Junior Martin Aringu was one of the only two boys cross country runners who made it to the state competition from Central High School, despite it being his first cross country season ever, running a time of 16 minutes, 33 seconds. 

Aringu is a refugee from South Sudan who came to Omaha in February of 2024, and he couldn’t run much in Sudan because of the war going on. Aringu started to run competitively during track his sophomore year.  

Throughout the track season he started winning more and more races that eventually led him to join the cross-country team for his junior year.  Despite this being his first season of cross country Aringu got the third all time for boys cross country record at Central, with a time of 15:56.   

Aringu said he doesn’t run every day, but trains with his team and sometimes outside of their group training. His coach John Morley said he nearly made it to all the practices and would even walk if he didn’t have a ride to practice.  

Aringu is known for having a strong lead in his race and continuing to keep a strong pace. During races he challenges himself to finish hard.  

“Sometimes the person behind me, if I hear the footsteps, I feel like I don’t want the person to get close to me,” he said. Having the fastest time on his team, Aringu plays a crucial role in helping their team score go up at different meets. “The team also depends on me sometimes,” Aringu said. 

He expressed that his team and coaches are always supporting him in races and practices. Morley said that Aringu is a leader in practice, and works hard to keep in the front. He said having Aringu in the lead makes the other runners work harder and get faster, which is good for everyone on the team.  

“Martin is very team focused. When I asked him his goals for the end of the season, his goal wasn’t about him. His goal was I want the team to make it state,” Morley said.  

His teammate Gregory Fong said, “He motivates me to run faster times in my races.”