Features editor Bri Becerra ’25 interviews Nkosi “King” Jeju ’27 on his four-time record-breaking indoor track season.
Can you introduce yourself?
My name is Nkosi Jeju. I’m from South Africa. I’m applying to have a self-designed major in business and a self-designed minor in accounting.
Why did you choose Wooster?
I got a lot of offers from different schools, like Wabash and Grand Canyon, but here there is international diversity; that’s why I chose Wooster.
How did you feel when you broke your records?
The last time I competed was in 2018. That was the last time I did track. I came to Wooster and decided to join the track team. I didn’t think I still had it in me. The first meet I wasn’t expecting anything much. I just wanted to see the competition and enjoy myself, then it happened that I broke the school record [in long jump]. [Previously,] it was held for 32 years. To break those records, I wasn’t expecting it. It was just putting in hard work and taking one for the team, hoping that our team wins. Then it happened that I took down three more school records yesterday [on Feb. 10].
Are you hoping to break other records?
I had my eye on triple jump, which I did yesterday. I had my eye on the 60 [meter] that I set last time, and I did get to 6.85 [seconds]. I’m still eying my 60, I need to take it down because I was number 93 in the nation and now I’m 12th in the nation, so I’m thinking of the 60 again. I’m looking at the 100 and the 200 outdoor, long jump outdoor and the triple jump. I want to have four indoors and four outdoors [records]. I’ll just keep working hard and we’ll see what comes.
What has been your favorite part of being on the team so far?
My coaches are the best. Coach Ellie and coach Rice are the best; they’re supportive in every way that you can think of. Emotionally, they encourage me every time. There was one weekend where I was hoping to do a lot of things, but I false started and got in my head, and after that coach Ellie and coach Rice came to me and we spoke about it. That was the support [they gave]. You don’t allow the setbacks to pull you down — you dust yourself off, you move on. I moved on to this weekend with that mentality. And coach Rice is a good coach. He knows what he’s doing. He knows what each and every one of us on the track team needs — he helped me improve my start in the 60. I didn’t think I was ever going to achieve that, but he was what I needed and he taught me how to do it.
Is there anything you would like to plug on campus?
[I want to give a] shout out to the African Student Union, International Students Association and of course shout out to the dance team. I’m not good at dancing, but I have a friend of mine that’s on the dance team. She loves it. So shout out to the dance team, I love going to watch them dance.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Just a quote. I love it. “Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.”