The Blue Water Running Podcast

Madison Leslie runs for Anchor Bay and recently led her team at the MAC Red Championships as the top TAR runner and fastest Blue Water Area girl in the race, taking 18th in her personal best of 20:37. With a freshman best of 23:07 and fighting an injury her sophomore year, Maddie continued to improve as a junior and has consistently dropped time with hard work and perseverance. Hoping for a time breakthrough at last weekend’s Portage Invitational, she ran with a loose shoe, which eventu...

At the end of September, Michael Nivala Jr. competed against a field that primarily consisted of NCAA Division II and Division III competition at Roberts Wesleyan University's Harry F. Anderson Invitational in Rochester, NY. Michael ran a 25:19.2, clearing his previous 8K PR by 51 seconds. This time was good for third overall in the NCAA DII and DIII field and helped lead the Monarchs to a strong showing overall, taking sixth as a team. The No. 8-ranked Macomb Community College Mo...

Caleb McBride of Marysville High School is the fastest underclassman currently in the Blue Water Area. Caleb earned a trip to the state meet last fall as a freshman, placing 11th at regionals, and ran close to his ninth-grade best of 17:04 at MIS in 17:16. Starting this year out as a sophomore, he opened the season with 17 flat Aug. 20 at the Mike Jackson Invitational, and has stayed under that mark ever since, running consistently in the 16s, with his current PR of 16:39, run at ...

“Never Lose Again” - Coach Chad Mannlein Haley Sharp runs for Port Huron Northern and recently placed third at the Mid-Season Spectacular, just a few seconds off her PR, running 19:56. She competed at the Shepherd Invitational on Saturday, crushing that best by another 20+ seconds, running 19:32. After overcoming major medical hurdles and setbacks, Haley is now the third runner on our area's top-30 list. She's looking to continue this trajectory through October and make a second a...

Grant Davis of Port Huron Northern has seen a fantastic start to his senior year, but his progress really began in earnest last year as a junior in track, when he dropped from a 4:50 to a 4:39 mile and won the MAC White, Marysville Invitational, and Blue Water Meet of Champions. He also dropped his 3200 from a 10:38 to a 9:58 at the MITCA Meet of Champions. This fall in cross country, he’s already bested his 5K time by over 25 seconds, running a personal best of 16:21 to take seco...