When Brendan Cutler crossed the finish line at the FHSAA Class 3A State Track and Field Championships on May 8, he didn’t immediately realize what he had done.

• He knew he had placed second in the 800 meters. He knew his time of 1 minute, 51.87 seconds was fast. But it wasn’t until he was walking toward the podium and heard other runners talking about breaking their school records that it clicked.

“That made me think, ‘I just broke mine, too,'” Cutler said.

The old Choctawhatchee High School record in the 800 was 1:52.59. Cutler had come within six-hundredths of a second of it at the Pepsi Florida Relays earlier this season when he ran a 1:52.65. This time, at the biggest meet of the year, he broke through.

“There’s no really no better way to go out,” Cutler said. “Winning, yes…but no better way to go out than with a PR and a school record. I’m completely fine with how I ran, and what place I got.”

The finish capped a four-year progression that saw Cutler go from running a 2:16.10 in the 800 as a freshman to 1:51.87 as a senior. That’s more than 24 seconds shaved off his time across his high school career.

Cutler was open about the fact that the improvement didn’t come overnight, and that his younger self wasn’t always locked in.

• “Freshman and sophomore year, I was training hard, but that’s when I was still younger and I was just messing around a lot,” he said. “I wasn’t taking it too seriously. But once junior year hit, I knew I wanted to try and win state and get my name out there, and that’s when I started taking it serious and doing the hard workouts, not quitting anything.”

He said he used to cut reps short or skip portions of workouts. That changed once he set clear goals for his senior season: win or place high at state in the 800, get recruited and compete at nationals.

“Granted, I only got one of those fully,” Cutler said with a laugh. “But I’m still happy with this season because it was pretty good all along.”

He did compete at indoor nationals earlier this year, though he said he didn’t run his best there. But the experience gave him perspective.

“The people that were there reminded me that I’m competing on the national level and that these are the best people in the entire nation. They told me there’s no reason to be mad because you’re here,” Cutler said. “That’s what I have told myself ever since.”

Choctaw Head Coach Courtland Fuller said the shift in Cutler’s mentality was unmistakable.

• “In previous years, if a couple of people would get in front of him on the track, he would kind of taper off,” Fuller said. “But this year, he’s just been awesome, putting that foot to the gas and just competing with the best-of-the-best in the state of Florida.”

Fuller said Cutler’s development was also shaped by the teammates around him. As a sophomore, Cutler trained alongside Cole Tabb and a strong group of upperclassmen who showed him what it looked like to compete at a high level. Cutler was part of a 4×400 relay team that placed second at the 3A state championships that year.

“He had a group of kids that pretty much showed him how to get it done,” Fuller said. “And then I think going into that junior year, that’s really what flipped the switch for him.”

The state championship race itself unfolded the way Fuller expected. Cutler sat in the pack through the first lap, and the field began to separate on the second. Coming down the final stretch, Cutler passed a runner from Dunbar to move into second, finishing just 0.47 seconds behind the winner from Jesuit.

• “I knew his sprint speed was going to carry him through,” Fuller said. “When I saw him pass him coming down that last about 20 to 30 meters, I knew he had a good chance.”

For Fuller, the result carried weight beyond just one race.

“His finish means so much to the track and field program because we’re up here in the Panhandle with Niceville, Pine Forest, and all of the Tallahassee schools that do really good, and we’re up there with them,” he said. “I feel like our body of work the last couple of years is up there with them.”

Cutler’s path to Choctaw began in 2015, when his father, who served in the Air Force, was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base. The family moved from Herndon, Virginia, and Cutler attended Eglin Elementary, then Lewis and Meigs before starting at Choctaw as a freshman. All four Cutler siblings have attended the school, and his brother also ran track there.

When his father was later reassigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, the family made the decision to keep Cutler, his sister and his mother in the area so he could stay at Choctaw for the IB program and continue running.

• “My parents, they made the decision for just him to go up there,” Cutler said. “They’ve spent so much time, money and effort taking me to meets or paying for the fees for track. They’ve just done so much, and it’s helped me become a better person and runner.”

Outside of track and cross country, Cutler is part of Choctaw’s International Baccalaureate program, which he described as one of the hardest parts of high school. He said balancing the extra papers and coursework with two hours of daily practice and meets that can last six to eight hours was a constant challenge. His favorite subjects have been science and history.

When asked what makes Cutler coachable, Fuller recalled a particularly grueling workout.

“He was like, ‘Coach, I’m gonna do it for you,'” Fuller said. “Any other kid would be like, ‘No, Coach, I don’t wanna do that workout today.’ But he was like, ‘Coach, just give me whatever you got, and I’m going to do it.‘”

“That’s what you wanna hear from a student-athlete who’s bought in and willing to do anything to put his body on the line to try to win a state championship or a first-place medal for his team,” Fuller added. “It means everything.”

Fuller also pointed to Cutler’s influence on younger runners in the program.

• “He’s just a down-to-earth kid. He’s very respectful,” Fuller said. “Those are the type of kids that you want in your program because it rubs off to the other kids, to the younger kids. He’s got a couple of younger kids who are pretty much looking up to him, and I think that’s going to help the program out a lot.”

Cutler will graduate from Choctaw on Thursday and head to Ohio State University in the fall, where he plans to major in sports management. He said he intends to try to walk on with the Buckeyes’ track and field program, and Fuller said he has been in contact with the coaches there.

“Some of his times are competing with their times,” Fuller said. “He’s right there with those college kids.”

Cutler said he still has two meets remaining before his high school career is officially over. After that, he’s looking ahead.

“Just the opportunities that are going to be there,” Cutler said. “I’m just off to college, so just the opportunities that await and whatever God has planned for me.”