DAEGAN CUTTER
REDWOOD BOYS X-COUNTRY
Redwood High senior Daegan Cutter was the undisputed leader of the fastest Marin County boys cross country team to run at the state championships since 1987.
While Cutter turned in the 10th best time ever by a Marin runner on the 5K course at Woodward Park in Fresno in 15minutes, 26.1seconds, the Giants eclipsed the best team time with a 5-second improvement over the 2018 Archie Williams squad. “Daegan is the captain of all captains,” said Redwood coach Nicole Graydon. “It's so nice for the team to have him to rally around.
He's never done pushing himself.”
With Cutter taking the lead, the Giants won their first MCAL team title since 2016, placed second at NCS and finished sixth in Division II at state.
At the MCAL championships, Cutter had a winning time of 14:51on the 3-mile College of Marin Indian Valley course — 33seconds faster than his nearest competitor. The Giants were so dominant that they took five out of the top eight finishes.
“From a team perspective that was the most fun,” said Cutter. “It's good to have that team accomplishment. We were so focused as a team.”
Cutter also won the NCS Division II race at Hayward High by nearly five seconds with a time of 14:45.4on the 3-mile course. It was Cutter's second consecutive individual title at NCS, improving on his 2021time by 38seconds.
Graydon says Cutter benefited from running with other league champs as an underclassman and set a “fantastic example” for the Giants this season. A Redwood boy has captured the MCAL individual title in eight out of the past nine years.
“He had such good examples and he has really taken that to heart,” said Graydon. “He's done all of the right things: he does the recovery; he takes care of himself. Watching him win was huge for our team.”
Cutter will run cross country and track for Yale University after graduation. He plans to major in applied math.