Hello and welcome to episode #25 of The Blue Water Running Podcast! 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.

Today’s 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 already ahead of that time mid-season. Cara first set the Dryden High School cross country record at last year’s D4 state finals in 21:00, breaking the former record of 21:01, set by Ella Kage in 2019. In the Michigan XC Speed Ratings’ mid-season regional projections, Cara is currently ranked third individually in region 35; she was ranked ninth in the pre-season preview.

We will hear from Cara about her season, goals, and training and get to know her personally as an athlete in the Blue Water Area.

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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.

Welcome to episode #24 of The Blue Water Running Podcast. I’m your host Meran, and this podcast features and celebrates the accomplishments of cross country and track and field athletes from the Blue Water Area of Michigan.

Today’s guest is Amanda Maltese, a registered dietitian and personal trainer and the private practice owner of Healthful Coaching LLC. Amanda holds an undergraduate degree from Oakland University and a Master’s in Human Nutrition & Dietetic Internship at Eastern Michigan University. She is a former soccer player and was inspired to become a Registered Dietitian through her health journey. She learned the importance of nourishing her body by using food as medicine to improve my body composition, energy levels, and metabolic markers. She is passionate about helping others optimize their well-being through personalized nutrition. Amanda’s website is www.healthfulcoach.com, where she promotes sustainable changes for long-lasting results through personalized nutrition plans and evidence-based lifestyle practices. Amanda’s favorite quote by T. Colin Campbell: "Good nutrition creates health in all areas of our existence. All parts are interconnected." I was able to hear Amanda's presentation to the Armada High School cross country team personally and she has lots of great tips and advice to share. A nutritionist’s expert guidance is just one more advantage in an athlete’s toolbox, so I'm excited to have her on this episode.

Once again, thank you so much for tuning into today’s Blue Water Running podcast. I can’t wait to feature more cross country and track and field athletes from the Blue Water Area…stay tuned because it might just be YOU!

Coverage of Blue Water Running is sponsored in part by Elite Feet of Port Huron. If you need running shoes, spikes, or apparel, they have a friendly and knowledgeable staff to help you find the right fit and they are big fans of running, too. They are located at 327 Huron Ave in downtown Port Huron. If you are interested in sponsoring coverage or partnering with Blue Water Running as an advertiser to reach and support local runners, please reach out via our website, show notes, or social media channels.

If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please share, subscribe, and leave a review. You can find The Blue Water Running Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other major media players. You can also ask your smart speaker to play The Blue Water Running Podcast.

If you have an idea for a great topic or guest you’d like to hear about, feel free to contact me through the website links or show notes. You can follow Blue Water Running on Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. You can also find meet and athlete reports and articles at www.bluewaterrunning.org.

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Hello and welcome to episode #23 of The Blue Water Running Podcast! This podcast features and celebrates the achievements of high school and collegiate cross country and track athletes from the Blue Water Area of Michigan.

Today’s 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. Considering he started his freshman year off running in the mid-twenties with best then of 19:53, he’s seen significant improvement over his high school career. He also set PRs on the track last spring, running 9:49 in the 3200 and 4:39 in the 1600. Greg was part of the Anchor Bay team last fall that qualified for D1 states for the first time since 1977. Currently, he sits in the number two spot on the Blue Water Area’s top cross country times performance list. We will chat with Greg about his season, goals, and training and get to know him personally as an athlete. If you're wondering about the movie Greg mentions in this episode, it's called "Tyson's Run".

Once again, thank you so much for tuning into today’s Blue Water Running podcast. I can’t wait to feature more cross country and track and field athletes from the Blue Water Area…stay tuned because it might just be YOU!

Coverage on Blue Water Running is being sponsored by Elite Feet of Port Huron. If you need running shoes, spikes, or apparel, they have a friendly and knowledgeable staff to help you find the right fit and they are big fans of running, too. They are located at 327 Huron Ave in downtown Port Huron. If you are interested in sponsoring coverage or partnering with Blue Water Running as an advertiser to reach and support local runners, please reach out via our website, show notes, or social media channels.

If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please share, subscribe, and leave a review. You can find The Blue Water Running Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other major media players. You can also ask your smart speaker to play The Blue Water Running Podcast.

If you have an idea for a great topic or guest you’d like to hear about, feel free to contact me through the website links or show notes. You can follow Blue Water Running on Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube and find meet and athlete reports and articles at www.bluewaterrunning.org.

Send Blue Water Running a Message

https://www.bluewaterrunning.org/
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Hello and welcome to episode #22 of The Blue Water Running Podcast! This podcast features and celebrates the achievements of high school and collegiate cross country and track athletes from the Blue Water Area of Michigan. Today’s 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 Spartan Invitational on Sept. 13, which is one of the biggest cross country events in the state. Julian has a career PR of 16:48 and a season record last year of 16:51, run at the MHSAA state finals, where he finished 52nd. We will chat about his season so far, his goals and training, and get to know him personally as an athlete in The Blue Water Area.

I’ll leave you with this quote by David Goggins, a Retired Navy SEAL and the only member of the U.S. Armed Forces to complete SEAL training, Army Ranger School, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training. According to his website, Goggins “has completed over seventy ultra-distance races, often placing in the top-five, and is a former Guinness World Record holder for completing 4,030 pull-ups in seventeen hours. A sought-after public speaker, he’s traveled the world sharing his philosophy on how to master the mind. When he’s not speaking, he works as an Advanced Emergency Technician in an Emergency Room and, during the summer, as a wildland firefighter in British Columbia.” https://davidgoggins.com/about/

"When you think that you are done, you're only 40% into what your body's capable of doing."- David Goggins.

Once again, thank you so much for tuning into today’s Blue Water Running podcast. I can’t wait to feature more cross country and track and field athletes from the Blue Water Area…stay tuned because it might just be YOU!

Coverage on Blue Water Running is being sponsored by Elite Feet of Port Huron. If you need running shoes, spikes, or apparel, they have a friendly and knowledgeable staff to help you find the right fit and they are big fans of running, too. They are located at 327 Huron Ave in downtown Port Huron. If you are interested in sponsoring coverage or partnering with Blue Water Running as an advertiser to reach and support local runners, please reach out via our website, show notes, or social media channels.

If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please share, subscribe, and leave a review. You can find The Blue Water Running Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other major media players. You can also ask Alexa to play The Blue Water Running Podcast.

If you have an idea for a great topic or guest you’d like to hear about, feel free to contact me through the website links or show notes. You can follow Blue Water Running on Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. You can also find meet and athlete reports and articles at www.bluewaterrunning.org.

Send Blue Water Running a Message

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According to The National Institute of Health, running is one of the most popular leisure sports. Unfortunately, according to statistics compiled by Yale Medicine, “At least 50 percent of regular runners get hurt each year—some estimates put the percentage even higher—sometimes from trauma, such as a fall, but more often from overuse.” The NIH goes on to state that “50 to 75% of all running injuries appear to be overuse injuries due to the constant repetition of the same movement. The prevention of sports injuries should focus on changes of behavior through health education. Health education on running injuries should primarily focus on the importance of complete rehabilitation and the early recognition of symptoms of overuse, and the provision of training guidelines.” We are fortunate to have a guest today who is very knowledgeable in all these aspects.

https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/running-injury

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1439399/

In episode #21, we will chat with Dr. Kyle A. Casadei, a non-surgical orthopedic and sports medicine specialist at the Center for Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. He received his medical degree from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his residency in family medicine at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, where he served as Chief Resident and was named Resident of the Year by the Michigan Association of Osteopathic Family Physicians.

Following residency, Dr. Casadei completed a fellowship in sports medicine at Henry Ford Hospital where he treated injuries of the knee, shoulder, hip, elbow, foot/ankle, hand/wrist, and spine as well as concussions. He also was trained in ultrasound-guided injections and osteopathic manipulative therapy (OMT). As part of the fellowship, he provided training room and game coverage for the Detroit Pistons (NBA), Detroit Tigers (MLB), Detroit Lions (NFL), Motor City Cruise (NBA G League), Wayne State University, and high school athletes as well as event coverage of the Detroit Marathon, USA Hockey 16u National Championships, and NCAA Division II Golf National Championships.

Dr. Casadei serves as the team physician for his alma mater, Rochester Adams High School. He is also an active member of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. He's here to give us some recommendations, advice, and preventive action tips so we can all continue to run our best for the rest of our lives. Special thanks to my collegiate teammate, Dr. Stephen Clyne, for connecting us with Dr. Casadei for this episode.

“If you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail.”

Mark Spitz, a nine-time Olympic champion in swimming, was the most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, winning seven gold medals, each in world-record time.

You can follow Blue Water Running on Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. You can also find meet and athlete reports and articles at www.bluewaterrunning.org.

Coverage on Blue Water Running is being sponsored by Elite Feet of Port Huron. If you need running shoes, spikes, or apparel, they have a friendly and knowledgeable staff to help you find the right fit. They are located at 327 Huron Ave in downtown Port Huron.

Send Blue Water Running a Message

https://www.bluewaterrunning.org/
https://bluewaterrunning.buzzsprout.com

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Hello and welcome to episode #20 of The Blue Water Running Podcast! This podcast features and celebrates the achievements of high school and collegiate cross country and track athletes from the Blue Water Area of Michigan.

Our guest today is Abby VanderKooi, an incredibly accomplished runner, and a recovered survivor of an eating disorder. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, “An estimated 9% of the U.S. population, or 28.8 million Americans, will have an eating disorder in their lifetime. 10,200 deaths each year are the direct result of an eating disorder—that’s one death every 52 minutes.” https://anad.org/eating-disorder-statistic/

Abby is a Junior at GVSU with XC PRs of 17:43 for 5K and 20:43 for 6K and Track PRs of 16:46 for 5K and 34:35 for 10K. Abby was a cross country state champion for Muskegon Western Michigan Christian High School all four years of high school, with a 5K best of 16:48, and on the track had bests of 10:29 in the 3200, 4:57 in 1600, and 2:20 in the 800. However, despite her amazing successes, Abby would tell you the most important thing now in her life isn’t running - it’s being a healthy, balanced person with running as a part of her life. She is an outspoken advocate of transparency and recovery for people struggling with the same issues, particularly through her Instagram account, Running on Ice Cream.

Disordered eating is unfortunately common in distance running, as athletes may struggle with body image or the belief that lighter body weight will make them faster. Female athletes are twice as likely to engage in eating disorder behavior than male athletes; however, both men (77%) and women (80%) participating in weight-dependent sports report using compensatory behaviors - in other words, they change their behaviors to adjust their weight. Eating disorders may be tough to detect among athletes due in part to their secretiveness, the stigma surrounding the disorders, and the fact their symptoms may not be visible. https://anad.org/eating-disorder-statistic/.

IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU CARE ABOUT IS STRUGGLING WITH AN EATING DISORDER, PLEASE REACH OUT AND GET THE HELP YOU NEED. Talk to a parent, a trusted friend, a teammate, a coach, a doctor, or anyone who can point you in the right direction to begin your journey back to physical AND mental health. You can also find resources through the National Eating Disorders Association website. https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/get-help/. You deserve to be the best version of yourself, for now and in the future.

If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please share, subscribe, and leave a review. You can find The Blue Water Running Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other major media players. You can also ask Alexa to play The Blue Water Running Podcast.

If you have an idea for a great topic or guest you’d like to hear about, feel free to contact me through the website links or show notes. You can follow Blue Water Running on Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. You can also find meet and athlete reports and articles at www.bluewaterrunning.org.

Send Blue Water Running a Message

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August 12, 2024, is the official MHSAA start date for high school sports practices...so it’s time for the 2024 Blue Water Area Cross Country Preview! You can read the full article on the website with a lot more explanation/details, more athlete names, and quotes from coaches and such, but for those of you who would rather listen, I’ll give a brief rundown of the local teams and some specific athletes to keep an eye on. The preview is based on last year's season performances, so I use what I know from the fall and also go through athletic.net to gather information. I also sent out a survey to all the area coaches and placed it on the webpage, so whoever responds has their quotes and info added to the preview, too, which is why some teams’ writeups are significantly longer than others (if your coach had more to say). Blue Water Running covers Algonac, Almont, Anchor Bay, Armada, Austin Catholic, Capac, Cros-Lex, Dryden, Imlay City, Kimball New Life Christian, Kimball Landmark Academy, Macomb Lutheran North, Marine City, Marine City Cardinal Mooney, Marysville, Memphis, Michigan Athletic Club for Homeschoolers, New Haven, Port Huron High, Port Huron Northern, North Branch, Richmond, Saint Clair, Yale, and the two surrounding community colleges, which include SC4 and Macomb Community College.

Remember, this is just one perspective of potential outcomes for the season. Obviously, it’s not a perfect prediction or any kind of expectation, it’s just a summary of what the season might hold and helps coaches, athletes, and fans of the sport keep up to date on area teams and what the 2024 season is shaping up to be. For the sake of time, I tried to focus in the podcast on one athlete per gender and school, but as I mentioned, you can read more in-depth in the full article on the website. Also, my apologies if I mispronounce your name. So without further ado, let’s get into it!

I’ll be kicking off the season on Thursday, August 22 at the Mike Jackson Invitational in Cros-Lex, and Friday, August 23 at the Mariner Invitational at Columbus Park.

Special thanks to Elite Feet of Port Huron for sponsoring cross country coverage in the Blue Water Area! If you need spikes, training shoes, or running accessories for your season, they have a large selection and an excellent, knowledgeable staff to help you find what you need. They are located at 327 Huron Ave downtown Port Huron.

If you'd like to promote area cross country and track and field as a sponsor or advertiser on the website, podcast, or social media, we are always looking for great partners to help us cover our costs and expand our coverage! Please visit www.bluewaterrunning.org for more information.

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Hello and welcome to episode #18 of The Blue Water Running Podcast! This podcast features and celebrates the accomplishments of high school and collegiate cross country and track and field athletes from the Blue Water Area of Michigan.

Imagine this: you're standing in the middle of Hayward Field in Eugene Oregon, looking out at the crowd as you get ready to fulfill one of your greatest goals and dreams: competing for a spot on Team USA at the Olympic Track and Field Trials. Oh, and you’re also going to fling yourself almost two stories in the air using a thin pole. Our guest on today’s episode has done all of those things!

We will be talking with Kenzie Shell Beukes, a 2015 Port Huron Northern graduate who recently vaulted in the 2024 Olympic Track and Field Trials. Kenzie is an incredibly accomplished athlete: she was undefeated in pole vault during the regular season her entire senior year as a Husky, including winning the Division 1 state meet with a vault of 13’3”. That made her a back-to-back MHSAA champion, as she also won the state meet - indoor and outdoors - her junior year and was third as a sophomore. She set a state record in pole vault for indoor (13-6.00) and outdoor (13-9.00) and was a USATF Junior Olympics All-American. Kenzie went on to have a very successful collegiate career at the University of Oklahoma, becoming an NCAA All-American as a freshman, winning various invitationals and setting meet records, and graduating in 2019 as the school record holder in pole vault (at that time) at 14-5.5.

A little background on pole vaulting: according to historians, people have been vaulting since the ancient Greeks for non-competitive purposes such as jumping over walls (think castle invasion during battle), obstacles, or even to get from place to place across very marshy and wet areas. In some parts of Europe, they kept stacks of jumping poles at every house to cross canals without getting wet or to avoid long journeys to find a bridge. Pole vaulting is now a competitive sport for height instead of distance and has been an Olympic event for men since 1896. An American man won every pole vault gold medal from 1896 until 1968. The women’s pole vault has only been in the Olympics since 2000. The technology of poles has changed quite a bit as well, starting with ash or hickory wood, bamboo, aluminum, and steel, and then to modern fiberglass or carbon fiber.

I’ll leave you with this quote by Stacy Dragila, the first woman to win Olympic Pole Vault Gold when the event debuted in the 2000 Olympics in a vault of 15-1. The world record is currently 16-7.

“I think women have brought a lot of life back to the sport: first because a lot of people doubted women could actually do it well. Two, part of it is that old fascination some people have in watching athletes risk injury to win.” Stacy Dragila

Once again, thank you so much for tuning into today’s Blue Water Running podcast. I can’t wait to feature more cross country and track and field athletes from the Blue Water Area…stay tuned because it might just be YOU!

If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please share, subscribe, and leave a review. You can find The Blue Water Running Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other major media players. You can also ask Alexa to play The Blue Water Running Podcast.

If you have an idea for a great topic or guest you’d like to hear about, feel free to contact me through the website links or show notes. You can follow Blue Water Running on Instag

Send Blue Water Running a Message

https://www.bluewaterrunning.org/
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