This is college sophomore Layla Vennink and college freshman Sara Gastony. They've been teammates since middle school at Prior Lake, despite being a year apart in school. This year, they'll once again be teammates at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. This past season, as a college sophomore and college freshman, they both won conference titles. Sara also went on to win her section meet and had an outstanding performance at the NCAA Championships.

It was Layla's first outdoor college conference meet, and she entered the 800 meters seeded 12th. As you'll hear, she far exceeded expectations. We dive into all the drama surrounding that race, what happened throughout the meet, and what the victory meant, not only for Layla, but for the St. Thomas team as a whole.

In my four years around track and field and cross country, I've noticed that Prior Lake and St. Thomas are two of the most tight-knit teams I've ever seen. We talk about what makes those cultures so special and share practical lessons you can apply in your own life, whether you're leading a team, an organization, or simply trying to be a better leader every day.

This is Noella Ross, for the past 6 years, she’s been an absolute joy in the high school cross country and track running scene in MN. She’s run 2:06 in the 800, but it’s the kindness and humility that she shows to everyone around her that stands out the most. As she is such an inspiration to so many of you, we really dove into the everyday wisdom that not just fuels her races, but her life outside of running as well. This was a BLAST to record so I hope you enjoy our convo today!

This is Ellery Lincoln. She just qualified for the 2026 U20 World Team and earlier this season ran a 4:27 mile at the Festival of Miles. And she’s a junior in high school from app. Named Lincoln HS in Portland Oregon. However, her success doesn’t tell the whole story as she’s had to overcome multiple lengthy illnesses to get there. This was one of my favorite episodes to record as we really dove into mental mindset and struggles that we both face in our circumstances so if you are going through a tough period of training or just watn to get better at your sport then check it out. I don’t say this a lot but the whole episode is worth listening to because there’s so much wisdom that we discussed and that Ellery learns. 

Today, we’ll look at the story of Whitefish Bay HS incoming sophomore Karstin McCabe. We’ll go through her year, going from early success, her injury and how she recovered from that to crush the rest of her freshman cross country and track season. Enjoy!

If you want to run fast this postseason, this episode is for you!

Today, we’ll look at the story of Trabuco Hills senior and San Diego State University commit Skylar Watts. Both a silly and very meaningful episode, we dive briefly into Skylar’s Nike Cross Nationals experience, then look at life and experiences as a running content creator, and her mindset on both content creation and on running. There’s a pretty embarrassing segment where I try to put myself in the shoes of her target audience and try to understand girly things like pre race glam and Brandy Melville which is a bit different from area of expertise. So if you’re looking for a balance of insightful conversation and a good laugh this episode’s for you!

I’m Nate and this is Unger the Radar: where we reveal off-camera observations of authentic athletes. Today, we’ll look at the story of Brandon Valley senior and Iowa State commit Mikah Peters. Mikah’s grown up loving Batman & other superheroes, so this episode is a retelling of our story of his heroic superhero arc journey from 7th grade till now, May of his senior year, covered with all of Mikah’s character growth, through his victories and defeats. We end with what Mikah does outside of running with FCA and Special Olympics that really shows his multifaceted life.

Today, we’ll look at the story of current Belen Jesuit junior Marcelo Mantecon. We’ll talk about lots of different things, beginning with his faith, service, family, upbringing with Belen Jesuit and through his postseason run this year at NXN and Brooks, and we’ll go through his quadruple national title at NIN as well as advice he has for runners to never limit themselves. Enjoy!

Hi, I’m Nate and this is Unger the Radar: where we reveal off-camera observations of authentic athletes. Today, we’ll look at the story of Mountain Vista senior and Arizona State University commit Brenna Jorde. There was lots of bouncing around in this fairly long episode but we talk about her junior year NXN championship run then dive into her trip in Slovakia, interspersed throughout we learn the other ways that God has worked in her running career. If you’ve ever had a long period of burnout or lack of enjoyment in your sport or hobby, this episode is for you! Enjoy!m

Today, we’ll look at the story of, current Hamilton senior and Colorado State Commit Zarian Rodriguez. We’ll talk a lot about the camaraderie on his high school team then dive into the experiences he had at two premier XC meets, Arcadia and. Then, we dive into his experience running Brooks and the additional camaraderie he’s had on the national running community. Throughout we’ll dive into both some personal and team sacrifice and growth moments to allow him and his team to be state and national inspirations. Enjoy!