The Sunday Shakeout

At Niwot High School, winning has become part of the standard. But somehow, they’ve found a way to keep it fun.Quinn Sullivan is a junior from Niwot, Colorado, and one of the top distance runners in the Class of 2027. He’s run 1:49 for 800m meters, 4:04 for 1600m, 8:41 for 3200m, and 14:34 for 5K cross country. Last fall, he placed 5th at Nike Cross Nationals, helping Niwot capture its second straight national title.But this conversation goes way beyond the times.What stood out most to me talking with Quinn was how grounded he is. For someone who’s one of the top runners in the country and racing for the best team in the nation, there’s no ego. Just a real love for the sport, for his teammates, and for the process of getting better.We talked a lot about what makes Niwot different.From the outside, people see the wins, the rankings, and the pressure that comes with being the team everyone wants to beat. But Quinn gave a glimpse into the culture behind it all. A team that works incredibly hard, but doesn’t take itself too seriously. A group that competes at the highest level, but still knows how to laugh, have fun, and enjoy being around each other every day.That balance matters.Because when expectations are high, it’s easy to lose sight of why you started. Quinn talks about learning how to handle pressure, how to race free even when there’s something on the line, and why keeping the joy in the sport might be one of the biggest reasons Niwot continues to succeed.This episode is about perspective. About team culture. About what happens when discipline and fun exist in the same place.If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to be part of something special, this conversation will give you a real look inside.Tap into the Quinn Sullivan Special.If you enjoy The Sunday Shakeout, please consider following the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and leaving a five-star review. It really helps support the growth of the show.And if this episode gives you something valuable, share it with a friend who might need to hear it.

This week on the show is the seventh iteration of the solo podcast series of The Sunday Shakeout.I hope you enjoy this episode of The Sunday Shakeout.Please consider leaving a follow and a five-star review.

This week on the show is the fifth iteration of the solo podcast series of The Sunday Shakeout.I tell the second half of the story of my entire running career, from the beginning of my freshman year at Seattle Prep to now. I hope you enjoy this episode!Please consider leaving a follow and a five-star review.

***SOLO SERIES EPISODE #3***This week’s episode is the third iteration of the new solo podcast series.I discuss an annual tradition at my high school, called Olympic Week, as well as role models, student government reelections, The Great Gatsby, and more.Please consider leaving a follow and a five-star review.

***SOLO SERIES EPISODE #1 ***I announced on Instagram last week that the show is temporarily going on a hiatus from guest interviews. My life has many competing priorities. Despite my obsession for this podcast and the joy I derive from having weekly conversations with the top high school athletes in our sport, podcasting is not my full-time job. I am a student, athlete, teammate, friend, and son, all before I am a podcaster. Thank you all for understanding. I will be back with guest interviews in the near future. I am starting a series of solo podcasts to replace guest interviews for the foreseeable future. I plan on discussing running and non-running topics alike. Hopefully I can bring value with some of my unique insights and stories. Shoot me and email or a DM if you have any topic suggestions for the next ~1-3 months of this series. As always, I am open to feedback and want to maximize what I do with this platform. Thank you all so much for the love and support! Y'all have been super loyal to the show over the years and I cannot express how lucky and blessed I feel to have a platform like mine. I hope you enjoy this episode of The Sunday Shakeout!Email: thesundayshakeout@gmail.comStay up-to-date on all things The Sunday Shakeout: Instagram

This is not a running episode. Not even close.But something so important happened in my life that I had to make an episode about it. I went on the Kairos retreat with ~90 of my classmates at Seattle Prep.Kairos is one of those things where if you know... you know. It was four days of stillness, honesty, and sitting with questions I usually outrun.I opened up about struggles I tend to keep buried.About control. Fear. Trust. Surrender.What I felt most was the power of being known.The power of community.The power of love.The power of grace.This episode is raw, real, and unfinished.Not answers. Just truth.Shoutout to Marguerite, Miles, Finn, Jenny, Sam, Edward, Thomas, and Hannah. K71 Trust. Love has won

In 2025, Hermiston High’s Leroy Lozano Mejia quietly became someone the Washington distance scene could no longer ignore.The sophomore entered the fall as a sleeper and left it with authority. Built on patience and aerobic strength, he doesn’t chase attention. He shows up, does the work, and lets races speak for him.After running 15:36 and finishing 11th at the 3A state meet as a freshman, Leroy took a clear step forward in his sophomore cross-country season. He won the Battle of the 509 Invitational in Spokane against a strong field. He followed that with a fourth-place finish at Nike Hole in the Wall, running 14:55 on one of the most honest courses in the country. By November, the progression was undeniable. At the Washington 3A State Championships, he finished runner-up in 15:10. From 11th to second in one year. Built slowly. Earned daily.But the story isn’t just about results. On the track, the contrast is still there. A 9:15 3200 shows real strength. A 4:23 mile leaves space to grow. And instead of running from that tension, Leroy leans into it.In this episode of The Sunday Shakeout, we talk about discipline as a daily choice, not a personality trait. About backing words with actions. And about the strange truth runners don’t always admit — that pain, when chosen, can become addictive.Tap into the Leroy Lozano Mejia Special. If you enjoy the podcast, follow The Sunday Shakeout on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and leave a five-star review.

In 2025, Ballard High School’s Cassidy Armstrong turned a season nearly lost to injury into one of the strongest postseason runs in the country.The Seattle senior, committed to Duke University, entered the fall coming off a hip stress fracture that erased her entire junior track season. Six weeks unable to walk. No running until August. No early-season races to test fitness or confidence.Armstrong didn’t race until October 31st. She opened with a second-place finish at the SeaKing District Championships. Days later, she repeated the result at the WIAA 3A State Meet, finishing just behind Mercer Island’s Sophia Rodriguez. Then the season stretched. At NXR Northwest in Spokane, Armstrong placed fifth on the new course, earning her first-ever qualification to Nike Cross Nationals.In December, on the sport’s biggest stage, she delivered again. Armstrong finished 18th at Nike Cross Nationals, securing All-American honors and closing the year ranked 24th nationally by DyeStat — the second-highest of any high school girl on the West Coast.This season asked for patience. Cassidy trained without proof, raced without momentum, and trusted that the work would show up eventually. When it did, it showed up at the biggest moments.As she looks ahead to Duke and the next chapter of her career, this season stands as proof that timing, belief, and resilience can be just as powerful as raw fitness.Tap into the Cassidy Armstrong Special.Consider leaving a follow and a five-star review. Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/thesundayshakeout/

Wake up, baby. We're back with the doubleheader weekends. A formal interview will be dropping later today... one of the biggest talents in high school in 2026.This episode, however, has a different tone. I open up about my life outside of the sport of running as we enter the new year. I am as transparent and clear-cut as possible about my mental and emotional state after my junior cross-country season and how I am getting right with myself this new year. This goes far beyond the objective results and the times. This is existential. I explore what true meaning and pursuit looks like, and the hidden cost of obsession. The weight of passion. I hope someone can relate to my message and what I have to say. Happy New Year to all! I hope you had a lovely holiday season with family and friends and that you are ready to attack 2026.

In South Dakota, distance running rarely comes with a spotlight.Mikah Peters earned one anyway.The Brandon Valley senior spent years quietly building belief, never assuming he’d be the best guy on his own team, let alone a national contender. Progress came slowly. Intentionally. Through seasons of patience and an offseason obsession with getting better.In November, that belief finally crystallized. Peters won the SDHSAA Class AA State Championship in 14:54, breaking Simeon Birnbaum’s long-standing state meet record.The season didn’t stop there. After falling from glory at NXR Heartland, Mikah earned the Golden Ticket and lined up at the inaugural Brooks Cross Country Nationals in Balboa Park. Against the deepest field of the year, he raced with composure and control, finishing 20th overall to earn All-American honors on the sport’s biggest stage.The performances mean more in context. One year earlier, Peters passed out while leading the state meet, battling illness and extreme heat. The season ended abruptly. That moment lingered. It reshaped how he thought about trust, execution, and what championship racing actually demands.As Mikah said: "The desert teaches you more about water than the ocean ever will."If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following The Sunday Shakeout on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and leaving a five-star review. It goes a long way in supporting the show and helping these stories reach more people.

In 2025, South Eugene’s Yosuke Shibata quietly put together one of the strongest junior seasons in the nation.He started the fall with a win at the Oregon City XC Invite, dropping 14:53.8 and showing early signs that he was ready for more. Two weeks later, he went 14:38.2 at Nike Portland XC — a race that didn’t just give him a PR, it put him on everyone’s radar across the region.From there, he kept leveling up. He won his first OSAA 6A state title in 15:01.1, closing hard against some of Oregon’s best seniors. At NXR Northwest, he held his ground in one of the most aggressive regional races we’ve seen in years, finishing fourth in 14:45.0 to earn his spot at NXN.And on the national stage, he delivered again — 23rd at Nike Cross Nationals, just outside All-American, but fully inside the conversation of who belongs up front.What stands out about Yosuke isn’t just the times. It’s the way he carries himself. Steady. Composed. A kid who built confidence race by race until the belief finally caught up with the ability.As he heads toward track and the rest of his junior year, his trajectory feels less like a breakout and more like the start of someone settling into who he really is as a star on the national scene.Tap into the Yosuke Shibata Special.Please consider leaving a follow and a five-star review!

In 2025, Camas senior Cohen Butler became one of the most composed and dangerous distance runners in the Pacific Northwest.Cohen opened his fall with a fourth-place finish at Nike Portland XC (14:40.8). That September weekend turned some heads, but it was nothing that warned people what was coming. Two weeks later, he took control of the field at Hole in the Wall, running 14:36 for a course record and instantly redefining his ceiling.At the Washington 4A State Championships in Pasco, Butler controlled the race with that same icy calm, going gun-to-tape and winning with authority in a time of 14:47. Then at Nike Cross Regionals Northwest, he did it again. Cohen took off in the last 1K and matched that 14:36 to win the regional crown and punch his ticket to Nike Cross Nationals as a legitimate threat.What sets him apart isn’t just the times, it’s the way he gets them. Butler trains with a surprisingly mature double-threshold, mileage, and race-pace sessions, having that patience and discipline that serve him in championship season. Despite the dominance, he carries himself like the quiet guy in the back of the room: low-key, poised, never loud about the work, just steady enough to let the results talk.By the time he toes the line at nationals, he’ll enter as the definition of Northwest toughness: disciplined, grounded, and built for long races that require patience and guts.If you enjoy the episode, follow The Sunday Shakeout on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and consider leaving a five-star review.

250 meters to go. One move left. The underdog from Portsmouth finally takes his shot.Rhode Island’s Sean Gray has spent years quietly sharpening his tools, building speed, endurance, and belief from the ground up.The Portsmouth High School senior has been unstoppable this fall, going undefeated and capturing two major titles. At the Rhode Island State Championships, Sean delivered one of the most thrilling finishes in meet history, surging past Hendricken’s Colby Flynn in the final 250 meters to win in 15:16.1 and become the first boy from Portsmouth to ever claim the individual title.Just a week later, he followed it up with another win at the New England Interscholastic Championships, clocking 15:53.1 against some of the best runners in the Northeast.But Sean’s rise wasn’t effortless. After missing time with achilles tendinitis last year, he rebuilt from the ground up, learning patience, trust, and precision. With personal bests of 8:27 for 3K, 14:36 for 5K on the track, and 14:55 for 5K in cross country, along with Rhode Island state records in both the indoor and outdoor 5K, Sean has proven that steady, deliberate work can create something special.In this episode, we unpack the mindset, strategy, and quiet fire that turned Sean Gray from a calculated racer into a state champion and a potential national contender.If you enjoy the podcast, follow The Sunday Shakeout on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and leave a five-star review.