Peterson, Sizeland, Bates Make Coker History at Royal Challenge

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The men's cross country team made Coker athletic history on Friday (Oct. 13th), with three runners breaking 27-minutes in the same race.

The men's team finished 15th overall with Josh Peterson finishing first for Coker and 63rd overall (of 189) in the 8k race, setting a pace of 26:39.8. Tom Sizeland and Dylan Bates crossed the finish line next for the Cobras finishing 71st and 73rd with times of 26:52.1 and 26:56.6.  All three of these times rank in the top-7 8k times in school history.

Thad Sulek and Mikey Mazzola finished fourth and fifth for Coker with times of 32:20.0 and 33:37.2. Cooper Lyon, Quinn Wenger and Emilio Trilla rounded out the final spots for Coker with times of 33:59.9, 37:06.1 and 37:59.7. 

The women finished 23rd overall with Freshman Naomi Watson leading the Cobras.  Watson had her best race of the year by finishing first for the Cobras in the 5k race, blazing the trail at a pace of 21:57.0.  Stephanie Shaw finished second for Coker with a time of 22:24.1, while Aneka Dixon captured the third spot for the Cobras with a time of 26:40.8.  Filling in the final spot was senior Devan Williams with a time of 31:17.2.

Both the men and the women ran their fastest team times of the year, with the men combining a time of 2:26:25.70 and the women with 2:04:57.79

Coker will now begin preparation for the Conference Carolinas Championship meet, which will take place in Charlotte, N.C. on October 19th