Cole is one of the most decorated male distance runners from DCHS and still holds the school record in the 3200m with a time of 9:08. He qualified for state cross country three times and finished third in 2011. He was a three-time cross country all-state team member and a member of the 2011 cross country state championship team. He won both the Drake Relays and state in the 3200m in 2012. He earned eight varsity letters during his time at DCHS and was team captain for two years.

He went on to attend Central College where he competed in both cross country and track. In both sports he was a four-year letter winner, team captain his senior year, and became a four-time NCAA All American. In cross country he was named All-Central Region and All-Iowa Conference four times and was a four-time NCAA D3 national qualifier. In track he was all-conference three times in the 10,000m, a three-time NCAA D3 national qualifier and finished as runner up in 2016. He was a two-time Central College Track and Field MVP and was named Male Athlete of the Year. He graduated from Central College and went on to earn an MBA with an emphasis in management from West Texas A&M University in 2020. He is also a two-time cancer survivor.

His most memorable experiences from his time at DCHS revolve around the training they did day-in and day-out on the track, bike trails and streets in the community. Having a strong culture and group of friends to grow, develop with and push each other to progress each day has provided him with so much more than he could have done on his own. His teammates became friends in all facets of his high school life and thereafter. No matter how many races he won or medals he received, he believes it would never have been so fulfilling without them by his side, winning on and off the course.