The State Qualifier meet should be run so that the TOP FINISHER in each event AT THE MEET advances to states.
"But what about the sections that have a lot of fast kids, shouldn't they all get a chance too?"
They have a chance. They can compete to be the TOP FINISHER in their event AT THE MEET. If they do not finish in 1st place, they stay home. This is how the real world works. If you finish 4th place at the Olympic Trials, you do not go to the Olympics, plain and simple.
By going back to this "old fashioned" way of qualifying, you get rid of all the garbage that happened throughout the state last weekend. Kids running hard for half the race and then deciding to jog, disrupting the entire race. People complaining about how certain races are paced and kids dropping out. That all goes away by simply advancing the TOP FINISHER in the event.
If someone "wants to help their teammate get to states" they should simply train harder with them and encourage them to become faster.
This being said, I do not fault the athletes or the coaches. I fault the NYS system of "super standards" and trying to interject itself to make things more competitive. As a coach myself, I would be embarrassed if I coached my athlete to jog any portion of any race, but I understand that this mentality of competition is quickly fading out with each passing generation and have accepted that. You take away the "super standard" and go back to winner-take-all, you might have a few fast kids staying home, but ultimately you save yourself the embarrassment of what these meets have become.