Athlete of The Week: Matt Wabunoha

Big Red trackmates, gathered at the finish line, cheer as upper Matthew Wabunoha takes off across the indoor track. He speeds through his laps alongside his teammates. The end of practice brings a sense of relief and accomplishment for the whole team, and Wabunoha congratulates his friends for finishing successfully.

Wabunoha is master of the 55 meter hurdles, 65 meter hurdles, the sprints and the 400 meter dash; his athletic talent allows him to compete in a wide variety of races. “He’s just really fast at everything,” lower Bea West said. “I’m pretty sure you could put Matt in any event and he’d dust whoever else was with him.”

“He’s just really fast at everything,” lower Bea West said. “I’m pretty sure you could put Matt in any event and he’d dust whoever else was with him.”

Wabunoha began running track his prep winter. During the fall, he participated in the prep program, where he discovered his knack for running. He explained the moment when Coach Hall approached him about running track in the winter. “We were playing a game of tag, and I remember running up to someone and tagging them, and then, Coach Hall said, ‘You’re trying out for track in winter, right?’”

For Wabunoha, track is more than just  his winter sports requirements—it is an exciting way to push his limits with an encouraging group of friends. “Track is a hard sport to train for alone, and if you’re with a bad group of people, it’s not fun. But if you have a good team like I do, it’s really easy to have fun,” he said.

Wabunoha’s easy-going, optimistic personality has made him a vauable friend his time as a runner.  “He’s pretty funny. He’s very loud and outspoken, he’s goofy and it’s just positive energy. So, it’s something you need when you’re working out pretty hard,” senior Ogechi Nwankwoala said.

Not only does Wabunoha’s natural charisma promote to a lighter, more exciting environment, he simultaneously pushes others to be their best. Nwankwoala expressed her admiration for Wabunoha’s leadership on the team. “He works really hard, and he motivates other people...I think the most impactful thing that he’s done is make people take track very seriously, because it is a really big team and a lot of people join just to have a sport. We are not very competitive with cuts—especially in the spring—but he pushes everyone to be a competitive and better team,” Nwakwoala said.

Similarly, upper and track team member Tise Okeremi noted that “just watching him motivates others to keep challenging themselves. You can tell he really loves track and it’s contagious.”

Wabunoha’s inspiration for track include both his coaches and peer athletes. “Obviously Coach Toyin—I love Coach Toyin. All the coaches I really look up to, just because they know what they’re doing with the workouts and they’ve all competed and become good at what they do,” Wabunoha said. Wbunoha also considers upper Will Coogan and senior Maggie Hock to be two of his greatest role models. According to Wabunoha, “They’re both so talented and self-humble. Just their willingness to work hard inspires me to do more. Seeing them go to all those cool meets and stuff—that motivated me as a prep to know that I could do that if I worked really, really hard.” Wabunoha said.

Wabunoha for many is not only inspired by the top athletes of the team, however, is also motivated by the underclassmen. “Seeing the lowerclassmens willingness to enter discomfort and be willing to do the workouts and go the extra mile—I really appreciate that from them,” Wabunoha said.

Like so many other sports, the challenge of balancing athletics with schoolwork is a difficult one to overcoe. But Wabunoha seems to have learned that because “meets can last the whole day; you have to learn to do your homework between events and get your business done.”

Another major challenge track athletes tend to face is recovering from injuries. “Bouncing back from injuries is always hard because you don’t know how long you’ll be out for,” Wabunoha said. “The slightest thing could be really bad, so you’ve got to learn to take it slow.”

Despite the endless grind that is indoor track, Wabunoha loves the hard work he puts into it every day. Okeremi concluded, “Matt is a valuable member of the track team because he’s encouraging. Not only does he excel, but he does so modestly and is constantly pushing himself to do better. He doesn’t want to be a local champion. He has bigger goals for himself.”