Los Gatos High School track and field coach Danny “Doc” Colton remembers the moment as if it happened yesterday.
It was June 2025, the second day of the CIF State Championships, and Colton was in the stands when then-junior Kaylee Cross struck up a conversation.
“She came up to me and asked what she needed to do (to become elite),” Colton said. “Humbly, she sat down next to me, and I broke down and analyzed how runners run the 400. I told her if you work on the basics and mechanics in preseason, that’s the key. She says, ‘Coach, thank you.’ She started working on speed, form, lifting, and that’s the phenomenal turnaround story. She started working with coach (Andre) Chapman for two to three days a week for like six months, and it just changed.”…