It’s time for the 2026 Boys Outdoor Track and Field Season Preview! The statistics used to write the season preview include BWAC, MAC, and Catholic High School League results, Blue Water Area meets such as the Marysville Invitational, Muskrat Invitational, Blue Water Meet of Champions, Thumb Meet, and Macomb County Meet, and, of course, Regional and State Finals qualifying and placements. The top ten area performance lists for each event also played a driving role in making predictions.

A couple of notes about the process:

• Consistency is key: when reviewing so many performances over a months-long period, there had to be consistent participation and placement throughout the season to gauge performance and potential for improvement.
• I don’t include freshmen (last year’s 8th graders) because they may end up participating in a different spring sport or not come out for track in high school.
• I did not preview relay events because of graduated athletes and relay leg changes, making it difficult to predict relay team members and times.
• In most cases, PBs (personal bests) from last year's meets that were hand-timed won’t be used for the preview, nor will I use them for top times and marks lists this season. When you see PRs for everyone across the board by huge margins, especially in sprint events, that’s a sign that the times are usually inaccurate. With the requirement of FAT timing for state meet qualification, it’s a more reliable standard.
• Early Qualifying Marks are in effect for the second year; athletes can meet a state-meet qualifying mark before regionals. An EQ is defined by the MHSAA as “an athlete who achieves the mark in any round of a valid pre-qualified event which meets the proper standards (FAT TIMED and 6+ teams) is qualified to participate in the LP finals in that event”. An automatic qualifier (AQ) is the standard needed to run AT the regional meet outside of a top-two finish.

Finally, I’m sure to miss someone who deserves a nod or mention: with such a large amount of data across a long period, it is inevitable. I cross-check and reference and scour athletic.net repeatedly, but Blue Water Running is just me, so sometimes, things get missed. I’m human. Also, my apologies in advance if I mispronounce or misspell your name or incorrectly type a time or mark.

I can’t wait to get back out there and see all of you running, jumping, and throwing. You can find results and articles on bluewaterrunning.org and our social media sites throughout the season. You can follow Blue Water Running on Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. You can also check out photo albums of meets that will be linked through the website and download and share them to help spread the word about Blue Water Running’s mission, which is to feature and celebrate the achievements of high school and collegiate cross country and track/field athletes from our area.

If you are interested in sponsoring coverage or partnering with Blue Water Running as an advertiser to reach and support local athletes, please reach out via our website or social media channels.

Send Blue Water Running a Message

Support the show

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

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

It’s time for the 2026 Girls Outdoor Track and Field Season Preview! The statistics used to write the season preview include BWAC, MAC, and Catholic High School League results, Blue Water Area meets such as the Marysville Invitational, Muskrat Invitational, Blue Water Meet of Champions, Thumb Meet, and Macomb County Meet, and, of course, Regional and State Finals qualifying and placements. The top ten area performance lists for each event also played a driving role in making predictions.

A couple of notes about the process:

• Consistency is key: when reviewing so many performances over a months-long period, there had to be consistent participation and placement throughout the season to gauge performance and potential for improvement.
• I don’t include freshmen (last year’s 8th graders) because they may end up participating in a different spring sport or not come out for track in high school.
• I did not preview relay events because of graduated athletes and relay leg changes, making it difficult to predict relay team members and times.
• In most cases, PBs (personal bests) from last year's meets that were hand-timed won’t be used for the preview, nor will I use them for top times and marks lists this season. When you see PRs for everyone across the board by huge margins, especially in sprint events, that’s a sign that the times are usually inaccurate. With the requirement of FAT timing for state meet qualification, it’s a more reliable standard.
• Early Qualifying Marks are in effect for the second year; athletes can meet a state-meet qualifying mark before regionals. An EQ is defined by the MHSAA as “an athlete who achieves the mark in any round of a valid pre-qualified event which meets the proper standards (FAT TIMED and 6+ teams) is qualified to participate in the LP finals in that event”. An automatic qualifier (AQ) is the standard needed to run AT the regional meet outside of a top-two finish.

Finally, I’m sure to miss someone who deserves a nod or mention: with such a large amount of data across a long period, it is inevitable. I cross-check and reference and scour athletic.net repeatedly, but Blue Water Running is just me, so sometimes, things get missed. I’m human. Also, my apologies in advance if I mispronounce or misspell your name or incorrectly type a time or mark.

I can’t wait to get back out there and see all of you running, jumping, and throwing. You can find results and articles on bluewaterrunning.org and our social media sites throughout the season. You can follow Blue Water Running on Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. You can also check out photo albums of meets that will be linked through the website and download and share them to help spread the word about Blue Water Running’s mission, which is to feature and celebrate the achievements of high school and collegiate cross country and track/field athletes from our area.

If you are interested in sponsoring coverage or partnering with Blue Water Running as an advertiser to reach and support local athletes, please reach out via our website or social media channels.

Send Blue Water Running a Message

Support the show

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

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

It’s the second anniversary of The Blue Water Running Podcast! It has been an incredible privilege to get to know local athletes and hear many amazing and inspiring stories from the Blue Water Area and beyond. As we move into our third year, the top two episodes of all time so far are Season One, Episode #15 with Matt Armelagos of Michigan XC Speed Ratings, and Season One, Episode #14 with Thomas Westphal, former Anchor Bay High School and current MSU runner.

The very first episode of the podcast aired two years ago on March 28, 2024, and featured 2023 Armada graduate Camden Khon (who happens to be my oldest child). Camden runs cross country, indoor, and outdoor track for Spring Arbor University, where he recently earned indoor NAIA All-American status by taking third in the mile in 4:04 (in a race separated by tenths of a second) and eighth in the Distance Medley Relay. He also garnered his first cross-country All-American award with a top-30 finish at the national meet in November and set the course record earlier that month by winning the Crossroads Conference cross-country championship. Camden is the first athlete from Spring Arbor to be named the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week for cross country, and earned the honor again during the indoor track season for his win at the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational open mile, where he ran a 4:03.9, the #12 all-time finish in the NAIA. He is back on the pod to reflect on his national meet experience, how he has dealt with his emotions regarding his race, and his continuing quest for the sub-4-minute mile.

While many people know Cam as a runner, they may not know that he competes while living with an autoimmune disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis. Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory arthritis primarily affecting the spine and pelvic joints, causing severe back pain, stiffness, and potential spinal fusion ("bamboo spine") along with other symptoms. It usually strikes teens and young adults, with symptoms often worse at night/rest and improved with movement. While no cure exists, treatment includes exercises, physical therapy, and medication. Males are three times as likely as females to be diagnosed. More than three million people live with AS in the United States, and every May, there is World AS Day to bring awareness to the disease.

Running and living with arthritis seem to be contradictory activities, but we’ll chat with Camden about how he approaches and addresses the challenges that come with AS and how he hasn’t let this diagnosis stop him from achieving his goals.

Thank you so much for listening to the podcast: words can’t express how thankful and blessed I am to have been able to do this for another year. Please share an episode to help spread the word about Blue Water Running’s mission, which is to feature and celebrate the achievements of high school and collegiate cross country and track/field athletes from our area. You can follow Blue Water Running on Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube, along with athlete and meet reports and photos on the website at bluewaterrunning.org.

If you are interested in sponsoring coverage or partnering with Blue Water Running as an advertiser to reach and support local athletes, please reach out vi

Send Blue Water Running a Message

Support the show

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

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