Our episode guest is Samantha Langolf, a senior at Port Huron Northern High School. Sam had a breakout season for the Huskies last fall, dropping from a 21:23 in her first meet to a 19:17 PR at the state finals to become the fifth-fastest girl in school history; she returns this season with the second-fastest time from 2024 in the Blue Water Area. Langolf and her teammate Haley Sharp also helped lead PHN to a second-place finish in the MAC Division Championships. Sam also ran PRs in the 800, 1600, and 3200 during the spring track season, and was runner-up in both the mile and two-mile at the Blue Water Meet of Champions.

Samantha’s accomplishments are noteworthy in and of themselves, but are all the more impressive when you realize she left her first official high school cross country practice as a freshman in an ambulance. She passed out, and after the initial assumption that she’d had a seizure, she was unable to run until doctors ran tests and figured out what was going on medically. A University of Michigan heart specialist diagnosed her with POTS, which stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, a condition where the heart rate increases excessively when standing. It's more common in women, especially between the ages of 15 and 50. While the exact causes are still being researched, POTS can sometimes develop after viral infections, surgery, or trauma: experts aren’t sure what causes it. POTS is a form of dysautonomia, which means it's a disorder of the autonomic nervous system, the part of your nervous system that controls involuntary functions like heart rate, blood pressure, and digestion. The body has trouble regulating blood pressure and heart rate from lying down to standing, which can lead to a significant increase in heart rate without a corresponding drop in blood pressure. Some of the symptoms include lightheadedness or dizziness, fainting or near-fainting, fatigue, heart palpitations, nausea, headaches, brain fog, exercise intolerance, gastrointestinal issues, and more, so you can see how challenging this disorder would be for anyone, let alone a distance runner.

Samantha will share her experiences in running, her perspective on this disorder, how she maintains her health and focus in competition, and what her goals are for this season as a Blue Water Area athlete.

You can follow Blue Water Running on Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube, along with athlete and meet reports and photography on the website at bluewaterrunning.org.

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 have spent years supporting local athletes in the Blue Water Area. They are located at 327 Huron Ave in downtown Port Huron.

Verlinde Insurance, located in Richmond, Michigan, is a new supporter of coverage on Blue Water Running. Training as an athlete teaches you resilience and preparation. Apply those lessons to your life with their insurance plans. Be ready for anything with them by your side.

Send Blue Water Running a Message

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

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

This episode features Reese Powers, a 2022 Marysville High School grad and recent Michigan State University cross country/track athlete. Reese is a very accomplished runner: in high school, she was the 2021 Division 2 state champion in the 400-meter dash with a PR of 57.71, was all-state in the 400, 4x200, and 4x400 several times over her career, along with going four-for-four as regional champion her junior year in the 400, 800, 4x200, and 4x400 and undefeated in any event she entered in the region, MAC Gold, and the Blue Water Meet of Champs. During her time as a Spartan, she dropped her high school 800 best from 2:18 to 2:12, ran a 5:00 flat indoor mile, and took a cross country PR of 19:37 to a 5K best of 17:54.

Reese is here to give us a perspective into life as a D1 athlete in a Big Ten program, her point of view on the implications of the new NCAA roster cap rules following the House v. NCAA settlement, how it has affected her personally, and give us insight into her personal life as a Blue Water Area runner.

Thank you so much for listening to the podcast: 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 also 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, along with athlete and meet reports and photography on the website at bluewaterrunning.org.

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 have spent years supporting local athletes in the Blue Water Area. They are located at 327 Huron Ave in downtown Port Huron.

Verlinde Insurance, located in Richmond, Michigan, is a new supporter of coverage on Blue Water Running. Training as an athlete teaches you resilience and preparation. Apply those lessons to your life with their insurance plans. Be ready for anything with them by your side.

Send Blue Water Running a Message

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

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

Our episode guest is Leo Bearrs, a senior at Yale High School. While local Blue Water Area athletes might recognize Leo from around the BWAC conference meets, what they might not know is that Leo is also a racewalker and steeplechaser. Leo recently won the Michigan USATF Junior Olympic Championships 3000-meter racewalk and 2K steeplechase in Olivet on June 21. He also won the regional championship in both events in Louisville, Kentucky, in July, qualifying for the USATF Junior Olympics National Meet at Savannah State University in Georgia. Before the heat index of 110 degrees-plus suspended the meet due to a heat delay for other athletes, Leo was able to finish 16th in the steeplechase and 4th in the racewalk. His PR in the racewalk is 19:37, and in the steeplechase, it’s 7:29. We’ll learn what racewalking and steeplechasing are all about, how they differ from running, and interesting and unique facts about these events. We’ll also get to know Leo personally as an athlete, as well.

Thank you so much for listening to the podcast: 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 also 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, along with athlete and meet reports and photography on the website at bluewaterrunning.org.

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 have spent years supporting local athletes in the Blue Water Area. They are located at 327 Huron Ave in downtown Port Huron.

Verlinde Insurance, located in Richmond, Michigan, is a new supporter of coverage on Blue Water Running. Training as an athlete teaches you resilience and preparation. Apply those lessons to your life with their insurance plans. Be ready for anything with them by your side.

Send Blue Water Running a Message

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

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