By Jim Hague
Nnaemeka Ibeh said that he always looked up to his older brother, Chinedu, who was a standout basketball player during his days at Rutgers-Newark from 2001 through 2005.
“He was definitely one of my best influences and inspirations,” said the younger Ibeh, whose name is pronounced KNEE-MECCA E-BAY. “He was definitely a role model to me, how he was able to balance school work and sports.”
So when it came time for the younger Ibeh to choose a college, it was only natural he would follow in his older brother’s footsteps and make the journey from Colonia High School to Rutgers-Newark.
There was only one major difference. Nnaemeka Ibeh is not a basketball player like his brother.
“No, I’m not a basketball player at all,” Nnaemeka Ibeh said. “I play for fun with my brother, but he’s much bigger and stronger than me.”
Throughout his days at Colonia, Ibeh ran track - much like Chinedu did during his high school days.
But when the younger Ibeh arrived at Rutgers-Newark, there wasn’t a track and field program at the school. So Ibeh had to settle for concentrating on his academics, which was the main goal anyway. Ibeh entered the R-N biology and pre-med program with the hopes of eventually attending medical school.
“When I came here, my academics were my prime concern,” Ibeh said. “I had heard that the school was thinking of starting a track team, but I wasn’t so sure.”
Enter Juan Edney. The veteran track and field coach was brought from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania to Rutgers-Newark to initiate the track program. As he reached out to find prospective runners for the fledgling program, he stumbled across the name of Nnaemeka Ibeh, which wasn’t easy to pronounce or spell.
“That’s okay,” Ibeh said. “Everyone has a hard time saying it or spelling it. I never met a person who could pronounce it right the first time. It’s not a common name.”
No, he’s definitely not John Smith.
“Maybe someday, I’ll meet someone who can,” he laughs. “When I first meet someone, I have to take my time saying my name so they get it.”
“Ever so often, you stumble across an athlete,” Edney said. “We got lucky to stumble across Nnaemeka. He came to me and said he wanted to come out for the team. I told him I was interested to see what he could do.”
In high school, Ibeh was a standout sprinter, competing in the 100, 200 and 400 meters. However, the fall program at R-N is cross country.
“I never ran cross country before,” Ibeh said. “I didn’t think I could do it.”
“I told him that he needed to run cross country to build up his endurance,” Edney said. “He came out and it was difficult for him, because he hadn’t run for a while. But as he kept coming out, I saw him developing into a decent runner. The more and more he practiced, I thought that the kid had something.”
“I wasn’t great,” Ibeh said. “But running cross country helped me out for the indoor season.”
When the indoor season finally began in early December, Ibeh was ready to unleash his true talents. He started running the 200 and 400-meter dashes during the first couple of weeks.
“I wasn’t too excited about my times,” Ibeh said.
But no one was going to question the results.
In one of the very first meets he competed in for the Scarlet Raiders, Ibeh won the 400-meter dash and finished second in the 200-meters at the Ursinus Track Classic. It was only the Scarlet Raiders’ second indoor meet ever.
Ibeh ran a 51.10 in the 400-meter dash to outdistance a field of 17 runners. He was timed at 22.76 in the 200-meters, good for a silver medal at Ursinus. For his efforts, Ibeh was named as the New Jersey Athletic Conference Men’s Indoor Track and Field Rookie of the Week, becoming the first recipient of any conference award in the history of the R-N new track program.
Incredibly, it was also one of the first times Ibeh had ever competed in an indoor track meet.
“You can see that this kid has some talent,” Edney said. “I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised. He’s very raw. The sky could be the limit for him. Barring injury, he could be our first to qualify for the NCAAs (Division III). I don’t want to jinx him, but if he continues to put the time in and the work, he could be the one. He definitely has the talent.”
When Ibeh hears Edney’s praise, it flatters him.
“It really means a lot to me, coming from Coach Edney,” Ibeh said. “He must really see something in me. He knows what he’s talking about. I know I can’t sit around and wait for things to come to me. I have to push.”
If there is one aspect of Ibeh’s older brother’s personality that he would like to see Nnaemeka acquire, it was Chinedu’s intense approach to everything.
“I’d love to see Nnaemeka take the same aggressive attitude his brother had as a basketball player and bring it to the track,” Edney said. “He’s not as rugged as his brother was. But he’s very coachable and he’s willing to learn. He really didn’t have the right structure before. Now, he’s getting there and he could be one of the very best around if he stays focused.”
The focus is not a problem, because even if Ibeh is just a freshman on the track and a sophomore academically, he already has his goals in mind.
“I have to go to medical school,” Ibeh said. “That’s my dream. But if I keep winning in track, who knows?”
Like Edney said, the sky’s the limit.
