Callie Cutsforth should not be as fast as she is.
It goes against the very fabric of sports – typically, the greats discover their passion and talent as children, allowing it to shape their lives and decisions. It makes little sense that someone who’s only in her third season ever competing can already claim the status of a national champion and is almost certainly going to engrave her name in the history books at North Marion High School this season.
It just doesn’t add up, but it doesn’t have to. Cutsforth is an outlier. She’s the exception, not the rule.
And it’s likely that the freshman might just be the best girls’ distance runner in the history of North Marion.
“She’ll break them all,” North Marion assistant track and field coach John Armstrong said. “400, 800, 1500 and (3000 meter records) – she’ll have them all.”
Despite her freshman status, Cutsforth is already second all-time in school history in the 1500 meters with a time of 4 minutes, 57.87 seconds. She’s also second all-time in the 800 and 3000 meters, respectively, clocking in at 2:21.02 and 11:24.36.
Oh, yeah, and she’s ran just one 800 and 3000 meter race all season, competing twice in the 1500.
“I think she knows how to race,” North Marion senior and teammate Kenley Doubrava said. “She knows how to get out just hard enough… she’s just a strategic racer and she also has really good endurance and I’ve noticed just how she runs too is very particular – she has very quick turnover.”
Her times aren’t just impressive against the backdrop of school records either – she’s second in the Oregon West Conference in the 800 behind Stayton’s Haley Butenschoen, second in the 1500 behind Philomath’s Adele Beckstead and fourth in the 3000.
If that’s not enough, Cutsforth’s marks in the 800 and 1500 position her second and third in the state. With her eyes on the OSAA 4A state championships in Eugene, Cutsforth’s development is progressing smoothly.
“I’d love to place at state for either the 800 or 1500,” Cutsforth said. "Also, the 4x400. I’m super excited about that.”
Newfound commitment
When Cutsforth, who’s homeschooled, joined the middle school team in the seventh grade, it didn’t take long to discover her aptitude between the lanes. In fact, it took just one meet.
“I think I won two of the races and second in the other one – I don’t remember,” Cutsforth said. “I was loving it and so I started taking it a little more seriously.”
Cutsforth recalls the experience incorrectly – she actually won all three of her races. Her version of “taking it more seriously” meant dropping times and eventually setting her all-time personal best in the 1500 at the Oregon Middle School Meet of Champions, crossing in 4:51.15.
A month later, she finished 11th at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships. Not a bad introduction to the world of track and field but the best was yet to come. Cutsforth joined the cross country team in her eighth-grade year. Although she only competed in three races, it was her first experience under the direction of Armstrong, who's been coaching since 1971 and ran the 800 collegiately.
And, again, Cutsforth needed one sole race to prove herself.
“They ran the wrong direction, so they only ran 2,000 meters (instead of 3,000 meters) and she won by 100 yards,” Armstrong said. “So, what she did was half an hour later she ran against the boys.”
Cutsforth’s infatuation with running only grew between seasons, as she joined The Inner Circle Track Club heading into the spring of eighth grade. The added commitment paid off, with Cutsforth returning to the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships and ultimately winning the 1500 crown.
Finding a balance
Although Cutsforth’s meteoric rise in distance running has been rather spectacular, there’s a minor detail that cannot be forgotten – she’s done it all splitting her time on the pitch.
Cutsforth was an honorable mention all-league selection in the fall for the Huskies, maintaining an integral role in capturing North Marion’s first ever OSAA state championship for the girls’ soccer program.
Her investment in soccer meant Cutsforth ran just four cross country races in the fall. But that didn’t matter – she still qualified for the state meet, placing seventh at the conference championships, but ultimately decided against competing since it overlapped with the soccer state playoffs.
“I tried to train on my own but it just got to be too much where I couldn't do two hours of soccer and then go home and run five miles without getting an injury,” Cutsforth said. “(Cross country) was more (about) what I could get out of it for myself, and it definitely helped my soccer season too. I really enjoyed it. I love the girls on that team too.”
Soccer is the sport that called to her first. She played in the Elite Club National League for years, which is a national youth soccer league sanctioned by the US Club Soccer and is sponsored by Nike Soccer.
“I actually played ECNL soccer until last spring, and I decided I kind of wanted to ease out of soccer a little bit because I wanted to focus more on track and it was just so much traveling,” Cutsforth said. “I think I'm just going to play high school soccer this coming fall and do cross country also. I don't know if I'll do club (soccer) anymore, but I'll definitely be doing club track.”
Doubling the sports still takes it toll, however, and Cutsforth acknowledges that the day might inevitably arrive when she’s forced to choose between running and soccer.
“I've thought about it. I've talked about it with my parents and I think I can see myself trying to do track or cross country in college,” Cutsforth said. “That would be my goal in the end. I would love to be able to do that.”
Fortunately, Cutsforth doesn’t receive external pressure to rush that decision.
“I just want her to have a good time in high school. If she makes it a long way, that’s fine,” Armstrong said. “As long as she knows when she finishes school, she's done the best she can do.”
But, even then, it’s hard not to entertain the idea and picture a world where Cutsforth’s fully invested in running. Her competition should feel lucky, because the way Armstrong sees it, the sky is truly the limit.
“If she didn’t play soccer? The Olympic Trials,” Armstrong said. “Next Olympics in (Los Angeles) she could qualify for the trials. I think she could run a 4:12 or 4:10 by then.”
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