Two more Saratoga stories:
About 10 years ago I had one of my few runners who had a chance to make the State Championships running the steeple in the State Qualifiers. For most of the race my runner and the Saratoga runner were back and forth in front. The last 200 a runner from another school passed both and earned the spot to the State Championship. I happened to be in the same ski club as the father of the Saratoga runner and after the race I was talking to him. He was okay about his kid not making states but it was like being in the reception line of a wake. At least 15 other Saratoga parents came up to him. Many moms were in tears, one dad asked him how he was holding up, another dad told a story about how his daughter missed states a few years earlier. One dad told him “Your daughter needs a you now. You have to be there for her now.” There were plenty of hugs, and tears. When you have the parents so invested in the team they are crying when another kid doesn’t make States you are going to have a hell of a time getting rid of the coaches.
Second story, when Kelsey Chimel was a a senior , Saratoga was trying to get 3 girls to qualify for the State Championship in the 3000. Chimel had the “super standard”, a second girl had the at large standard and the third girl had neither, so the only way the 3 make it is if the slowest girl wins, the girl with the at large standard gets second and Kelsey gets third. The 3000 starts and the Saratoga girls go into the lead running in the formation they need to get all 3 to the State Championship. The problem is that a girl from Ballston Spa latches on to the back of them. After 4 laps the Ballston Spa girl goes into the lead and suddenly the Saratoga girls start racing, Chimel starts racing, the second fast girl starts racing, and pretty soon they are separated from the slowest Saratoga girl and the Ballston SPA girl and a hundred yards ahead.
With a lap to go the Ballston Spa girl dies and the slowest Saratoga girl is in third but they are in the wrong order for all 3 to make States. Chimel has a huge lead and gets 20 yards from the finish and Kranick orders her to stop right there, he tells the the second girl from Saratoga stop at the same spot and they stand on the track about 15-20 seconds for the third Saratoga girl to pass them , then they start running and finish in the order to get all three to the state championship.