Ewing residents Franklin Aririguzoh and Matt Kamph are part of the Notre Dame High School 4×800 relay team, which currently holds the third-best time in the country. (Staff photo by Samantha Sciarrotta.)
Matt Kamph almost ignored track and field altogether, but fellow Notre Dame High School senior Franklin Aririguzoh knew better than to let that opportunity slip away. Kamph, a three-year soccer player, tried lacrosse the spring of his freshman year—“not a great idea,” according to his teammate—but after some convincing from Aririguzoh, he decided to try running as a way to stay in shape for soccer.
It’s a good thing he did. The two Ewing residents are the boys’ track squad’s top two athletes, both running in the 4×800-meter relay, among other events. The pair, along with teammates Albert Del Cristo and Matt Elliott, ran a 7:51.24 relay at the Armory Invitational on Jan. 31 in New York. As a result, the boys are ranked third in the country, behind Utah’s Davis High School (7:49.59) and New York’s Shenendahowa High School (7:50.03), which won the Jan. 31 race. The time also puts them at 17th in New Jersey indoor history and second all-time in the county.
The duo also finished back to back in the 800 at the NJSIAA Non-Public Group B Championships on Feb. 13. Kamph came in first place, and Aririguzoh followed behind by two-hundreths of a second. They also helped the 4×400 squad to a third-place finish
Kamph said the team’s 7:57.70 at the Jan. 4 New Jersey Catholic Track Conference Winter Relays meet “opened up the door” for the Armory race, where it faced some stiff competition.
“We really felt like everything worked,” he said. “We were something like 15 seconds faster than our best last year. That’s amazing. When we saw that time up on the board, we were struck. To be up there with some of the best teams around, it’s really humbling. It just keeps us hungry for more.”
The pair saw similar success at the Mercer County Championships, where they ran a 3:27.51 4×400 relay, helping the boys’ team to a county title on Jan. 25. Aririguzoh, whose college choices have been narrowed down to Northeastern and a handful of Ivies, was named the meet’s MVP after a first-place finish in the 400 and his performance in the 4×400, on top of finishing 13th in the 800.
And he ran in the relay immediately after his winning race.
The Irish had high expectations heading into the county meet. Namely: a team title.
“We definitely went into it thinking we could win,” he said. “We all just needed to fall into place. The pole vaulters, the hurdlers, the long jumpers—they were invaluable. I just thought it would be a waste for me to not win the 400.”
Kamph, who is committed to run at the University of Memphis next year, praised Aririguzoh’s meet.
“It’s a hard thing to do, especially with what he had to do,” he said. “It’s a quick turnover of events. But it turned out for the best. Franklin is a fantasic runner. He’s very versatile. He can go from 50 seconds to 49 seconds anytime he wants in the 400. He’s also one of the top 800 meter runners in the state. That can carry over into the 1200.”
Kamph had a similar performance at counties, placing first in the 800 and fourth in the 1600.
“He’s a great personality on the team,” Aririguzoh said. ” He definitely brings the morale up. He’s one of the best 800 runners in the state. It’s actually quite cool that we’re both at least top 10 in the state. He undersells his range. He can also run the 400, the relay, the 1200. He can do anything, really. That’s really commendable, and he did it in three years.”
Aririguzoh added that Kamph is a problem solver.
“He’s very responsible,” he said. “He knows what to do. He’s really good at finding solutions. He really is a rock.”
Kamph quit soccer altogether this year, opting instead for cross country after prospective colleges pressed him about the fall sport.
“This year, when he was looking at colleges, they all asked him, ‘What’s your cross country time?’” head coach Joe McLaughlin said. “He said, ‘I don’t do cross country,’ and they said ‘Then why are you talking to us about track?’”
McLaughlin said the two runners, unsurprisingly, anchor the Irish, along with the rest of the “special senior class.” Aririguzoh, he added, has just the right amount of cockiness—he goes into any given race expecting to win regardless of who may be in the other lanes, and runs his hardest right from the gun. While Kamph is like Aririguzoh in that he’s not afraid of his opponents, he prefers to “sit back and toy with them,” blowing by them in the race’s last lap.
“They’re our two main leaders on the team,” he said. “There are a couple of other captains on the team, but they are the true forms of a leaders. They lead by example. It’s a lot of fun. We’ve been lucky here at Notre Dame. We’ve had a couple relay teams be as good as these guys are, and it makes it fun the whole season.”
Ideally, McLaughlin would like to see the 4×800 team win nationals and then make a showing at the Penn Relays in the spring.
It’s a good thing when the ideal is a legitimate possiblity, the boys said.
“More medals is the goal,” Aririguzoh said. “We definitely want to win nationals. Why not? We’ve been competitive this season. We’re definitely ready for it. We’re seniors. We’ve been working at this for four years. Nationals is the goal.”
For the Ewing pair, it’s the peak of a friendship that started in a freshman year algebra classroom.
“We had a great cross country season,” Kamph said. “That’s just really rolled over to such an explosive track season for us. Everything’s just coming together. We’re friends off the track, but the bond on that track has just become so much greater.”
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