Four years ago, Marco Cleary joined the track team, following in his older brother’s footsteps, hoping one day to be the one athletes look up to. Now he is that person; the undisputed fastest athlete in Marin County, recently rewriting school records. Not only did he set the school record once in the spring of 2026 at 10.8 seconds in the 100-meter dash, but he broke his own record, running 10.72 seconds in the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) Final in the same season.

Cleary’s track coach, Earl Downing, adds to how essential Cleary is to Redwood’s ability to compete in events and rack up points for the team. 

“It’s like having Steph Curry dropping 50 from behind the arc, you can always rely on him.” Downing said.

To compete at that level, Marco has developed his own pre-race ritual that keeps him breaking his own records. 

“When you’re on the blocks looking down to the finish line, you know the only person you have to beat is you to become a record breaker,” Cleary said.

To be the person who is only competing against themselves requires persistent mental fortitude, and that is a part of Cleary’s recipe for record-breaking.

“You can’t replicate the past,” Cleary said. “You know you have all the consistent hard work [done already] pushing you to your ceiling.”

Cleary also thinks his ceiling hasn’t been reached yet, and his time on the track isn’t over when he starts enrollment at the University of Florida next semester.

“My career plan is to try out for the team, maybe try walking on this fall, and if not, I’m definitely planning on doing club track,” Cleary said.

His time at Redwood and his time setting feats for the track program might be coming to a close, but he will definitely have a notable legacy. Ending his senior-year season as MCAL runner of the year and dubbed the indisputable fastest teenager in Redwood history, he has left a legacy of records. But above all of his achievements, 

“[He’s a] happy-go-lucky kid… he’ll always have a chair of honor at our program,” Downing said.