Back to the Front

This story is raw. It's real. It alternately bleeds death, exposes the rise of unbearable doubt and offers hope to good kids who dared to believe in themselves and the team. The teens, some who were sage veterans and others who were rookies, tried to defy the pop-culture norms, embraced hard work and readily accepted sacrifice to become the Skaneateles cross country team. And that 2006 squad had something to prove. An insider's story like this has never been told. Interspersed is the somber letter from the state penitentiary, e-mails from an Athens Olympian and heart-wrenching e-mails to the coach that drip with grief and bravado on lonely nights when dreams can seem to either fade-away and die or grow more real as belief becomes bolder and wins are guaranteed under the cover of darkness. This is New York State Cross Country-and it doesn't get any better. Nothing has been left out. One was imprisoned for killing a childhood friend. Two others faced arrest in an incident involving alcohol that jeopardized the girls' 14-year unbeaten streak. One poetic soul was senselessly eliminated from the human gene pool. Another was a wiry-haired and ever-smiling national champion, Olympian and high school superstar intent on breaking the 4-minute mile. His story is told here for the first time. What happened during the 2006 Skaneateles Cross Country season is revealed intimately and starkly in jaw-dropping detail. Excited to have their story told, the kids were all anxious about being caught naked in such a personal and public way. The legends who paved the way had state and section titles galore and it was from that long shadow that the 2006 team sought to escape as they vowed to write their own chapter. Don't be too judgmental. With luck, this could be you.