Cobra Cross Country Teams Have Great Showing at Royals Challenge

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Coker College women's and men's cross country teams both had exceptional good races during the Royals Cross Country Challenge at McAlpine Park on Friday afternoon.

The women's team posted their best times of the season as they finished 17^th overall, and were the fifth best Division II team in the meet. Leading the way for the Cobras was freshman Stephanie Shaw (Aiken, S.C.) with a time of 20:39 in the 5k race, followed by senior Angela Williams (Johnston, S.C.) at 22:59. Freshman Kirsten Sanders (Union, S.C.) came in next at 23:16, with senior Caitlyn Driscoll (Grand Island, N.Y.) closely following at 23:18. Rounding out the field of Coker runners was senior Robyn Risher (Elloree, S.C.) with a time of 24:09.

The Coker men also had a very good showing in their 8k race. They finished 14^th overall and were the 5^th best Division II team in the race as well. Freshman Brandon Cain (Graham, N.C.) was the leading runner for the Cobras with a time of 26:57, while classmates Dylan Bates (Scarborough, Ontario) and Derek Nix (Toms River, N.J.) posted times of 27:21 and 29:23 respectively. Freshman Josh Peterson (Boca Raton, Fla.) came in at 29:23 and juniors Thad Sulek (Hilton Head, S.C.) and Quinn Wenger (Sumter, S.C.) rounded out the Cobra runners with times of 30:50 and 32:16 respectively.

The Cobras will return to McAlpine Park next week for the Conference Carolinas Cross country Championships on Friday, Oct. 21. According to head coach Kevin Kelley, the Cobras, "are excited to return to the course next week and they are looking forward to another good race."