Airey Bros Radio EP 402 — Coach James Majenge (Ranger College XC): From South Africa to JUCO Podiums & Building a National Contender - Airey Bros.'s Radio

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Airy Brose Radio, be there or B
Square because it's all killer, no filler. This is James
mcjanye and you're listening to ery Brose Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Ladies and gentlemen, how do you know? Looha, we're here,
you were there, and you are now rocking with the best.
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of aery
Brose Radio. Today, we're stepping back on to the Oval
and the cross country course with none other than Ranger
College's head cross country coach James Lejiange. Before we get rolling,

(00:40):
you know the drill hammer that like button. Make sure
you're subscribed on YouTube, drop a comment, every view, review
and share helps us grow and get back to the
sports we love. Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, and
Apple podcasts. And let's not ever forget while we're here.
We're here to shine a light on the programs, people,
coaches and stories we wish we had access to growing
up and coming up through the recruiting process. If you

(01:02):
were someone you know is chasing their dreams in cross country,
track and field, or wrestling or beyond, share this episode
with them. Now let's get into tonight's guest coach, James Mine,
but Djangay sorry a couple of his career highlights. He's
in his second year at Ranger College and he's already
led the women cross country team to a conference championship

(01:24):
and a top twelve finish at the NJCAA National Championships
in twenty twenty four. He's also guided the Ranger men
cross country team to a top fifteen national finish in
his first season. He's developed five NJCAA All Americans and
twelve national qualifiers. As an assistant track and field coach
at Ranger College, he's contributed to two SAC Conference titles

(01:47):
while he was at Lincoln Memorial University as a graduate
assistant in twenty twenty one to twenty through twenty twenty three.
So far this season, the men's team is ranked sixteenth
and the women are ninth in the most recent USA
TFCCA pole. As an athlete at Cameron University, he was
a standout two time lone Star Conference Champion and All

(02:10):
American and the twenty nineteen l SCXC individual champion. He
was named the Cameron Athletic Male Athlete of the Year
in twenty twenty, and he was a five time NJCAA
All American at Monroe College, plus the twenty seventeen NJCAA
National Athlete of the Week with prs of fourteen twelve
and the five thousand meters through forty nine and the

(02:32):
fifteen hundred meters and thirty thirty four in the ten k.
Without further ado, it is an honor pleasure to have
you joining us this evening. We do greatly appreciate your time.
Coach Mijene, welcome to the show.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
Thank you, Thank you for having me. Guys, Oh what
an intro man.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
Well, it was an honor to have you joining us
this evening. We do greatly appreciate your time. I know
you're busy right in the middle of cross country season,
so we're grateful and we're excited to learn a little
bit more about yourself as well as Ranger College. We've
had a couple Texas junior colleges in the last couple
of weeks, so we're excited to continue to keep rolling
and learn more about the schools in Texas Before we

(03:12):
get too far along, Coach, anywhere you would like to
share with recruits, parents, anyone that has questions, anything on
social media, anything you'd like us to put in the
show notes about Ranger College.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
The floor is yours, okay, So you can find us
on Instagram at Ranger College x TF nineteen twenty six
Ranger College x TF nineteen twenty six, and you can
also find us on Facebook at Ranger College Cross Country, LASH,

(03:42):
Track and Field Team.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah awesome, we'll put all that stuff in the show
notes for you, and so coach. One of the ways
we like to kick things off here. We all have
our origin stories how we got into the sport. Mine
involves a fish tank at the age of five, and
Jimmy's involves following me around to a lot of cross
country wrestling matches and track meets when he was a
young kid. And I was in high school in college.
So we're excited. What is your origin story to the

(04:08):
sport of cross country and track and field?

Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah? Man, it's been probably when I was in college.
Like so when I first came to the US. I'm
from South Africa born and raised, and then I came
here started running at Monroe College. To be to be
honest with you, the coaching route, I've never seen it coming, Like,
I've never seen it coming because most of the coaches

(04:33):
I've seen around you in the US, like I was
not motivated about you know how maybe they live their
life and all that because I'm a big family guy
and the guys have been around most of the time.
It's just a guy and a dog, and I was
afraid of it. I'm like, man, I don't want to
you know, I don't want to go through red route
because you know, I'm from Africa. We're all like, I
want to have my small family. But so when I

(04:56):
graduated at Cameron University, a guy shout to me called
even damb He's a head coach at Campbell's University, North
Carolina right now, and he was like, man, I have
a chair position open if you interested. I was like, oh,
maybe something different. Let me go and check it out.
And then when I got there, it went a different

(05:17):
way because I thought I was just going to be,
you know, a conboy, just set up combs, you know.
But he actually let me lead a group. We had
like girls. We were running like twenty nine minutes in
a five k. Like he gave me a small group, like,
you know what, you're going to manage these girls and
I'll help you throw it and all that. So from
seeing somebody running a twenty nine minutes in a five

(05:39):
k to like a twenty two. It was like, wow,
it's a big improvement. I felt like I was making
it a change in the spot, like I was seeing
those girls happy, like it was. It meant more than
what I thought it would mean to me. So from
then on, like I just started learning understanding, Like there's
other ways you can go about coaching. You know, you
don't have to be afraid to be just Iron the dog.

(06:00):
You can have a family and make them understand that
we're going to be all over the country, like win
in the army.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
Could she have a dog.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
With got train?

Speaker 2 (06:13):
Right?

Speaker 1 (06:14):
Hey? Yeah, so coach, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
Did you run before you came over here?

Speaker 1 (06:21):
Though? Yes, So I was running. I started running oh five,
I think I was like about nine eight nine back then.
So I ran throughout my primary school and then high school.
I went to a boarding school in South Africa. I
was not as great athlete, but I was good enough
to always make like nationals offish you guys here would

(06:43):
call like a state meets type thing. So from then on,
when I was in eleventh grade, a few of my
friends came to the US. They went to Irona College Monroe,
like they went around here. So that's when I got
introduced to the US system. Before that, I never knew
knit thing. I never heard of nc DOUBLE, never seen

(07:03):
anybody from the NCUB. So the coach Richard is like, hey,
a friend of yours referred to you to me and
I see your times. I think you're going to be
a pretty good athlete when you get you because back
then I was still running like nine day five people
chased out of high school like fourteen thirty five in
the five K back home, that wasn't so much of
a big deal. But coming to a junior college and

(07:25):
America at that point, like I would score points. So
coach was like, yeah, I would like you to join
me the next year. And then I was like, yeah,
why not, I'm going to New York. So that's how
I ended up in the US.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
Was that a hard process for you to get visas
and that sort of stuff as it was it, I'm
assuming it wasn't as challenging as it is for some
of the international students right now, right.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
Yes, So in South Africa it's pretty smooth, man like,
don't we don't go through like Burrows. It's more like
you go there, show up with your passport. They ask
you a few questions and then they don't try to,
you know, fail you. They just try to help you out.
Because I know a lot of my Kenyon guys, Oh
they take l's all the time, like it's like, oh, deny, deny, deny.

(08:10):
So for us, luckily, we're not one of those countries
like it's a smooth transition.

Speaker 3 (08:16):
Okay, Coach, what was that initial experience like coming to
the United States? Was it culture shock for you?

Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah? Because, as I said, the coach reached out and said,
you're coming to New York. So to me in New
York was all the movies I've watched, you know, like
all the movies I watched. So I was expecting like
everything I've seen on TV. And then as soon as
I landed on the plane and I step outside the airport,
the humid it just hit me. I was like, wait it.

(08:47):
We don't have air like this in Africa. I guess
this is different. And then when I get when I
got on campus, Monroe is like heavy Hispanic and you know,
and back home, we don't have no Hispanic people. We
just like black Indian whites, that's all we have. So
that was like a culture show. My accent is bad.
He's like the people who had they were from the

(09:08):
Dominican Republic, you know. So it was so tough to communicate.
And I was still like scared to kind of like,
you know, come out of my shot, like hey, I'm
the kid from Africa came to run and they don't
understand what I'm saying. I'm like, oh, So that was
really really tough. And people are not friendly in New York,
so it was tough.

Speaker 3 (09:28):
Was it always a goal of yours to come to
the United States growing up in South Africa?

Speaker 1 (09:35):
No, Like as I was saying, like in South Africa,
the US running system and all that, it's I don't
know if it's made for a certain group, but from
where I come from in the neighborhoods, like it's nobody
knows nothing about it, Like it doesn't exist until we
know somebody like close to you who goes through it.
They were like, oh, there's another you know thing happening

(09:58):
in the US. But other than that, was always going
to be like, yeah, I want to go to the US,
to Miami, maybe in party because that's obviously on TV,
or go to La I only thought it was just Miami,
LA and New York. I never knew there was a Texas.
I never knew there was Oklahoma. So when I got here,
I was like, wait, what's this Like, it's it's massive,

(10:18):
it's huge.

Speaker 3 (10:20):
And you mentioned before that you started coaching at Lincoln University.
At what point did Ranger come in to your radar?

Speaker 1 (10:29):
So after I was done with my graduates graduate school,
I took AA off. I went working ninety five in
the mental health and then that wasn't working well for me. Like,
as you can think about it, I've been running since five,
That's all I knew. I went through boarding school. All
I did was wake up and round, go to class.

(10:51):
Came to New York, same thing. So working in ninety five,
shifting from that lifestyle, it's it's another thing. So while
I was I was working in the mental health, man
trust me, I had like she first page open, all
this kind of stuff that was not supposed to be
on the screen, like checking people's results, And I was like,
I might as well just start applying to school, see

(11:12):
if somebody can hire me. And then luckily one of
the coach referred me to a coach who was already
here ranging and then he was like, yeah, I'm looking
for a distance guy. If you trusted, you can come join.
So I was like, yeah, I'm coming. So I left
everything in Oklahoma and then came to Texas.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
So you were working at nine to five and you thought,
maybe that dog isn't such a bad idea after all.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yeah. Yeah, I was like, I understand why everybody got
a dog. And you know, man, how peaceful it is
to wake up in the morning and go for a
run and come back home, drink coffee whatever you drink,
and then start your day and like just wake up
and go to work. It's it's another lifestyle.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. So coach, you've been a
Ranger for two years. You've already been making some noise
on the national scene. What's been the key to success
is such a fast impact with both the men's and
women's program.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
To be honest with you, is being able to get
internationals in here. And because where I'm located in Texas,
it's really hard to get like local kids to come here.
It's kind of like the competition is like here College
or else South Plains. People would choose those schools before

(12:33):
they would choose Rangers. So it's kind of like I
have to like it's a dog fight. I have to
go harder to get a kids who's running at ten twenty,
you know. So luckily the school they let me get
as many internationals as I could get, So that's been
the key. But so far, I'm still trying to get
the localst balance because most of my girls their lowsts,

(12:55):
but they were like girls who were running like two
twenty five to days in high school. But now somehow
they improve. So it's been it's been positive.

Speaker 2 (13:04):
And have you I'm assuming being from Africa that certainly
probably helps with recruiting international students.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
Yes, especially back home where I come from, is like
I can easily talk to the parents because that's the
main thing back in South Africa is like the parents
are so involved in the situation. So it's not as
easy as like getting an email from a Kenyan guy.
But like, hey, coach, I ran eight detail on account.
So back home, convince the parents and because it's somebody
who can speak their language. And I've went through the

(13:34):
system and through Duco and through incidably and I'm where
I am today because of that system, so they kind
of like understand and respect that and then I get
the blessings to have their keep.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
Basically, what is that conversation like when you say you
have to because I'm sure you know you've seen you
probably have to convince some American parents too. But is
it Is it just because it's such a long way
from home that you have to kind of sell the
parents that their son or daughter is going to be
you know, safe and taken care of in such a

(14:05):
far away place.

Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yeah, So I think the main thing is, as I
was saying, in the area on most of most of them,
they see America on TV, and what they see on
TV is what happens in their mind. They probably think like,
you're going to traffic my kid or you're going to
do this to my kids. So it's more like it's
a scam. You're trying to take my kid from away
from me. Until now I'm here, it's being like almost

(14:29):
ten years, so now it's kind of be like, oh,
you're from down the street, but you've been there for
ten years. You were never trafficked, so I can trust
you with.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
It, okay.

Speaker 3 (14:39):
And being someone yourself who is an international athlete or
a student athlete, I should say, what benefits do you
think you provide international athletes coming to you opposed to
going to a coach who is an American.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
So the benefits. Man, it's it's really tough because you know,
coaching in joke and all that, but I have to
like go above and beyond, like make sure they have
simple things and cosmetics. Because I've been through the systeam.
I know how I felt how when my coach like
was going above and beyond to help us. Because a
lot of other coaches here they really go above and

(15:19):
beyond to try and help internationals. Some of them is
just you just run and you're just going to go
through the system, and I'm done with you whenever you're done,
you know. So I just try to provide as much
as I can out of pocket or even if it's
mentally motivate anything they need, Like I try to provide.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
One of the things we hear that international students have
the most trouble with is the food. Do you help
your athletes pain food that is close to what they
eat at home?

Speaker 1 (15:54):
Yeah? I try, but most of the time I try
to do it like more of a team bonding. I
get more my African and that I can cook, so
you know, they know when it's time, like, hey, it's
Friday night, coush gonna cook and then make whole meal
provided for them, and then they're gonna be happy they
eat gully, you know, wake up Saturday morning. Everybody's happy
when I do a long run because I ate Gugali

(16:15):
last night. I'm like, hey, we can do it. So
it's more of like those kind of small things that
I try to keep them positive, Like yeah, Friday night,
maybe I eat ugull. I wake up in the morning,
I'm ready to do it, Like I can do it
for you, coach. You know, I'm here for the team.
So those are the things I do because they don't
have stove where they can cook. Our campus is not
really a big campus, so it's kind of I don't

(16:37):
want them to have like stoves in it, and then
they end up banning the place and then now I'm
in trouble.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
So so we've none of the gully for a very
long time. As it said, Jim and I grew up
as running fans and still are running fans, And we
know how popular it is is that that's a very
important staple.

Speaker 3 (16:57):
Huh.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Yeah, that's somehow everybody believes that's where the strength comes
from super food. Yeah, it's heavy, but hey, he's gonna
carry you.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
Okay, all right, Jim, we gotta we gotta look into that.

Speaker 3 (17:11):
I think, Yeah, couse, you have any brand recommendations or
is that like a specialty thing.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
It's just pun milk. But make sure you can go
to wal martshal and find some. But make sure it
has like zeros, no salt or sodium or anything. It's
just all zeros. That's the perfect one.

Speaker 2 (17:30):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
So if it has taste, it's not a Gallian.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
Are you pairing that with vegetables and some sort of
protein as well?

Speaker 1 (17:38):
Yes? So the best way to do it chicken is pinach,
you know, creamy pinach chicken. Oh man, I'm getting hungry.

Speaker 2 (17:48):
Chicken spinach and new golly. All right, that's on my
my shopping list this week. I'm going to see if
I can start working that into the into the meal
prep and maybe that'll help me rejuvenate a little, because
I feel every bit of forty nine right now.

Speaker 1 (18:04):
You got it?

Speaker 2 (18:05):
Men, coach, what are what are the main challenges that
you know we talked to you said some culture shotgoing
in New York and Monroe and talk about the food.
What are the big challenges that international student athletes face.
I mean, obviously I would imagine homesick is it probably
something you probably have to deal with a little bit too.

Speaker 1 (18:27):
So I think the main one that's guests to them
whenever they arrive on campus, it's the language barrier, like
it's we grew up learning English and all that, but
the temple is different. Like we get you in and
it's like, hey, my know, you know how it goes
in America. That's all we hear. And I'm like, are
you really speaking English or you know? So that kind

(18:49):
of like also affects in the class. Most of them
they're like, yeah, I was in class, but I really
don't know what the professor was saying. So it's kind
of like the temple of the English and getting to
understand some seminology because we have a lot of different
terminology and stuff like that. So once you go through
all that, now you can start finding your feet.

Speaker 3 (19:10):
Now.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
The food is a problem, but it's not so much
of a problem because you know, you don't communicate with
the food. The problem is the people. So you're trying
to make friends or you know, trying to make friends
harder to make friends because they can't understand you and
you don't understand them. But you all guys are trying
to speak English. It's kind of like frustrating too. So

(19:30):
that's why if you've noticed and most of them they're
kind of like isolate, Like it's always like groups like, yeah,
I just see it with my Kenyans, or I just
see it with my South Africans because if I talk
to you keep saying huh huh, and it kind of
kills it.

Speaker 2 (19:44):
Yeah, Now is that a sort of thing? Sorry? Is
that a sort of thing? Like if you have multiple
athletes from different African countries, do they gravitate towards one another?
Is it like South Africans and Kenyans or do they
together and bond over the fact that they're all from
the same continent.

Speaker 1 (20:03):
Yes, I think they all point together because they're all
experiencing the same thing. Even if you can come from
Ethiopia is like the closest person next to me, even
if they can come from from South Africa is like,
that's the only person who understand how I grew up,
you know, the struggle and all that. That's how you
feel about It's like, hey, he's not gonna make fun

(20:23):
of me or say anything. So I'll just take my
African brothers and do what we can do.

Speaker 3 (20:31):
Coach mentioned that a lot of your students when they
first come over, they have trouble understanding people, and they're
sitting in a class and they don't understand the professor
or their services at Ranger College to help them better
educate themselves.

Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yes, we have. So he had Ranger. We are like
it's called an d schools type thing. Like he's highly
on Hispanic group and all that. So we have tutors
that deal with kids who play soccer from Likelombia and
all those Spanish speaking class countries. So those tutors like
they they've been around the school system so long that

(21:09):
they can help anybody who's from outside the US who
don't speak the language's first language. So we have like
just like now we have like study hall maybe three
times a week for my guys, and then if you
need extra help, you can go get extra help. But yeah,
we have services that deals with kids from international or
even regular kids, but most is international because of the

(21:32):
language brea, and you know, they slow everything down for them.

Speaker 3 (21:37):
Do you find that first couple of weeks first couple
of months is rough, and then kind of once they
get settled in, they get hanging things or do you
have kids that are having issues the whole time through.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
No, Usually they get all right, probably like after two
three weeks of school, and once they get used to
how the professor talks, now they can pay more attentions.
And also it's a small campus, so the professor gets
to talk to them, and then now they kind of
understand like, oh, this person kind of talks like this,
so I gotta go slow, I gotta, you know, talk

(22:11):
to him after the classic Did you understand what I
was talking about? We have an assignment to because that's
the main thing, is the assignment's lot of you or
maybe something is you. And the professor was just run
through it like, hey, we have a quiz tonight. I'm
going to open it and close it and then it
just goes yet goes it missed the queens and then
tomorrow like I didn't know you said we have a
quiz or anything like that.

Speaker 3 (22:34):
Coach, you are actually our third guest that we've had
from South Africa on the podcast. One a coach from
Auburn and another athlete from the university of the Cumberlands,
and they both said when they came over here, it
was a gift to them to be here, and they
didn't take They took advantage of being here and they

(22:55):
didn't take it for granted. Do you find that international
athletes have a little bit more over drive, Not to
say that American athletes don't, but they If I don't
pass these classes, I'm going back home.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
Yes, that's what I always keep telling my team. My team,
like most of the local guys, they would say, I
grew up rough. My mom had to work two three
jobs to get where I am today. I'm like like you.
For you, most of their mom never even had a job,
so you see the struggles like miles away, miles different.

(23:30):
So for your mom to have three jobs, you made it.
That's why whenever we come here, none of them are
on that party lifestyle or anything like that. They all
want to do something. When they go home, everybody's going
to be hip because they made it out.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
Coach, you mentioned the size of Ranger and that you
don't want the student athletes to have, you know, hot
plates and stuff in the dorm. I'm assuming they have dorms.
Is it dorms just for the athletes or is there
others students that are living on campus as well?

Speaker 1 (24:03):
So our campus is made of like it's I think
we have like five hundred student athletes, like the low
cost probably the population probably might be like we have
ten students, just regular students. So most of the domes
are just occupied by people are playing spots. So the
cross country kids, they have their own domes, but it's

(24:25):
old style domes where it's like what do you call them?
Community dom? What is it called?

Speaker 2 (24:31):
Like a common room?

Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah, like a common room where there's like ten showers
and then everybody shares the room with somebody. Yeah, is
those type of style okay?

Speaker 2 (24:42):
And in terms of the academics, I know a lot
of times for junior college athletes specifically they're going maybe
they kind of get their their general education so then
when they transfer onto a four year they don't lose
a lot of credits. Is that what you're seeing with
most of the student athletes. Are there any particular majors
that you're seeing athletes your athletes gravitating towards.

Speaker 1 (25:05):
Yes. So the school is more like a technical school.
They have a lot of like welding, neursing and all
those unique cosses. You know. So the most of the
kids that I have right now, they come in for
neursing general studies. I've seen it a lot. I have
maybe a couple that are doing like welding or cosmetics

(25:28):
stuff like that. So it's it's really like there's a
lot of majors they can choose from.

Speaker 3 (25:34):
Okay, and you said you had some students that are
nursing majors. Does that conflict at all with athletics.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
No, because in due because just the basics, Like they're
just doing the general stuff. So they might come in
when I do nessing. It's going to take them three
ars to get the full tern certificates, so they've gotta
be uga in two years. So most of the time
when they say they come for nessing, I'm just like, yeah, come,
but I know in real life they will need like
two more extrainers to get at least a BSN. So

(26:09):
they just do their basics here, you know, so they
can transfer.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
Out all right. And you mentioned the dorms, what are
the facilities, Like they have a track on campus and
where are you guys running as far as cross country?

Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah, so we don't have a track track on campus.
But we have like the Kenyan style track, that track
perfect four hundred meters gravel. All the distance runners who
come here who know what they want. When they see that,
they get happy. But you know, you get the bougie
ones like hey, so those are the hard ones to convince.
Like my international is. I'm like, man, I'll give you

(26:46):
a small Africa here. We have dead roads everywhere, small campus.
The only difference you're going to find it is just
the food. That's the only American thing you're going to
find here. So if you want to be a great athlete,
you're going to come here and excel because this is
this is the life. If you think Africans are first,
this is what they do. Run on a dead track,
run on the dead roads, small park for you know,

(27:08):
easy run, crass stuff like that. But we use a
proper track for high school that is like two miles
down the road, so they all just warm up running
down there. We use that cool down back. So it's
it's really a small town. So it's it's very hard
to it's not very hard to move around with practices,
to be honest.

Speaker 2 (27:28):
Okay, they talk about if you want to run fast,
come here, because it's just like home. You've already coached
some small Americans. What's your philosophy when it comes to
developing athletes at the junior college level.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
So my thing is from my recruiting stance, like I
just tried to find out how low how much the
actually runs a week, and you know, any history of injuries.
Because I'm more of like a maleaged guy that worked
for me. I never knew anything about manage and take
go to the US and then change training more mileage,

(28:04):
better performances. And I was also shocked. So I bought
into that system and then I just missed a little
bit from what I learned from home. So looking at
them coming out of high school, if they can at
least run twenty miles a week or twenty five, and
then checking the times, Let's say a girl run about
fifteen miles a week and they managed to pull like

(28:24):
a two twenty two, twenty five. That's great for me
because if she comes here and I put it on
like daty five forty, she won't be able to run
faster and she can at least finish a five k.
So it's more of like a maleage and then it
just grows weekly with build, build, and then take it
before championship season and then it's been working so far.

(28:47):
Though you know, I'm a young coach. I'm going to
make a lot of mistakes, but so far everything's been okay.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
All right, So how has the car and you got
rankings in the most recent polls. How has this season
been going so far? Have you had many meets?

Speaker 1 (29:03):
I've already had two meets. So the first meet, I
think we finished like fourth or fifth as a team,
both genders. I had a guy who was top two,
my top guy came second there and then my top
girl I think she was eighteen fifty six five K

(29:24):
but she was around top twenty. So it's been looking
real good. But the problem was coming off the summer.
Some of my top girls didn't do the work over
the summer, so it was like, you know track season,
you finished the season running seventeens, you come back you
can't break twenty minutes. It's like, oh, so this whole

(29:46):
month has been like just base building them back up
just so that they can just keep up with the
other girls, of which makes things difficult, but we're working
through it.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
So every coach is frustration is when they leave of
the summer. Yeah, they got to be they got to
be accountable and discipline to do things on their own.
And as young adults sometimes there's a lot of distractions
for them, so they don't they don't get in the work.
But you know, the stop watch doesn't lie. When they
come back and they're three minutes lower, it's we know

(30:19):
you didn't do what you're supposed to do.

Speaker 1 (30:22):
Yeah, So that's that's the tough part now. But and
the crazy part is like, it's my international kids who
do that. My local kids, they all came back super
good man. I'm like, where was this last year? Like, yeah, coach,
I trained all the summer. Did all the money? Excuse me?
So I was like wow. And then my international girls like, oh, yeah,

(30:44):
I tried coach, but I had to work. I'm like,
you know what, I can't blame you. I know how
it felt being in the US over the summer, because
usually coach cares for you from August two main nationals.
After that, they tell you, hey, you can stay on
campus this summer. You got to find a place to stay.
And to find a place to stay, you gotta pay rent,
you gotta eat. Running won't do that for you, you

(31:06):
gotta find some you know, siting, So I somehow I understand.
But it's like, now I'm a coach, I'm like.

Speaker 3 (31:13):
Oh, coach, you say, you understand. We're rich and I
both coached your coach obviously, and you're always thinking about
how we can get better, how can we can avoid problems?
So how are you thinking about that? How you deal
with that next summer coming up so they come in
in better shape.

Speaker 1 (31:35):
So, to be honest with you, the thing I'm thinking
right now is like next summer, whenever they go, wherever
they go, just bring somebody better. So whenever they come back,
if they think they're steal the goat, you're not the goat.
You gotta work twice as hot. Like that's the only
way I can go about it, because, yeah, taking care

(31:55):
of somebody for the whole summer, that's going to make
me pro broke.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
So you said, making sure that there's someone else that
comes back that's better. That you're recruiting, And we all
know recruiting is a big part of a job as
a college coach, but we also know there's other things
you have to deal with. You have to worry about programming,
you have to worry about transportation meets, you have to
worry about expense reports. So what does your daily look

(32:23):
like as far as being the head coach of Ranger
College cross country?

Speaker 1 (32:29):
Oh so basically, wake up in the morning, six day
in the morning, go for around with my team. I mean,
I know, like I was talking to other coaches, like
what time do you guys train in the money, I'm like,
sixth day. They're like, oh, that's too late. You got
to go at six am. I'm like, what you guys
do at six am? I can do it at six daty.
So it's still the same thing, getting the same practice.

(32:51):
So we just wake up, go for whatever on workout
we have on the day, and then I go back home,
take the dogs out of course, you know, come back
to the office, go through some recruits, you know, schedule
meets that's the main thing. And putting like purchase requests
for meets, see how my budget is standing, see if

(33:14):
anybody needs anything, and have meetings every now and then
with at least especially like the ones that I know
they really struggle mentally, like if they lose, they cry
and go through all that. I try to talk to
them every once or twice a week just to let
them know, hey, I know you love running, but this
is not everything you know. Just keep it, you know.

(33:37):
So that's all I do. Just try to communicate with
the athletes, reach out to recruit and see where they at,
especiality international ones because whenever coming in the morning is
like probably five pm back in Africa, so that's the
best time to talk to them.

Speaker 3 (33:55):
What's your favorite part of being a coach and what's
your least favorite part.

Speaker 1 (34:01):
Favorite part of being a coach? I still like the traveling,
to be honest, because I'm not from here, so everything
to me is like, oh, this is different from that
that I know. That's my favorite part. And also to
see like people improve from like point A to point B.
That's really it really gets to me because as much
as we all like like those fast athletes and all that,

(34:24):
like it's cool to have somebody first, but to see
somebody goes from twenty minutes to eighteen minutes within aar
or two, to me, that's that's great, that's big, Like
it's you did that, coach, that's my running now, coach.

(34:45):
In addition to the two meets you've had, what else
do you have on the schedule. Are you going to
Division one meets? Are you going what's the schedule looking
like before leading into regionals? And how are you going
to prepare the athletes that are living in Texas for
the weather potential in November and fourth Dodge, Iowa. Yeah,
so on Friday, we're going to Hobbes. Get some high

(35:10):
altitude running, you know, get some taste of that. And
then the biggest one that's coming up is going to
be a DWU is usually have like fifty six schools
or across like Division two, a few Division ones. Last
year I think we had like three Division ones, but
it's like a D two meet basically, so it's big

(35:31):
around here in Texas. That's that's a great test for them.
And then we're going to go back to Hobbes for
conference and regionals, of which that way I hope everybody
would be, you know, where we need them to be.
And then with the first Dodge one, I just hope
my Africans don't break. I've been there. I've run there

(35:53):
in the cold, so I know how it felts. So
I'm like, I just keep my fingers crossed. It's not
as cold as it usually be because I mean Texas.
Six am is hundred degrees, so there's nothing I can do.

Speaker 2 (36:06):
Yeah, well, I'm curious.

Speaker 1 (36:08):
You know.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
You mentioned you know, getting off the plane and the
humidity is just a different kind of air and environment
than what you were used to as an athlete. How
did you adjust to the cold being from such a
warm climate.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
Oh, so the most crazy part was the heat. So
I came in August, step off the plane and the
humidity just hit me right first race. It was in Pennsylvania.
It was warmer, almost passed out because of the heat.
Everyone was like, you're from Africa, it's hot down there.
I'm like, yeah, this is different type of heart. I've
never experienced anything like that. So it's been like it's

(36:48):
very different, like even with the cold. So of course
we're in Africa. Most people we don't use like AC
or what you call it. Yeah, Acy, we don't use
that because our code is kind of normal. Heah, everything
just goes like above and crazy. I can't take it.
So if I can't take it, I totally understand from

(37:10):
when they struggle.

Speaker 3 (37:12):
Yeah, coach, what does the percentage look like of American
athletes the international athletes and what countries do you have
represented on the team.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
So on the girl's side, I probably have like four
five American girls and then three Kenyan girls and then
that's about it. And then on the guy's side, I
only have two internationals. Okay, I can count that, and
I have three you know, young coach, I got scammed too,

(37:47):
like everybody else. Hey, coach, I run eighteen come here,
you run fourteen minutes in the tricky so it happens. Yeah,
So I can count there, but I don't on there.
It is like I have three international boys on the
men's side and then three on the women's side, and
then everybody else is local.

Speaker 3 (38:06):
Who do you think we should keep an eye out
for going forward for the rest of the seasons. Runners
that you think are going to do big things this year.

Speaker 1 (38:15):
So I have a girl who I think she just
started running like a year or two ago. She's a
younger sister of Susan Jora. She's coming all right. I
think she can break top twenty if things go up,
but we'll see. And then on the guy's side, I
have one guy from South Africa monthly. He's pretty, he's good.

(38:40):
I think he's gonna be top three nationals. I can
see him up there, so he's been an athlete of
the weeks already, so I hope he maintains all the
way to for Dodge and see how he takes the code.

Speaker 3 (38:56):
This is your second year or third year arranger.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
This is my second year.

Speaker 3 (39:02):
What is your five year plan?

Speaker 1 (39:05):
Five year plan? Next year, I want to get my
full team. So before I came here, I used to
just recruit people and give it to coaches. Now that
I have my own team, it's going to be fine.
So the goal is the next year, hopefully I get
to be on the podium for cross country, and then

(39:26):
this year the goal is to finish on the podium
for the half because I have at least three four
guys who can do that, who can pull it through
five years. Of course, I want to be n C
double somewhere, not in the East Coast though, you know
on your IO side, anywhere, Texas, the Carolinas. I'm good.

Speaker 2 (39:50):
We feel your coach with from New Jersey, so I.

Speaker 1 (39:55):
Don't miss them.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
Yeah, those are winners. You answer my question. I was
going to ask if you guys were going to tee
it up for the half marathon championships as well. It
sounds like you guys are gearing up for that as well.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
Yeah, so I think we have a shot to place
one in the cross country meet, but the better shot
will be the half. But you know, I'm a cross
country course. I guess I gotta start with the cross
country Nationals fast and hope we do good and anybody
who wants to run the half, I just drow everybody

(40:28):
in the half. But I have guys who are really
made for that, so I hope they pull through.

Speaker 2 (40:35):
Now, will you do any half marathon specific training throughout
the season or is everything kind of geared towards that
aka cross country race?

Speaker 1 (40:43):
So for most of the team, everything is geared towards
the cross country AK because most of them coming out
of high school. But my international guys, I try to
put them on a half marathon cycle every now and then,
maybe bi weekly so that they don't drop so much.

(41:04):
Because most of them are like twenty two to twenty three,
like they're already been through all the small males like
sixty miles and tventy miles. It won't do them any good,
you know, So I just tried to keep them up
then and so they can double back like ten k
one AK. They can do. Do it all?

Speaker 2 (41:21):
What kind of long run mileage are they hitting?

Speaker 1 (41:25):
They are so top two boys, they usually do dairy case.
That's yeah, they usually do dairy case. But I personally
like them to do fifteen miles and all that. But
you know, once you get them at that at that age,
it's not as easy to convince like, hey, we gotta
we have indoors outdoors now, coach, this is what I know.

(41:48):
If you want the best version of me, let me
do it. So that's the only thing. I let them freelance, like, hey,
it's your long run. If you feel like doing dairy
caase today, you go ahead and do dairy case. But
I prefer fifteen miles is the most for them. And
then the group that just came out of high school,
we started ten twelve half. Now most of them are

(42:10):
like at half and twelve okay.

Speaker 2 (42:13):
Yeah, And you know the inger Britain's Jake Yakov especially
has made the double threshold training very popular. It's all
the rays these days. We talked to the coaches about it.
Are you dabbling in a double threshold all with your
guys and gals.

Speaker 1 (42:28):
I'm scared, man, I don't know. I'm scared, Like It's
if I was in a foyer, I could build towards that.
But because like Juko is like a cash cause, like
it's either your kids heavy or they don't. You know,
I don't want to risk injuring somebody with some I've
never done double threshold myself, so I'm kind of like,

(42:50):
that's why I'm so scared, Like I need to really
understand what is it about? How to double that about?
Because I've seen out of coaches, like I have friends
who runs for Paul at wing Gate and all that
check this drive and all. It's cool to see them,
you know, do ten kid twenty nine and come back
in the afternoon do ten four hundreds. I'm like, oh,
but to do it for my kids, It's like I

(43:12):
don't know.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
Shareot the coach Paul one Gate.

Speaker 2 (43:17):
We love coach Paul. Yes, we do strong coffee.

Speaker 3 (43:20):
Yes, coach. Do you have any advice for international students
that are looking at coming to the United States kind
of things they should look at or think of in
the recruiting process?

Speaker 1 (43:35):
Yeah? The best thing you could look at, like when
you're outside the US is am I going to improve
where I'm going? The coaches philosophy what's the training about.
Is it like high mileage or we just for three
reps a week, like you know those fifteen hundred type coaches.

(43:56):
To look at the school you want to go. Do
you want to be in the city or you just
want to focus on your school and running. Those are
the things you should look at because some of them
maybe they come. Let's say you come from Zimbabwe and
you hear you were expecting to come and find a
ranger coalition and you end up in a Monroe college

(44:18):
where the school is in the middle of the bronx,
there's cars going left and right, there's no way to
do your long run. It's kind of like, ah, this
is not what I sign up for. But you know,
should do your research proper and and find out all
those things before you even make a decision.

Speaker 3 (44:36):
Which do you have any other questions for coach?

Speaker 2 (44:39):
I do I have one where it's non running related,
But this one I always ask people because it fascinates me.
You said, you've been here for ten years, coach. Yes, okay,
and forgive me if I'm wrong. Your native language is
in Afrikaans. No, so my native language is Zulu Zulu.

(45:01):
But I went to an African school. So you know
I doubled there. But I speak seven different languages. Seven. Okay,
let's make this question even better than So, I'm curious
when you dream and I do you what language do
you dream in?

Speaker 1 (45:15):
Oh? Man, my wife is from me, So now I
dream is like English, English, cause that's what I speak
all the time. But when I first came here, it
used to be my language, and then English and I
would wake up I'm like, what was that? Yeah, it
used to frustrate me because I was like, why am
I dreaming in such a good English, fluent English? And

(45:36):
when I wake up, I'm like, I don't speak like that.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
What seven languages do you speak?

Speaker 1 (45:44):
So? I speak Zulu, Asa, I speak Suana, I speak Sutu,
and then Debele and Swati.

Speaker 2 (45:52):
Okay, are those all different dialects? Are they completely different languages?

Speaker 1 (45:58):
Some of them are similar, some they're like different, like
Sutu and Suana those that kind of like have the
same dialect. And then Kasa is the one with a
lot of ticks kicks, that's the one people teach us about.
And then Zulu it's kind of like normal to us,
but it's more you can and if you can speak Calusa,

(46:20):
you can understand somebody who speaks Zulu, so it's more
like that and Endevil and so what they all like
kind of similar. It's just a little bit of difference.
So that's why everybody asked me because you've been here
for so long, you don't have the American accent. I'm like,
it's not an easy thing to roll your town seven times,
like you know, seven different ways, like you it's it's

(46:41):
not happening.

Speaker 2 (46:42):
Okay, Yeah, well I appreciate that, coach.

Speaker 3 (46:46):
Is there anything about Ranger College that we haven't covered
that you want our audience to know about?

Speaker 1 (46:55):
So I think basically it's like we're in the middle
of nowhere next to I twenty, but we have a
lot of good routes to run. Man, Like you can
go for twenty five miles without touching a road just
going on your long run. So those are the best
things we have. The campus is nice and small. You

(47:18):
get to talk to the professors if you need help,
Like it's not hard to you know, to get the
help you need. Yeah, it's like we have all the
help right in one place, so you won't struggle if
you commit said to what you.

Speaker 3 (47:32):
Want right well, Richie's got three dogs and a wife,
so he's living the dream.

Speaker 1 (47:39):
He sure he's not just the dogs? Man, I was afraid.
I'm like, yeah, what came first? The dogs of the wife?
The wife came with the dogs.

Speaker 2 (47:49):
Okay, alright, money man my style right there?

Speaker 1 (47:52):
Right? Yeah, yeah, I wasn't gonna do it, man, was it?
She was like, hey, I got dogs? Like, well, at
least it's not I didn't come with them.

Speaker 3 (48:05):
As long as you come with them, I'm good on
the dogs.

Speaker 1 (48:08):
Yeah, there you go.

Speaker 2 (48:09):
I love it.

Speaker 3 (48:11):
Final flour, sir, let's do it all right? Coach? Are
you a coffee drinker?

Speaker 1 (48:18):
No?

Speaker 3 (48:19):
Okay? No?

Speaker 1 (48:22):
Is he? I like tea?

Speaker 2 (48:24):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (48:25):
I like tea?

Speaker 2 (48:27):
Is that a regular thing?

Speaker 1 (48:29):
Nah? I sep more like on water when I'm bored.
But I don't than that. It's I don't I like
mountain Judo.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
You're you're probably the third coach in the month that's
a Mountain dew fan. Do you have a favorite flavor?
Mountain deer or just regular?

Speaker 1 (48:46):
Just regular? All right? Just really?

Speaker 2 (48:50):
Was that something that? Do they have mountains in South Africa?

Speaker 3 (48:53):
No?

Speaker 1 (48:55):
We didn't have half the stuff I've see on those machines.
I'm like, why is this doctor I don't remember seeing
Doctor Pepper when I was growing up. I don't. Yeah,
I don't think i've seen it.

Speaker 2 (49:05):
What was the first mountain dew experience?

Speaker 3 (49:07):
Like?

Speaker 2 (49:07):
For you?

Speaker 1 (49:09):
Was so sweet? It was so good, It was so good,
and you know, my wife put me on mountain you.
So because when I came here, I was like, yeah,
I want to be pro. I'm not going to do
no SODA's and all that. And then when I was
in where I met here in Tennessee, Kentucky area is
like a big mountain du place, so I let me
try that. And I was like, now I understand why

(49:31):
everybody is mounted to a Doctor Pepper. But yeah, I
chose mountain.

Speaker 2 (49:36):
Do they love mountain doing Appalachia?

Speaker 1 (49:39):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (49:43):
Excuse me, Coach, do you have any daily excuse me,
daily practices or rituals that you do on a regular
basis to show up as the strongest version of James?

Speaker 1 (50:00):
Wake up probably an hour before practice, and wander around
the house if I feel like I need to roll
and roll and just you know, come back to life slowly,
and then by the time I get to practice, I'm
all in. So I don't like to wake up and

(50:20):
quick and go. It kind of like weighs me down.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
Yeah, you're still pretty fit.

Speaker 1 (50:27):
I tried to keep up. I tried to keep up
with my girls. I try. I dropped some of the
boys every now and then. But you know, it's kind
of hard because I'm in the best place to become
a marathon guy or whatever I want to be. But
doing it alone stuff, Yeah, it's tough.

Speaker 2 (50:50):
Is there a marathon in your future?

Speaker 3 (50:51):
Though?

Speaker 1 (50:52):
Yeah? I need I need to first finish the twenty
one k and then I can think about that.

Speaker 2 (50:57):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (51:00):
What are you listening to right now? Music? Podcasts, audio books?
Are you reading anything?

Speaker 1 (51:07):
I don't like to you don't read, man, but I
do listen to music, house music, Speaker, let's go, Yeah,
Afro house House. I'm all in, Like my team is
like coach, what's this music? I'm like, welcome to Dubai.

Speaker 2 (51:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:28):
I listen to a lot of house music, and I
watch a lot of like seriousis movies stuff like that.

Speaker 3 (51:34):
What are you watching right now? Anything good?

Speaker 1 (51:38):
What am I watching right now? Who's the King is back?

Speaker 3 (51:44):
Okay? Also King?

Speaker 1 (51:45):
Yes, I'm back on that. I just finished the check
Rabbit's good show. I'm like Dexter the new one. Yes,
And what else am I watching? Yeah, that's about it.
I watch a lot of I always find stuff because

(52:06):
I have like this app from home where I can
find all the new stuff. So whenever I get home,
like I forget about running and then just watch a
couple of shows.

Speaker 2 (52:19):
Coach, you have you ever heard of Black Coffee? The DJ?

Speaker 1 (52:22):
That's my number one? Man, that's my number one.

Speaker 2 (52:25):
You know he represents, Yes, he does. How about Cairo?

Speaker 1 (52:30):
I love Cairo. Let's go Yeah, cool Cairo, Calvin Harris Man,
I'm a big fan.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
Yeah, we could rock with you. Coach.

Speaker 3 (52:39):
Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2 (52:41):
I was on it. I was on a big, very
large Afro house kick this summer. That was That was
my go to all summer for for everything. There's what's
it called do you listen to?

Speaker 3 (52:54):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (52:55):
Did you do Apple podcasts at all?

Speaker 3 (52:58):
No?

Speaker 2 (52:58):
I have Spotify, But Spotify there's a it's called Deep Sounds.
It's a podcast and they do specifically Afro house deep songs.

Speaker 1 (53:10):
I got to put that down because them drives, they
be long. When when we're traveling, that's all I listened to.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
Nice and the Guys, The Gentleman's name is Manu h.
He's based out of London and his record label is
Club Record. It's O K l U B, So I
check it out. Awesome coach. Last morning was that.

Speaker 1 (53:36):
I'll let you know what I think about it.

Speaker 2 (53:38):
Okay, awesome coach. Last week we got for you to
close ass a lighthearted one. Maybe it's the Mountain dew.
Maybe there's a food item that you've fell in love
with being here in the United States. Maybe there's something
outside of something we haven't talked about. Do you have
a guilty pleasure?

Speaker 1 (53:53):
What a beg of sweetest spicy man? And what a
beg of sweetest spicy beggar? Oh? Yeah, that's my go to.

Speaker 2 (54:03):
Okay, Okay, when you were you went Cameron Is in Oklahoma? Correct?

Speaker 1 (54:09):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (54:10):
Did you ever have an Oklahoma onion burger?

Speaker 1 (54:12):
I did? My coach loved it. I was like, okay,
it was okay to me.

Speaker 2 (54:17):
Where is Cameron in Oklahoma? It's in Lotin, so Okay.

Speaker 1 (54:22):
You know Latin.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
Shady five eighty of course, I know Lottin.

Speaker 1 (54:25):
Yeah. Cool please man.

Speaker 2 (54:33):
Yeah, that's awesome, coach. It was an honor and a
pleasure to have you joining us this evening. We really
appreciate your time and coming by to fill us in
about Ranger College and the team and the program and
everything you got going on. We are excited to follow
along with everything going on the rest of the season
and we'll be doing hopefully be doing some coverage in

(54:55):
Fort Dodge remotely for the banquet, so maybe we'll cross
paths with you again. If not, you know, you guys
get on that podium in the half marathon Championships or
even in the AK or the five k. We'd love
to have you back and talk some more.

Speaker 1 (55:09):
Thank you, Thank you man, Thank you guys for having me.

Speaker 2 (55:12):
Absolutely it was an honor and pleasure. Best of luck
with the rest of the season for you.

Speaker 1 (55:17):
You see all.

Speaker 2 (55:20):
Right, ladies and gentlemen. That is coach James Vjange from
Ranger College. Make sure you go check them out on
all the socials, check those Lincoln the show notes, Go
show them a little bit of love. Let them know
the aer Bros sent you. That is all for us
this week. We do appreciate you tuning in and I
hope you have a great rest of your week. Come
on back and see us next week. Enjoy the rest

(55:41):
of your week and have a great weekend,

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Airey Bros Radio EP 402 — Coach James Majenge (Ranger College XC): From South Africa to JUCO Podiums & Building a National Contender

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Airey Bros Radio EP 402 — Coach James Majenge (Ranger College XC): From South Africa to JUCO Podiums & Building a National Contender