Hello and welcome to episode number 14 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.

In this episode, we will hear from Thomas Westphal, a now-graduated senior at New Baltimore Anchor Bay High School. The long list of accolades Thomas Westphal has accrued during the latter half of his high school running career is quite significant: Division 1 Cross Country State Runner-Up, Runner-Up in the 1600, State Champ in the 3200 - run just recently on June 1 - multiple all-state finishes and regional/league/county titles in cross country and track, invitational meet and school records, sub-15 minute 5K times, and more. This past fall, Thomas won the Footlocker Midwest Regional at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Nov. 25 in 14:59.2, earning a trip to the Footlocker Cross Country National Championships on Dec. 9 in San Diego, California, where he had the opportunity to toe the line with some of the best high school runners in the country. He has personal bests of 51.99 in the 400, 1:51 in the 800, 4:06 in the 1600, and 8:55 in the 3200, which he ran all alone at the Davison Twilight Invitational, lapping most of the field and setting the meet and facility record. Thomas is also committed to an NCAA D1 program at Michigan State University to continue running at the collegiate level.

These amazing achievements are in stark contrast to his debut as a runner. At his first cross country race as a freshman, Thomas finished in 22:03. He has an amazing story of how he overcame injuries and obstacles to chase dreams with determination, hard work, guts, and grit and become the most successful runner in Anchor Bay history and one of the best in the state.

Until next time, I’ll leave you with this quote by Jakob Ingebrigtsen, a Norwegian middle- and long-distance runner. At age 16, Ingebrigtsen became the youngest man in history to run a mile in less than four minutes. Ingebrigtsen is the current world record holder for the indoor 1500 meters and holds the world's best time in the two-mile. Ingebrigtsen is a two-time World champion, winning gold medals in the 5000 meters in 2022 and 2023. He also won a gold medal in the 1500 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, setting an Olympic and European record. He is one of only three men to run a sub-3:30 1500, a sub-7:30 3000, and a sub-12:50 5000 meters.

“If some people can do something, I believe I can do it better. That’s just my way of thinking and my way of staying motivated. But it’s like in every aspect of life, there’s a lot of roads to take to become a good runner or even good at anything. It’s a lot of practice and consistency. That’s the most important thing.”

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. 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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Intro

Hello and welcome to episode number 13 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.

In this episode, we will talk with Sadie Dykstra, a sophomore at Yale High School. Sadie burst onto the high school track and field scene last year, making a statement by earning Division 2 All-State status in the long jump and 100/300-meter hurdles as a freshman. She returned her sophomore year undefeated the entire regular season in all four events, winning four BWAC and regional titles. Ranked as a state favorite, she lived up to the hype: at the 2024 Division 2 state finals on Saturday, June 1, Sadie won the long jump in 18 feet, 0.5 inches, the 300 hurdles in a time of 45 seconds flat, was second in the 100 hurdles in 15.19, and anchored her 4x400 relay to fifth place in 4:06.99, helping Yale earn a second-place team finish with 39 points. Sadie is also an accomplished volleyball and basketball player, playing on the varsity teams since ninth grade and earning multiple accolades in those sports as well, including BWAC All-League and MVP. We’ll hear from Sadie about her training, goals, reflections on the recent state finals, and what she is looking forward to next season and beyond. She has a great mindset and her favorite quote is from Yoda: "Do or Do Not. There is no TRY".

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!

Until next time, I’ll leave you with this quote by Edwin Moses, an American former hurdler who won gold medals in the 400 m hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races) and set the world record in the event four times.

“In any competitive environment, you have to know your competition, understand who they are, do intelligent analysis on them, and then you have to know yourself - who you are and what you're capable of doing. Lots of people let it go by and never accomplish what they want. I just wanted to see what I could do.”

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

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

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Hello and welcome to episode #12 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.

In this episode, we will talk with our first freshman guest, Kai Fisher of Memphis High School. Kai has personal bests of 10.96 seconds in the 100, 22.91 in the 200, and 53.05 in the 400, and high jumping 6 feet as an eighth grader.

Kai won the 100 and 200-meter dashes at the Algonac Friday Night Lights Invitational on May 10 and was the Greater Thumb League East Conference Champion in the 200 and 400 and runner-up in the 100 and high jump. At the Blue Water Meet of Champions, Kai took the title in the 200-meter dash in 23.5 seconds, also just narrowly missing a win in the 400, with a 53.05 to the winning 53.03 by Matthew Bacholzky of Almont. His 200 best of 22.91 at the Division 3 regional at Clawson hit the automatic qualifying time, earning him a trip to the state meet: he was the only freshman to make the finals or qualify in that event. He is the first sprinter from Memphis to ever qualify for the state finals in recent history: the only other runner was Tyler Carlson in 2021, who placed ninth in the 1600. He’s the only freshman ranked in the top 30 in Division 3 for the 200-meter dash. Kai’s accomplishments are all the more impressive when you realize he’s still just a ninth grader and Memphis High School does not even have a track.

We’ll catch up with Kai to discuss his goals for the state meet, what he hopes to accomplish, how he trains without lanes or starting lines, and what he hopes is next for him through the summer and as a sophomore.

Until next time, I’ll leave you with this quote by Noah Lyles, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic 200 meter bronze medalist, and a six-time World champion, winning the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4 × 100 meter events at the 2023 World Championships, becoming the first man since Usain Bolt in 2015 to complete the sprint triple at a World Championships: “I don’t run for other people, I run for myself. As long as I enjoy it and I feel that I can be the best at something, I’m going to try my hardest. I don’t believe in doing something halfway, If I want to get into something I want to do all the research, do as much as I can with what I think I can do, keep going, and let myself figure out my own limit and not hearing what someone else thinks it is.”

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. The Blue Water Running Podcast is 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

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

• Instagram and X @bluewaterrun
• Facebook/TikTok/Youtube @BlueWaterRunning