Three Rio Olympians started with Coach Ray

By Brian Towey for DyeStat

For three athletes representing New York City in track and field at the 2016 Rio Olympics -- Phyllis Francis (400 meters), Deajah Stevens (200 meters) and Dalilah Muhammad (400 meter hurdles) -- there is an unmistakable common thread: They were all guided by Coach Ray. 

If you are a part of the track scene in New York (or beyond), you know Ray James. He is a slender gentleman with a courtly manner, immaculately dressed, a jazz afficiando with a hunger for the sport. Since arriving at Cardozo as an assistant coach 11 years ago, this self-made coach has sent five athletes to the Millrose Games High School Mile and laid the groundwork for a slew of homegrown Queens athletes to compete at the major college level, among them Sabrina Southerland (Georgetown), Alexis Panisse (Tennessee/UConn), Claudia Francis (Oregon/Florida) and Denise Branch (Illinois).

James did not run in college (he played basketball) but incorporated running into his routine after a series of injuries playing hoops. He ran his first race in 1978 (James will not reveal his age), a 10K, on a dare from a co-worker. Running in basketball high-tops, he won the dare. Next came a pair of proper trainers, which James carried, di rigeur for the time, slung around his neck.

Fourteen marathons followed. Biathlons, too. Then, 11 years ago, while James was training on Forest Park’s leafy horse trails in Queens, a teenaged athlete approached him.

He said, “Could you help me with my running (training)”?

Soon, James took on a number of neighborhood runners as a coach, including Stephanie Mattar from St. John the Baptist, Alexandria Condell from Jamaica High School, Rolanda Bell from Sacred Heart Academy (who would run at Tennessee), and Trish La Force from Benjamin Cardozo High School, which led to him becoming a coach at Cardozo High School along with Gail Emmanuel, who competed for Trinidad & Tobago in the 400 meters at the 1984 Olympics.

“I started going to coaching clinics and reading every book about coaching I could read,” said James, who cited long time SUNY Cortland coach and distance guru Jack Daniels among his influences.

James lacked formal training as a track coach, but his inquisitive nature led him deeper into the sport. It was a dramatic departure from his day job as a rep for Upjohn and Pfizer, “wearing three-piece suits and interacting with doctors all day.”

“I take things so personally,” James said. “That when a parent comes up to me with their child I feel obligated to get them better. I feel compelled to make them faster than when they came to me.”

Beat Of the Drum

Dalilah Muhammad’s path to Cardozo started in an African dance class. When Muhammad was in the eighth grade, James was the drummer in her African dance class (James says that he drums for different clubs up and down the East Coast).

Muhammad, whose older sister was attending Cardozo at the time, was running with a club team called the New York Novas.

“I told her that if she came to Cardozo, she could practice with Cardozo two days a week and the Novas two days a week,” said James.

At Cardozo, Muhammad developed not only into one of country’s premier 400 hurdlers, she also developed the strength to lead Cardozo’s team to the 4x800 meter national championship.

“Other girls would try to negotiate the workouts, but her mindset was always, ‘Ok, it is what it is, let’s get (the workout) done,” James said.

James recalls a workout that called for 200-meter hill sprints. Muhammad devoured it.

“How many sprinters would do (that type of workout)?" James asked.

Muhammad, favored to win the gold medal in the 400 hurdles, has also given back. This fall, during an eight-week training stretch in New York last fall (Muhammad typically trains in California where she went to USC), she tutored some of James’ up-and-coming young hurdlers from Cardozo.

“She kind of mentored some of my younger athletes,” said James. “It was a great experience for these young girls to work with her.”

Prodigy Finds a Home

Deajah Stevens, currently a sophomore at the University of Oregon, was a surprise Olympic qualifier in the 200 meters. After she attended Mount Vernon and New Rochelle high schools, she arrived at Cardozo as a senior.

“I got a phone call from Deajah one day and she said, ‘Coach Ray, you’re going to be my coach’,” James said. “She came in June and started working out with us.”

Stevens came to Cardozo as a standout sprinter (her mother, Lakia Perkins, was herself an  accomplished high school sprinter). Yet her willingness to work left an impression on James.

“She ran cross country with us in the fall,” said James. “It was her first cross-country season.”

Stevens, despite her sprint chops, became one of Cardozo’s top seven harriers, along with Georgetown’s Sabrina Southerland, competing at the New York State Federation Championships at Bowdoin Park.

“Even when Deajah came to me -- she started in June -- she came to every workout. She’s going to be the fastest sprinter to (ever) come out of New York City,” James said

Like Family

James remains close with Francis, whose younger sister, Claudia, was an elite middle-distance runner at Cardozo. While Phyllis Francis attended McAuley High School in Brooklyn, James assisted in coaching her, together with Francis’s father, Andrew.

"Andrew did a great job with Phyllis," James said.

On Monday, Francis placed fifth in the Olympic 400 meters final.

"Phyllis is like family," James said. "Claudia is like family. (But) they go out West (to train) and I don't see them as much."

Watching his athletes progress has filled James with joy. But, consistent with the attitude that has made his athletes great, he expects more.

He believes Southerland, a former 2:03 prep runner, has what it takes to be at least an Olympic trialist. He has a new crop of freshmen at Cardozo that he's excited about. And his cousin, who lives upstate (he counsels her from afar) is one of America's top emerging prep talents. She may be the best of the lot. Her name is Sammy Watson. The Rush-Henrietta rising senior won two gold medals at the U20 World Championships this summer.

"It's been a great year," James said. "Sammy is not down here, but it's been a lot of fun. To have three of my athletes in the Olympics is amazing."