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. 13^th), with three runners breaking 27-minutes in the same race.

The men's team finished 15^th overall with Josh Peterson finishing first for Coker and 63^rd 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 71^st and 73^rd 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 23^rd 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 19^th.