Running In Circles

Today I’m joined by Noah bontrager! This conversation is from back when Noah won the new balance indoor nationals mile going sub four in the process and setting a huge lifetime best. It's been a minute since the last podcast drop but this a great conversation to kick things back off. Since our conversation after indoor nationals Noah won outdoor state in the 3200 and 1600 in Indiana and most r...

Today on the podcast I’m joined by Jack Graffeo! Jack is a redshirt freshman at the University of Colorado Boulder and is showing the world that he’s ready for the big leagues. After facing a season ending injury during his senior year outdoor track season he overcame it and has shown tremendous promise throughout his first few races in the NCAA. In the fall he won the infamous cross country Nutty...

From missing out on Nike Cross Nationals to setting the U.S. #1 mark in the indoor mile: Braelyn Combe is more confident than ever and is setting herself up for a killer senior track season. In today’s interview with Braelyn Combe we discuss everything that went into setting the U.S #1 in the mile and her signature move at the end of the race(you’ll have to listen to find out what it is). Braelyn...

Today on the podcast I’m joined by Isaiah Givens! Isaiah runs for Colorado University Boulder and has steadily been making a name for himself in the NCAA. Isaiah recently ran a 3:57 mile at his home track at altitude which converts to a mind boggling 3:51. On this episode we discuss everything from if altitude conversions on real to how Isaiah ended up running a marathon in middle school. Follow m...

Vincent Ciatti returns to the podcast today! Vince most recently placed 5th in the 2k race at the U.S. world cross country championships and then followed it up with a road mile in Hawaii. Since placing 4th at the Olympic trials in the 1500 in 2024 and narrowly missing a few other world teams, Vince has been putting in the work to get where he wants to be and is gearing up for a big indoor season....

Bethany Michalak just played a huge role in helping NC State win the cross country national title where she was an all American with a 29th place finish as a sophomore. She improved by over 100 spots this year from her freshman year cross country finish  and is one of the most promising up and coming runners in the NCAA. Bethany was a very successful high school runner, leading her team to a nike...

Maddie Gullickson finished 7th at Nike Cross Nationals where she led her team Wayzata to the national championship. A week later she finished 6th at the Brooks cross country championships. Maddie is a senior in high school committed to run cross country and track at NC State next fall where she will run alongside the defending national champions. Along with all her cross country accolades she hold...

Colton Sands just led the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill at Cross country nationals and then ran a personal best of 13:17 in the 5k. Colton has been the model of growth and a successful progression throughout his time in the NCAA. He finished 229th at cross country nationals in 2023 and finished 42nd this past November. He’s made multiple appearances on the national stage and holds a per...

Riley Chamberlain just finished 4th at NCAA cross country Nationals, playing a huge role in BYU’s runner up team finish and then she ran a personal best of 14:58 in the 5k at Boston university. She’s become one of the most talented distance runners in the NCAA after anchoring BYU’s DMR to a national title last year and setting personal best of 4:26 in the mile, 8:40 in the 3k, and 4:02 in the 1500...

Josh Hoey just opened up his season with an indoor world record of 1:12.84 in the indoor 600 meters. Last season he went on a tear, setting the American 800m record indoors and becoming the indoor 800m world champion. He finished 4th at the U.S. Championships missing the world championship team by one spot but he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Tune in to hear how one of the greatest 800m runne...

Today I’m joined by Marcelo Mantecon! Marcelo just led his team Belen Jesuit to their 10th consecutive Florida State Championship by getting the win individually. This weekend is Nike Cross Nationals and next weekend is Brooks Nationals, both of which Marcelo will be competing in. He didn’t compete at the Nike regional meet due to it being on the same day as his State meet but received an at-large...

Today I’m joined by Ben Balazs! Beni runs for the University of Oregon and won a national title in the 2k steeplechase in high school. Last year he won the Big Ten title in the steeplechase, placed 7th at NCAA’s in the steeplechase, earning All-American honors and followed that up with a 7th place finish in the steeplechase at the U.S. Championships. Most recently he won the Dellinger invite, lead...

Today I’m joined by Brett Gardner! Brett transferred to the University of Virginia this fall to finish up his eligibility after competing for NC State. On this episode Brett discusses how he felt about a second place team finish and 32nd individually against a stacked field at the Gans Creek Classic which will be the scene where Nationals will be held later this year. He also shares some hot takes...

Today I’m joined by Iowa distance star, Marissa Ferebee! Marissa is currently a senior in high school and will run for Arkansas next fall. She’s had a quiet start to her season because of a long track season but will defend her NXR Heartland title later this year and will be a key piece for her team as they try to qualify for NXN. Last year Marissa broke the Iowa State record with a time of 16:30,...

Today I’m joined by the newest addition to the BYU cougars, Thomas Boyden! Before transferring to BYU Thomas ran for Stanford where he had a very successful career. While there he ran personal bests of 7:41 in the 3k, 13:21 in the 5k, and 28:06 in the 10k. He also placed 9th in the ACC cross country championships last year and 4th in the 3k at indoor ACC’s. Last year Thomas was accepted into UCLA...

Today I’m joined by Oregon commit Quentin Nauman! Quentin took the track world by storm last outdoor season where he went on an absolute tear throughout the entire post season. At the Iowa State Meet he won four State titles running 8:57 in the 3200m, 3:59 for the 1600m, 1:49 for the 800m and 1:47 for the 800m in a relay. He went on to win the mile at Hoka Festival of miles with a time of 3:58 and...

Today I’m joined by SouthLake Carroll high school senior Caden Leonard! Last year Caden completed the triple crown in Texas by winning the cross country state title and both the 1600 and 3200 in outdoor track. He also placed 3rd at Nike Cross Nationals last year and will go into this season as the number one returner. But the path won’t be easy, as high school distance running is as stacked and co...

Today I’m joined by Cooper Lutkenhaus! Cooper just did the unthinkable at USA’s and shocked the world. He ran a 1:42.27 800 as a 16 year old and placed 2nd to qualify for the world athletics championships in Tokyo where he will represent the U.S. I talked to Cooper a couple weeks back leading up to the meet and after his historic high school season. During the high school season he was dominant in...

Today I’m joined by Brock Kelly for his second time on the podcast! Brock has been living life to the fullest recently as he finished up his collegiate running career, ran Grandma’s marathon and traveled to Switzerland. Now that Brock is done with school he’s focusing on full time content creation and working on growing his brand OE Athletics. You’ve probably seen Brock on instagram reels where hi...

Today I’m joined by Christian Jackson! Christian runs for Virginia Tech where his primary event is the 800. This year at the ACC championships he clocked a 1:44.83, getting the win and breaking the meet record. He went on to win the East regional 800 which qualified him for nationals. Last week he traveled to Hayward field to compete against the nations best and placed 7th. After ACC’s I sat down...

Today the Wake Forest sophomore sensation, Rocky Hansen returns to the podcast! Rocky was an incredibly accomplished runner in high school and wasted no time before he started mixing it up with the big dawgs in the NCAA. This past indoor season he helped his DMR team qualify for nationals by splitting a 3:50 1600 as the anchor leg. Then at nationals he ran the 5k where he placed 3rd and ran a pers...

Today I’m joined by Matti Erickson! Matti runs for The University of Oregon and just put on a masterclass in tactics to win the 800m national championship at NCAA indoors with a time of 1:46.4. He also won the Big Ten title in the 800, helping build his momentum going into nationals. Before the conference championships Matti wasn’t even qualified for nationals but he stayed focused and was able to...

Today I’m joined by Grant and Aidan Matthai! They attendUW-Lacrosse where they run D3 cross country and track and they have played a pivotal role in establishing one of the most dominant programs in D3 history. This past fall Grant and Aidan finished 1st and 2nd on their team, respectively, to help bring home the cross country national team title! This was an especially meaningful title because th...

The Sinclaire Johnson interview is here. Sinclaire just placed 2nd at the U.S. indoor championships in the 1500 and earned her spot on the world indoor team. She’ll compete later this year at world indoors! Last year Sinclaire ran 3:56 in the 1500 and cemented herself in history as one of the greatest U.S. 1500m athletes ever but fell just short of the Olympic team, placing fourth at the trials. H...

Today I’m joined by 400m hurdle Paris Olympian Trevor Bassitt! Trevor has made 3 global teams in a row, and in 2022 he won the bronze medal at the world championships. Before becoming a pro he attended Ashland University where he ran D2 track and field where he was able to develop a lot as a person and an athlete. Despite putting up a lot of consistent results Trevor is an unsponsored athlete. In...