The Blue Water Running Podcast

Eli Bickel, a North Branch High School junior, joins me to discuss his accomplishments this year in the shot put and discus.  Eli earned All-State in the discus by finishing as the runner-up at the D2 state finals on May 31 with a new personal best of 180'-9" and also finished tenth in the shot put in 52’-2.25”. He has had a season of massive improvements: last year, his bests were 47&ap...

This episode features St. Clair High School junior Colin Boullard.  At the Anchor Bay Invitational on May 2, Colin ran his best of 15.12 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, a PR by close to half a second and meeting the Division 2 state early qualifying mark of 15.3 seconds.  Colin is currently the second-fastest high school boy in the event in the Blue Water Running coverage area behind another D1...

This episode features North Branch senior Thomas Kann.  At the Davison Twilight Classic on May 2, Thomas dropped a huge PR and went sub-50 seconds in the open 400-meter dash, running 49.94 to take second place and hit the early qualifying standard of 50.30 for the D2 state finals. This is only the third time Kann has ever raced the 400 meters in his career, and it will be the first time he takes a...

In this episode, Cameron Gramzow, an Anchor Bay High School junior, joins me to discuss his incredible improvement this year in the shot put and discus.  Cameron recently set personal bests in both events this week at the MAC Red meet against Dakota High School: he threw 49’-6” in the shot put and 163’-1” in the discus, and currently tops the Blue Water Area performance list. He also set a new sch...

In this episode, I am joined by two of the most delightful ladies in area track and field: Yale High School’s Sadie Dykstra, a junior, and Keirra Taube, a senior.  Not only are they both incredibly talented and accomplished athletes, but they are also humble, hard-working, and hilarious.  Sadie is a D2 state champion in the long jump and hurdles, while Keirra is a state indoor champ in the high ju...

It’s the first anniversary of The Blue Water Running Podcast! One year, forty episodes, and 3500 downloads later, it’s been an incredible privilege to get to know local athletes and hear many amazing and inspiring stories from the Blue Water Area and beyond.   The top two episodes from last year are episode #15 with Matt Armelagos of Michigan XC Speed Ratings, where I heard firsthand from one of t...

Hello and welcome to The Blue Water Running Podcast!  I’m excited about sunshine and warm breezes…ok, probably snow, hail, freezing rain, gusting wind, etc., but I AM excited to get back out watching Blue Water Area athletes achieve amazing things. It’s time for the 2025 BOYS Outdoor Track and Field Season Preview.  Over the last few months, I’ve been looking at results from last year’s season to...

Hello and welcome to The Blue Water Running Podcast!  I’m excited about sunshine and warm breezes…ok, probably snow, hail, freezing rain, gusting wind, etc., but I AM excited to get back out watching Blue Water Area athletes achieve amazing things.  It’s time for the 2025 GIRLS Outdoor Track and Field Season Preview.  Over the last few months, I’ve been looking at results from last year’s season t...

“You got a dream, you gotta protect it." The Pursuit of Happyness Today’s guest is Kieran Whitlam , a senior at Macomb Lutheran North High School and a member of the Inversion Vault Club.  Kieran has seen phenomenal growth and success in the pole vault during his career, with his first jumps as a freshman in the mid-8 to 9-foot range moving into the 12s and 13s as a junior outdoors in 2024. ...

On the Michigan high school running stage, there was no bigger star in 2024 than Romeo’s girls' team.    Coming off of a 2023 state title, the Bulldogs entered 2024 with big goals and high expectations.  They won the Jackson Invitational, the Portage Invitational, and the Holly-Duane Raffin Festival of Races with their top five runners in the top ten places; these are all some of the most com...

In April 2022, The Macomb Community College athletics department hired Matt Fecht as the head men’s and women’s cross country coach.  Fecht came from Wayne State University, where he was the assistant coach, and is an accomplished runner.  He was a 2002 All-American at MCC and his team placed in the top-10 at the NJCAA championships.  He went on to run for Wayne State after competing for MCC. He w...

On this episode, our guest is Lily Lemanski, a 2024 graduate of Marlette High School.  On the track, Lily has tried almost every event, from the 4x100 at the state meet to consistent seasons of long jump and high jump.  In both her junior and senior years, Lily was a GTL East Conference champion between the mile with a PR of 5:48 and the 800. A regional runner-up in the 800 both years, her highest...

Winter is upon us, and if you aren’t participating in another sport, perhaps you are honing your track and field skills indoors.  The Michigan Indoor Track and Field Series kicked off at Grand Valley State University with two meets on Dec. 7 and the weekend of Dec. 13/14.  There was another west-side competition at Aquinas and an east-side meet at the Lincoln Athletic Building (known as the LAB fa...

Top Blue Water Running Moments of 2024 Welcome to the final stretch of 2024!  As we finish another incredible year of local athletics, I’d like to take a moment to look back on the highlights and achievements of the Blue Water Area and how local athletes have shown us what it means to push limits, break barriers, and strive for greatness.   I'm your host, Meran, and this is episode #33 of The...

Hello and welcome to The Blue Water Running Podcast !  I’m your host, Meran, and this podcast features and celebrates the achievements of high school and collegiate cross country and track/field athletes from the Blue Water Area of Michigan. You can follow Blue Water Running on Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.  You can also find meet and athlete reports/articles and a recently added me...

We have a BOGO special for this week's podcast: on episode #31 is Andrea Rheaume, who serves as the head women’s cross country and track coach for St. Clair Community College, known as SC4, then on episode #32 Coach Max Whittredge will focus on the men’s program. With Andrea and Max at the helm, the Skippers have seen incredible success and growth in their program over the last several years....

“I’m not defined by any particular result I could ever achieve, but more so am proud of the work I put in and the attitude that I had going in trying to achieve those goals, and whether or not I was able to bring people along the way to help them as I go up as well.  That’s a universal lesson and probably the greatest lesson running has given me.” Hello and welcome to episode #30 of The Blue Water...

When the cross country season ends, many athletes feel excitement, pride, satisfaction, confidence, or a sense of accomplishment.  For many others, though, the reality is not so positive: they might feel disappointment, inadequacy, relief that they are done racing, or sadly even a sense of failure.  Perhaps their season didn’t live up to their expectations: they couldn’t run due to an injury or il...

This episode features the Wessel sisters, Alannah and Faith, who run for the Macomb Athletic Club for Homeschoolers (MACH).  Alannah is a freshman and Faith is a sophomore and both have had a very successful and consistent cross country season thus far in 2024.  Alannah claimed five invitational wins this fall with a PR of 19:07 and was the only freshman to earn All-County honors at the Macomb Cou...

This episode features cross country sophomore Samantha Whitlam of Macomb Lutheran North.  Sam recently broke her record in a big way at the Macomb County Championships, running her first sub-20 5K in 19:46 to finish 17th to earn All-County honors while leading her team to a D2/3/4 small team championship trophy.  She has made steady improvement all season and did the same in track last spring, fin...

This episode features sophomore Josh Macri of Macomb Lutheran North. Josh has been tearing up the grass this season and has made significant time improvements.  He came into the 2024 cross country season with a personal best of 17:49 from his freshman season last year.  He began this year with a statement, finishing second at the Lamplighter Invite in 16:32, and has since dropped his PR to 16:12. ...

This episode features cross country junior Cara Prusakiewicz of Dryden High School, the first Cardinal runner on the pod.  Cara recently broke her school record at the Holly Festival of Races, taking ninth place in 20:56, her best on a hilly and technical course.  Cara didn’t see sub-21 minutes last year until her final race when she ran a 20:59 at Shepherd during the Meet of Champions, so she’s a...

Eat enough calories.  Eat healthy food.  Eat at the right times. Stay hydrated.  Choose the right drinks and snacks.  Consume enough carbs and protein.  The advice and options can be overwhelming when trying to properly fuel your body for athletic training.  Thankfully, we have a nutrition expert here today to help us sort it all out and give us practical and applicable advice for daily dining. We...

This episode features cross country senior Greg Vogt of New Baltimore Anchor Bay.  Greg recently finished as the individual runner-up on his home course, taking second place in the James Cleverley Friday Night Invite in a new PR of 16:32.  He wasn’t seeing the 16s until near the end of October last year and his fastest ever was a 16:46, so the fall is shaping up to be his best season yet.  Conside...

This episode features the first guest athlete from Algonac, junior Julian Walker.  Julian recently won the first Blue Water Area Conference cross country league jamboree in 17:23 on Sept. 10 and the Skippers Cross Country Showcase on August 30.  He ran his season record of 17:22 during his season opener at the Mariner Invitational and recently earned a medal in the Divison 3 and 4 race at the MSU...