"I'm Cody Tipler. I'm the coach," he said.
A group of similarly dressed Navajos and one Kenyan arrived at the building soon after, juggling a soccer ball in the lobby or flopping onto the couch.
Some machines run well on replacement parts. The men's cross country team proved they belong to that category.
Diné College won its eighth men's USCAA national championship Nov. 6 in Concord, N.H.
Tipler, with two titles to his credit as a runner, replaced former athletic director and coach Abe Bitok. He said he thinks he's the youngest coach in the small schools association.
The team returned five runners from last year combined, many of them women.
The result didn't change. Diné College invaded the podium, claiming the top four spots in the men's race and finishing with 23 points. Penn College, located in Williamsport, Pa., took second with 79 points.
The Warriors are a marked team at nationals. It's their race to lose, and with a high rate of turnover on the roster, a young, new coach that grew up in the Florida Keys, and a long-distance flight, many wouldn't blame them for feeling nervous.
That wasn't the case.
"I don't think there was any pressure because we knew we were pretty good," said Kenny Whitehair, who dreamed of running for Diné since he noticed their team of fast Kenyans during eighth grade. "We knew we
Nicholas Kipruto, 25, won the 8K in 25:10.
One of the few returnees from last year, the lone Kenyan on this year's team raced twice before nationals. He injured his ankles during a Las Cruces meet and wanted to stay healthy for the most significant race of the year.
"My experience at Diné College has been good. I love it. The fact that you win and keep winning, that makes it better," Kipruto said. "I don't know how it feels to be beaten. When you get beaten, that's when you look at your weakness."
The sophomore won the race by nearly two minutes over teammate Tyler Logg, who finished the course in 26:55.
Tipler said his No. 1 runner is capable of dropping his time into the 23-minute range. Kipruto wants to compete for a Division I school in the fall but jokingly fretted about passing the remainder of his classes at Diné first.
A few bigger schools have shown interest. He said he's looking for the best program that also will fit him well academically, but he'll continue to celebrate the team's latest triumph in the interim.
Tipler expected a challenge from Florida College, which claimed multiple All-Americans last season. Their team finished well back in sixth and might disband, citing a lack of interest in participation.
Not so at Diné, where runners such as Lance Williams of Tuba City, Ariz., are aware of the school's tradition before arriving and frame running as a priority.
"One of the coaches was telling me, It's so hard to keep my team together. They goof off and stuff like that,'" said Tipler, comparing the team's mindset to larger university athletics.
The Warriors dominated the field, forming a pack near the front for the first time all season. Diné treated their other races like practice and spread out more along the course.
They stayed close Nov. 6, all the way to their post-race celebration at Olive Garden.
"A lot of people were actually questioning if we were going to bring back the title. They really thought that since the other coach went to a different place that the program wasn't going to be here any more, and it still is here," Tipler said. "Now I think the community sees that when we brought that title back. I think the community sees that as well."
The women, with one USCAA national title to their credit, fell one runner short. They placed four in the top 10 but lacked a fifth runner in the top 60 and finished third as a team.
Marqia Begaye led the women with a fourth-place finish, running 24:49.
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