This is the third article in Sporty Seniors, a bi-weekly column celebrating M-A senior athletes’ dedication to their sport.
After striding miles along Cougar Hill and enduring a rain storm at PAL finals, John Cutler, a senior on the cross country and track teams, will be running into his final season as a Bear.
Cutler has been an integral member of the cross country and track teams since he came to M-A as a freshman. However, his running career started far before high school.
In elementary school, Cutler ran in local 5k races with his father. “He’s a big supporter. He came out to watch me race in Eugene which was really cool, and I’m really grateful for him,” he said.
Although Cutler was initially reluctant to run cross country in high school, his friends were able to convince him that a season of miles in the heat would be a fun way to spend his fall.
Now, those teammates are some of his best friends. “They’re great teammates and very supportive. They will tease you sometimes if you’re a little slow but they’re always there for you,” Cutler said.
Cutler has shown promise for his impressive running career since the beginning. As a sophomore, Cutler placed second at the PAL championships his sophomore year, with a time of 2:09 for the 800-meter run.
“That was the first race where I got second. I was thinking, ‘Oh, the 800 meter is something I’m good at’ and I realized that I could get really good at it if I practiced,” he said.
Then, in his junior year at PAL varsity trials Cutler ran a 2:01 in the same event after leading the race for almost 3 laps.
During Cutler’s time on the cross country team, M-A has been able to consistently secure first and second place in PAL.
During his junior year of track, Cutler was selected to compete at the Nike Outdoor Nationals (NON), one of the most prestigious track and field meets in the country. Hundreds of schools across the nation flew to Eugene, Oregon to race.
At NON, Cutler ran with his teammates in a 4×800 relay team as the second leg. They placed third out of 36 teams with an impressive time of 8:03.
As Cutler nears the end of his final cross country season, some of his favorite memories were going on endless long runs and overnight trips with his teammates. “I’m going to miss racing with the guys for cross country, and I really want to inch my way closer to the 800-meter record because I’m not too far off,” he said.
As for running post-graduation, Cutler aspires to run track in college, or even professionally––maybe even becoming an Olympian.
“I’m going to put in a lot of work, and hopefully if I run in college that training is going to get me to an even better position for post college running,” he said.
Though Cutler already has dreams for his future, what he’ll miss the most are his teammates at M-A. “I love racing, especially with these guys,” Cutler said.
“Running in high school is an experience you can’t get anywhere else,” he added.
