Women's Indoor Track and Field Voted Ninth in South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll
ROCK HILL, S.C. - Coker University's women's track and field team was picked ninth in the 2021 South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, announced by the league today (Friday, Jan. 28).
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ROCK HILL, S.C. - Coker University's women's track and field team was picked ninth in the 2021 South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, announced by the league today (Friday, Jan. 28).
Nationally-ranked No. 19 Queens (N.C.) topped the poll with 11 first-place votes and 143 points and a No. 1 regional ranking, while Lenoir-Rhyne was picked second with 131 points and the final first-place vote. Wingate was tabbed third with 109 points and a regional ranking of No. 3, while Tusculum is slated fourth with 107 points and ranked No. 6 regionally. Carson-Newman was picked fifth with 102 points, followed by Limestone with 99 points. Catawba took the seventh spot with 86 points, while Anderson (S.C.) was slated eighth with 67 points. Coker was voted ninth with 65 points. Lincoln Memorial was slated 10th with 40 points and a regional ranking of No. 3, while Mars Hill (44 points) and Newberry (35 points) rounded out the poll.
Nyasia Weatherly, Calene Lazare and Katie Spence are three key returners for Coker this season.
Weatherly, a sophomore sprinter, medaled in two events at the 2020 SAC Indoor Championships, where she placed third in the 60m and the 200m. She also recorded the second fastest 200m time in school history at 25.55
Lazare, a junior sprinter, had a standout 2019-20 season for the Navy and Gold. Lazare set the Coker record for the 60m with a time of 7.61 which earned her the SAC AstroTurf Indoor Track Athlete of the Week honors on Dec. 10. She went on to set the school record in the 200m with a time of 25.08. At the SAC Indoor Championships, Lazare would place second in the 60m and 200m. On Mar.3, she earned All-Region honors from the USTFCCA in the 60m and 200m events.
Spence, a sophomore distance runner, set the Coker school record in the 5k with a time of 20:34.23.
The Cobras open the 2021 season next Saturday (Feb. 6) at the L-R Polar Joe Invite in Hickory, N.C. The meet is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m.