Junior Olympics Victory From A Local Star Student
Community: Callie Cutsforth
By Tyler Francke, Contributing Writer
Photos Courtesy of Sarah Cutsforth
A local 14-year-old is a national track and field champion after a surprising upset victory in the 1,500-meter race at the USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships held at Hayward Field earlier this summer.
Macallan “Callie” Cutsforth, a homeschool student in the North Marion School District who is relatively new to running, says she did not go into the championships expecting to win — but that’s exactly what she did.
“I definitely would not say I was confident,” she said with a laugh. “But I ran a tactical race. It was a little slower than I thought we would go out. I was out front, which is not normally how I run, but I settled in. During the last lap, I had a nice kick and was able to hold onto the lead just long enough.”
She’s not kidding. Second-place finisher Chloe Leduc, a fellow incoming freshman from the Oakland Cubs running club, clocked a time of 4:52.59 — only two-hundredths of a second behind Callie’s winning time of 4:52.57.
Knowing her friends, family and coaches were in the stands cheering her on helped give her confidence, she said, and a heartfelt moment of prayer just before the July 30 finals race also helped calm her nerves.
Still, the result was so close that Callie did not realize immediately that she had won. “She had a really good kick so I wasn’t sure,” Callie recalls. “I didn’t think I could do it so it was super cool.”
A member of the Tualatin-based Inner Circle Track Club, Callie is a lifelong soccer player who first started running in the spring of 2022. “I really love it,” she says of her new sport. “It’s great being around the other runners, and it’s just a lot of fun.”
Callie particularly enjoys the camaraderie and friendship of the Inner Circle Track Club, which practices at Tualatin High School and also boasts other high-profile prep school athletes, including long jumper Sophia Beckmon, who won the women’s 17-18 long jump at the USATF Nationals, and Mia Brahe-Pedersen, a multiple gold medalist at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association 2023 Championships earlier this year and the holder of several Oregon sprinting records.
Callie feels proud to have proven herself in her own right, winning a national championship at the iconic Hayward Field. “That was really cool — and a little intimidating,” she admitted. “It was pretty cool to think that this was where the professionals and all the top athletes from around the world compete.”
Looking forward, Callie plans to complete her freshman year at North Marion High School, and learn how to juggle competing in both soccer and cross-country.
