Coker University

2019-20: saw plenty more school records fall and also plenty of accolades for the Coker track and field teams. A combined 12 school records fell before the season was shortened due to COVID-19 in 2019-20. Calene Lazare was named the South Atlantic Conference Track Athlete of the Week on Dec. 10, 2019. Early helped Murishi Irankunda to a SAC Championship and school record on his first-ever triple jump attempt, before Lazare and Nyasia Weatherly medaled at the South Atlantic Conference Indoor Championships. Following that, Lazare was named to the USTFCCCA All-Region Team in the 60m and the 200m. Academically, the women's team posted 3.39 GPA for the year, while the men's team posted a mark of 3.04. Seven men were named to the 2019-20 South Atlantic Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll, while eight women were also named to the 2019-20 South Atlantic Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll. 

On the men's side, Coach Early coached the track and field team to 10 broken school records in 2018-19. Under Early's tutelage, Alex Berry earned South Atlantic Conference Field Athlete of the Week honors on Mar. 27. On the women's side, 11 school records fell and Kaylah Ruff was named the Women's Track Athlete of the Week on Apr. 27, 2019. In total, Brandon Mullins, Tony McElveen, Jr. and Ruff were named USTFCCCA All-Region selections. 

Coker College named Peter Early its head track & field/cross country coach in July of 2018.

Early arrived at Coker after spending the last seven years at Merrimack College, where he was the assistant track & field coach. During his time at Merrimack, Early has personally coached every school record holder in the 800m down, including six-time National Champion Carly Muscaro. Under Early's guidance, Muscaro reached the semifinals of the 2016 United States Olympic trials, ran personal bests of 51.17 in the 400m and 23.22 in the 200m, and an NCAA Division II All-Time record of 51.78 in the indoor 400m, all while on her way to signing a professional contract with Saucony.

Early has personally coached the Merrimack Warrior sprinters to six individual National Championships, 23 All-Americans honorees, five Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Year awards, one Division II NCAA Indoor record, and one Division II Collegiate Women Sports award, which is handed out to the best female athlete in collegiate athletics for all sports. In March of 2017, Early was named USTFCCCA Division II Assistant Coach of the Year for the East Region, as well as the USTFCCCA Division II National Assistant Coach of the Year. In addition to working with the team's sprinters, Early also worked heavily with recruiting potential student-athletes, where his efforts in the previous seasons have helped to expand the talent and depth of speed and power events.

A native of Haverhill, Mass., Early is a graduate of Haverhill High School, where he competed in both track & field and football. Early was named the MVC League MVP in his senior year for track & field and still holds several school records to include the indoor and outdoor high jump. He went on to graduate number one in the Francis E.Giard School of Business at Merrimack College with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Early competed on the football and track & field teams as a student-athlete at Merrimack.