Once a soccer star who runs, now a runner who plays soccer

Callie Cutsforth displays her gold medal after claiming the girls 15-16 title in the 1,500 at the National Junior Olympics Championships (courtesy Cutsforth family)

Macallan “Callie” Cutsforth wasn’t expecting a whole lot when she toed the line for 1,500-meter finals in the girls 15-16 division at the National Junior Olympics Championships at Hayward Field on July 30.

At 14, Cutsforth was the second-youngest among the 11 finalists. She had to compete in the older division because a November birthday puts her in the group born in 2009. Callie was the next-to-last seed based on preliminary times.

“I was hoping to finish in the top eight,” she says, “but I just didn’t know.”

Imagine her surprise, then, when she crossed the finish line first in 4 minutes, 52.57 seconds.

Callie Cutsforth, national champion.

“I’m pretty happy with that,” she says modestly. “It was a cool experience.”

Cutsforth is expected to play two varsity sports this fall — soccer and cross country — as a freshman at North Marion High

Cutsforth, the oldest of four children to Christian and Sarah Cutsforth, lives in Aurora and is home-schooled. She will compete in cross country and track and field next season as a freshman for North Marion High.

“Callie is going to do very well,” says Kira Barber Armstrong, North Marion’s head coach in both sports. “She is going to give the North Marion cross county program a big boost this fall. She is such a different caliber of runner in comparison with most kids.

“As long as she stays dedicated, she is going to put up some great numbers and will compete with Adele Beckstead of Philomath.”

Beckstead was champion of the Oregon West Conference — the league in which North Marion competes — and placed fifth in the 4A state championships last season. She will be a junior for the Warriors this fall.

The 5-1, 105-pound Cutsforth looked anything but imposing when she took to the starting line on July 30. She had been disappointed with her eighth-grade track season and had spent more time focusing on shorter races.

“I kind of gave up on the 1,500,” Cutsforth says. “My family was all telling me, ‘Just try it one more time.’ I was like, ‘No, I’ll do the 400 instead.’ ”

Cutsforth finished third in the 1,500 in her age group at the Oregon Relays at Hayward in April.

“I had a bad race mentally,” she says. “I psyched myself out. After that, I didn’t want to do it again.”

At the National Junior Olympics meet, Cutsforth ran other races — the 800 and a leg of the 4-by-400 relay — but didn’t reach the finals. She ran well enough to qualify for the 1,500 finals, but just barely.

“I did not go in super confident,” she says. “But during the race, I felt really good. That’s why I was able to kick at the end. I was prepared. It helped that I had multiple races before my finals. It helped get my nerves out a little.”

Callie and Hashim Hall, her coach with the Inner Circle Track Club (same club as Lake Oswego’s national prep champion sprinter Mia Brahe-Pedersen), laid on a strategy before the race.

“She said she wanted to give herself a chance for a big kick at the end,” Hall says. “We talked about kicking at 300 (meters). Right before the race, she said, ‘I want to kick at 400.’ ”

But something unexpected happened. She took the lead and held it through two laps.

“I had to take the lead, which I’m not used to doing,” Cutsforth says. “I was hoping someone else would go out front. There were a couple of girls I thought would do that, but … I think they decided to stay behind and let someone else go. No one wanted to take it, so I went out front.

“It was uncomfortable for me, but it helped me push the pace from what it was going to be.”

On the third lap, Callie Godinez of Rockwall, Tex., took the lead and opened a 10-meter gap over Cutsforth and a couple of other runners heading into the final lap. On the backstretch, Cutsforth kicked into gear, overhauled Godinez and took the lead.

Cutsforth appeared in command through the final straight, but on came Chloe Leduc of Oakland, Calif., with a ferocious kick over the last 100. Leduc passed everyone else and was closing on Cutsforth at the final line. Leduc finished second in 4:52.59 — two-hundredths of a second behind Cutsforth. Sherwood’s Evylee Bugher — who is a month younger than Cutsforth — placed third.

Cutsforth (right) holds off hard-charging Chloe Leduc (left) to claim the 1,500 title (courtesy Cutsforth family)

“My dad had told me to watch out for (Leduc), that she had a good kick,” Callie says. “She showed that during prelims. I heard her coming the last couple of seconds. It was too late for me to do anything. I just finished (first), but it was very close.”

In the stands, screaming and yelling, were her coach and her ICTC teammates.

“It was amazing, but it was like what we had seen in practice,” Hall says. “The really talented kids have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. It all starts with having fun. No one joins a track club because they enjoy hard work. They join because they enjoy running or jumping or something in the sport. In order to have success, the effort has to keep going, and it gets harder.

“In Callie’s case, she wouldn’t shy away from hard work, but in meets she was having a hard time believing she could stay on a pace necessary to win.”

It all came together on July 30.

“It was beautiful,” Hall says. “It was perfect. The pace was comfortable for her. When (Godinez) overtook her, that was fine. She was sticking to her plan. At about 400 she started kicking. We were so impressed and happy for her, even though we know that’s what she’s capable of.”

At the National Junior Olympics meet a year earlier, as a seventh grader in her first year with ICTC and nursing a hip injury, Cutsforth had finished 11th in the 1,500 in the 13-14 division.

“I ran a good race, but I was hoping to do better this year,” she says. “It was nice to not be injured.”

During the spring, Cutsforth had met her under-60-seconds goal for the 400 by running 59.17. Her best time in a meet in the 800 was 2:20.

“I should have focused on the longer distances,” she says, “because that’s what I’m better in.”

Callie is going to try to do double duty this fall. She plans to compete in both soccer and cross country at North Marion. Callie has played soccer since her kick-and-chase days at age four and for four years played top-tier soccer as an outside back with Elite Club National League. In May, she backed off competitive club soccer, but wants to play at the high school level. She says she has cleared it with Armstrong and soccer coach Ben Bonser.

“I hope it will work out,” Cutsforth says. “I’m trying to go to the Saturday (cross country) meets. I’m hoping (Bonser) will make it work. I’m excited for soccer. We have a really good team. But I’m also excited to work with (Armstrong). She’s also the track coach. I really like her.

“I’m starting to transfer (interest) to running a little more. It’s nice for me to go into the track environment. It’s so much different. I can rely on myself. If I mess up, it’s my problem, not anyone else’s. And I’m able to train by myself if need be. But I love my soccer team. I love running up and down the line.”

Armstrong is prepared to make it work.

“I don’t think it’s a problem at all,” she says. “It’s actually a great opportunity for some cross training. If Callie is practicing every other day with soccer, she’s still going to get the training in. And I know she loves cross country. We’ll work with her to the best of our ability.”

Bonser’s point of reference is Cutsforth’s participation in a couple of summer-league games with North Marion.

“She looks like she is a pretty high-level soccer player, too,” Bonser says. “She is going to be a varsity player, maybe even a starter.

“She is going to run cross country when there is a conflict. She is going to try to hit a few of the Saturday meets.”

Asked if he is OK with Cutsforth dividing her time between the sports, Bonser replies:

“Team sports are complicated. That’s the plan right now, and we’ll see how it goes.”

Hall has coached youth-club track and field for two decades. He puts Cutsforth’s potential on a select list.

“Callie is as fast as a sprinter and as tough as any kid I have ever coached — very tough-minded,” Hall says. “My only concern is, she does a lot. Some of the top kids are giving 100 percent effort and recuperation (to running). If you’re playing another sport, you’re not giving everything to track. It’s an uphill battle. When you’re younger, it’s a lot easier. You start getting with kids training year-round and focused solely on track and field, it’s more difficult.

“That said, the sky is the limit for Callie. She can get whatever she wants out of it. I think she can be one of the best in the state coming up over the next few years.”

Adds Armstrong: “Callie has some great talent. She is absolutely ready for the high school track and field season next year. She is going to give some of the top runners a run for their money.”

Callie’s goal is to better 4:30 in the 1,500 next track season.

“I’m also planning to move up to the 3,000,” she says. “I’m also hoping to get to run the 5,000 at Nike Nationals next year to get the experience.”

By then, maybe she will have added more laurels to the title, “Callie Cutsforth, National Junior Olympics champion.”

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