At little context here: Right now I am in my third year of coaching at a small high school that has had a very successful distance program since I arrived. Last year, we ran 8:13 for the 4x800 with this year’s team, and 8:03 with 3/4 of this year’s relay members and one leg that has since graduated. This year, I am very worried due to the status of our fourth leg (let’s call him John). During XC, he started out very well, running 17:10 for 5k, but by the end of the season he ran 18:35 on the same course. This indoor season, we ran a 4x8, and John had a 2:16 split, getting beat by the B team’s leg (who only runs indoor, playing soccer and baseball the rest of the year), despite being totally fresh and having a PR of 2:04 last year. Two days later, John dropped out of a workout and came to practice the day after claiming to have strep throat. John is a senior, and I feel bad about taking him off the relay, but at the same time, he straight up sucks. What should I do?