar with them. This week we take a look at Mackenzie Baker & Mandy Lopez, members of the women's lacrosse team.
Name: Mackenzie Baker
Sport: Women’s Lacrosse
Position: Midfielder
Hometown: Orlando, Fla.
Year: Freshman
Major: Communication
Why did you choose Coker? The size of Coker was appealing to me. I wanted a smaller school that had a tight-knit community. Also, Coker gave me the opportunity to play collegiate lacrosse.
What is your best memory at Coker (athletic related? Volunteering at the MS Bike Race with my team last semester was really fun.
What is your best memory at Coker (non-athletic related)? During the fall I really enjoyed going to the boathouse on the weekends with friends and playing beach volleyball.
Which athletic team would you play on at Coker other than your own? None right now, but if Coker had a swim team, I would definitely be on it!
Favorite class: English
Favorite professor: Professor Puffer
Plans after graduation: I plan on finding a well-paying job in my field of study and get a place of my own. Oh yeah, I want a dog too.
Favorite movie: Disney’s “Frozen”
Favorite type of music: Country
Favorite food: Anything from Chick-Fil-A
Favorite sports team: Florida State Seminoles…national champs!!!
Favorite color: Yellow
Favorite TV show: How I Met Your Mother
Most prized possession: My lacrosse stick, duh.
What is something people may not know about you? I was a three-year varsity swimmer in high school. I could have chosen swimming over lacrosse in college.
Do you have a nickname? If so, how did you get it? My mom calls me “Grow.” She calls me that because when I was growing up it seemed to her like I never stopped growing.
One word that describes you: Tall
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Mandalyn Lopez
Sport: Women’s lacrosse
Position: Goalkeeper
Hometown: Orlando, Fla.
Year: Sophomore
Major: Communication, but I am thinking of double majoring in education with a concentration in early childhood education.
Why did you choose Coker? In a way Coker chose me, actually. I transferred here from a culinary arts school in Daytona, Fla., to be part of the new women’s lacrosse program.
What is your best memory at Coker (athletic related)? As of now, I would say the morning plyometric workouts the team does with Brandon Fain, but I think I’ll have more memorable moments this spring when we actually start playing games.
What is your best memory at Coker (non-athletic related)? Parents' Weekend! It was so many laughs and good memories all packed into one little weekend.
Which athletic team would you play on at Coker other than your own? Women’s volleyball, because my brother plays volleyball and in a lot of ways I wish I could be a little more like him.
Favorite class: I’ve always loved psychology classes; I think they are interesting.
Favorite professor: Professor Puffer, hands down. He’s not only a great teacher and speaker, but he genuinely cares about his students and I really respect that.
Plans after graduation: I want to travel and experience all the different cultures that the world has to offer. Continuing my education while traveling is a strong possibility as well.
Favorite movie: I LOVE Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Ferrell, Johnny Depp and Shia LaBeouf, so anything with them in it is great.
Favorite type of music: I listen to a little bit of everything, but country has always been my favorite.
Favorite food: I love all kinds of food, but I guess sushi is my favorite. I could probably eat sushi for every meal for the rest of my life.
Favorite sports team: I enjoy a good game more than one specific team or sport. I’m just a fan of sports.
Favorite color: I have always liked yellow, but from the look of my closet someone might think black, white and pale nude were my favorite colors.
Favorite TV show: Suits, Walking Dead and Game of Thrones
Most prized possession: I will go with my phone because I have everything in it and I take it everywhere.
What is something people may not know about you? I’m a really deep thinker and enjoy free writing. I actually have a blog no one knows about.
Do you have a nickname? If so, how did you get it? I think each of my close friends call me something different and my family has their own nicknames for me too. None of them would make sense without a long explanation, so I will not list any of them.
One word that describes you: Passionate