North Jersey Male Athlete of the Week keeps expanding his repertoire
TL;DR
Ivan Bempah, the North Jersey Male Athlete of the Week, has shown impressive track performance, excelling in the 100 and 200 meters. Despite initial reluctance to run the 400 meters, he has achieved significant success in his first two years.
Key points
- Ivan Bempah is the North Jersey Male Athlete of the Week.
- He excels in the 100 and 200 meter events.
- Bempah has won league titles in the NJIC Patriot.
- His coach, Jeff Bliss, recognized his talent early on.
- He has been successful in sectionals and league races.
Mentioned in this story
New Milford track coach Jeff Bliss had heard all about Ivan Bempah before he ever met him.
"Our winter coach (the now retired Greg Kelly) told me at the beginning of Ivan's freshman season that he had this freshman sprinter who could be the real deal," said Bliss, who hass been the boys head coach at New Milford for 16 years. "He also told me the kid didn't like running the 400."
That's not unusual for a sprinter who runs 55 meters in the winter and 100 and 200 in the spring. And for his first two years, Bempah, the North Jersey Male Athlete of the Week, presented by HSS, seemed to fit the pattern of 400-phobic sprinters.
He had immediate success, taking third in the North 1, Group 1 sectionals at 100 meters as a freshman and placing in league and county races at 200 meters. He then won league titles in the NJIC Patriot 100 and 200 last spring and made it to groups again.
But unlike many New Milford sprinters of the past, he wasn't ready to go a full lap of 400 meters.
"I played lots of sports when I was younger," said Bempah, American-born to parents of Ghanaian descent. "But when I joined the track team in middle school, I knew I wanted to take track seriously."
Ivan Bempah, New Milford track and field
His motivation is the all-time great Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, the eight-time Olympic gold medalist who had retired from competition when Bempah was only 6 years old.
"I saw a story about him on television when i was in fifth grade and the way he presented himself and the power in his running ability drew me to try it," Bempah said.
Bempah, seven inches shorter than the 6-foot-5 Bolt, dipped his toe into the 400 waters as a freshman, but after running a 62-second quarter against the likes of state champion Jaden Marchan of Leonia, he wanted no part of the event.
Until this season.
"Jeremy Friedberg and Luke Johnson kept trying to run the 400 on our relay team and they gave him a lot of positive reasons to do it," Bliss said. So finally, at a midseason dual meet, Bempah gave it a shot.
He approached Bliss at the team's dual meet against Park Ridge and Waldwick and asked on to the relay. Placed on anchor, Bempah sped to a strong 50.1-second clocking and the Knights easily won the race. The 100-200 guy had added the 400 to his repertoire.
"I had to get over my fear of doing it," said Bempah, who split 49.73 at the Bergen C championship 4-x-400 to give New Milford the easy win and put them into the Bergen Meet of Champions on May 20. "I call myself a 400 runner now, to a degree."
He's not the finished product at 400, with an open personal best of only 52.86 seconds, but Bliss is certain the junior will get much better.
"He's still a little raw and today in practice, I had to correct him to keep his opposite arm up when he runs, and he still runs with his head back," Bliss said. "But he's realized the potential he has and takes extra steps every day to try and get better."
"He prefers the relay because he likes running with his friends," said Friedberg, who himself turned into one of North Jersey's top shot and discus throwers as the Green Knights have assembled their best team in decades. "He has two sides to his personality. He can be very quiet if he doesn't really know you but he's the funniest guy on the team and he's always cracking jokes until it's time to get ready for his race.
"He has one goal when he gets to the track − to be better.''
Now everyone in North Jersey is finding out who he is.
"I'm really proud of myself and my team and what we've been able to do this year," Bempah said. "I definitely feel I can go faster and be in the conversation to be the best in North Jersey."
Seven Garcia, Hackensack track and field
Lyla Stokes, Waldwick basketball
Yannick Fall, Becton track and field
Jessie Wolf, Northern Highlands swimming
Gino Gorga, Ramapo wrestling
Sandra Vitolo, Ramapo track and field
Thomas Barnes, Rutherford bowling
Stephanie Morano, Fair Lawn basketball
Brendan Alef, Demarest
Jocelyn Danbe, River Dell wrestling
Will LoSauro, Ridgewood hockey
Mia Spadavecchia, Westwood wrestling
Preston Ferro, Don Bosco ice hockey
Angelica Do, Leonia basketball
Andrew Del Rey, Waldwick basketball
Emma Fowler, Bogota basketball
Evan Yuen, Fort Lee bowling
Kaitlyn Zens, Bergen Tech bowling
Derek Zammit, DePaul football
Chukwuma Odoh, Paramus Catholic football
Sofia Guzman, Secaucus volleyball
Julian Pierre, West Milford soccer
Deana Finkelstein, Demarest volleyball
Misha Theberge, Saddle River Day cross-country
Eva Myers, Pascack Hills volleyball
Luke Senatore, Fort Lee football
Hope Ernst, Ramsey soccer
Casey Grusser, Ramapo
Katherine Keating, Ridgewood cross-country
Robert Dasler, Lyndhurst soccer
Alyssa Salerno, Ramapo gymnastics
Shane Armstrong, Palisades Park/Leonia football
Maddy Romero, Pascack Valley volleyball
Jayden Gonzalez, Bogota football
Lexi McGinty, Tenafly volleyball
Dante Benvenuti, Passaic Valley football
Jaime Carlin, Holy Angels tennis
Shane Small, Old Tappan football
Juliana Campanelli, Waldwick volleyball
Chris Rios, Wood-Ridge football
Elena Pothos, Old Tappan soccer
Onyx Trinidad of Dumont AOW Athlete of the Week 9/12/25
Allie Polyniak of Pascak Valley AOW Athlete of the Week 9/12/25
Adam Shaw, Pascack Valley football
1 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Seven Garcia, Hackensack track and field
1 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Seven Garcia, Hackensack track and field
2 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Lyla Stokes, Waldwick basketball
3 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Yannick Fall, Becton track and field
4 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Jessie Wolf, Northern Highlands swimming
5 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Gino Gorga, Ramapo wrestling
6 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Sandra Vitolo, Ramapo track and field
7 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Thomas Barnes, Rutherford bowling
8 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Stephanie Morano, Fair Lawn basketball
9 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Brendan Alef, Demarest
10 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Jocelyn Danbe, River Dell wrestling
11 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Will LoSauro, Ridgewood hockey
12 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Mia Spadavecchia, Westwood wrestling
13 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Preston Ferro, Don Bosco ice hockey
14 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Angelica Do, Leonia basketball
15 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Andrew Del Rey, Waldwick basketball
16 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Emma Fowler, Bogota basketball
17 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Evan Yuen, Fort Lee bowling
18 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Kaitlyn Zens, Bergen Tech bowling
19 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Derek Zammit, DePaul football
20 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Chukwuma Odoh, Paramus Catholic football
21 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Sofia Guzman, Secaucus volleyball
22 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Julian Pierre, West Milford soccer
23 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Deana Finkelstein, Demarest volleyball
24 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Misha Theberge, Saddle River Day cross-country
25 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Eva Myers, Pascack Hills volleyball
26 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Luke Senatore, Fort Lee football
27 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Hope Ernst, Ramsey soccer
28 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Casey Grusser, Ramapo
29 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Katherine Keating, Ridgewood cross-country
30 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Robert Dasler, Lyndhurst soccer
31 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Alyssa Salerno, Ramapo gymnastics
32 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Shane Armstrong, Palisades Park/Leonia football
33 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Maddy Romero, Pascack Valley volleyball
34 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Jayden Gonzalez, Bogota football
35 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Lexi McGinty, Tenafly volleyball
36 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Dante Benvenuti, Passaic Valley football
37 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Jaime Carlin, Holy Angels tennis
38 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Shane Small, Old Tappan football
39 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Juliana Campanelli, Waldwick volleyball
40 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Chris Rios, Wood-Ridge football
41 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Elena Pothos, Old Tappan soccer
42 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Onyx Trinidad of Dumont AOW Athlete of the Week 9/12/25
43 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Allie Polyniak of Pascak Valley AOW Athlete of the Week 9/12/25
44 / 44
2025-26 Athletes of the Week
Adam Shaw, Pascack Valley football
Ivan Bempah
Sport: Track and field
School: New Milford
Class: Junior Age: 17
Accomplishment: He won the 100 and 200 meters at the Bergen County Division C championships in school records and ran a terrific anchor leg in the 4-x-400 relay that capped New Milford's first title in 33 years.
Also nominated: Jason Amalbert of DePaul and Roberto Cotes of Ramsey for baseball; Nick Galloway of River Dell for lacrosse; and Justin Griffin of Passaic, Devin DeCambre of Hackensack and James Myers of Paramus for track and field.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen Record Male Athlete of the Week: Ivan Bempah, New Milford
Q&A
What events does Ivan Bempah compete in?
Ivan Bempah competes primarily in the 100 and 200 meters.
What titles has Ivan Bempah won in track and field?
He has won league titles in the NJIC Patriot for both the 100 and 200 meters.
Who is Ivan Bempah's track coach?
Ivan Bempah is coached by Jeff Bliss, the boys head coach at New Milford.
Why did Ivan Bempah initially avoid running the 400 meters?
He initially avoided the 400 meters because many sprinters prefer shorter distances, and he was known to dislike the longer race.
