Weeks after longtime high school coach Art Kranick died in early November, USA Track and Field issued a pair of lifetime bans for him and his wife Linda for misconduct following a series of allegations stemming from a 2023 inquiry.
The Kranicks were coaching fixtures at Saratoga Springs in upstate New York, led their teams to more than 20 state championships and 30 state federation titles, but the couple had drawn scrutiny since the mid-1980 because of some of their techniques.
Art Kranick died on November 8 at age 74 from heart failure just months after he and his wife resigned from their positions in April following a lengthy investigation into their coaching methods that uncovered a wave of allegations from former athletes. The Kranicks were responsible for transforming the girls cross country and track teams at Saratoga Springs into powerhouses that dominated for decades.
But the inquiry into the couple also revealed a notion that some officials at the Saratoga Springs School District, parents and even athletes looked past claims against the Kranicks dating back to the 1980s. Shortly after Art Kranick was hired in 1985, talk about his coaching style was building even as the track program he was constructing had pushed Saratoga Springs ahead of the field.
Despite New York State rules that prohibited prep athletes from daily practices, he made his team run each day and formed a separate running group outside of Saratoga Springs in order to sidestep regulations. This finding was among numerous serious allegations that were part of an October 2023 inquiry against the Kranicks and the school district, with the details of an independent investigation later being issued in March 2024.
One glaring passage in the report came from an athlete who described a culture of “overtraining, monitoring of food intake,
aggressive coaching, and disregard for injuries” as part of a system implemented by Art Kranick in the late 1980s. The athlete also said that Art Kranick tied a rope around her waist which was attached to his truck and she was instructed to run behind the vehicle in a parking lot as a way to improve her speed. The incident was reported to district officials along with the school’s athletic director and Art Kranick reportedly never used the technique again.
However, as the years passed and Saratoga Springs continued its competitive dominance, the claims against the Kranicks mounted. They were both already teachers in additions to coaches with Art being hired as a science teacher in the district in 1985 with Linda already teaching science in the area for more than a decade before her husband.
By the early 1990s, more documented concerns about the Kranicks were raised and brought to district officials and raised questions about how often athletes were training. These complaints came directly from some parents with claims that athletes were also being supplied supplements and vitamins without parental consent. A district investigation in April 1994 found evidence of no wrongdoing despite a formal complaint being filed that same month to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association against the Kranicks and Saratoga’s athletic department.
Outside council hired by the district reported in July 1994 that its findings of the culture of the the track program were “generally positive” and any issue could be easily corrected. Still, in October 1994 the school’s athletic direction met with Art Kranick after students claimed that they were being asked about their training on weekends and they were told “not to engage in certain outside non-running activities.” Art Kranick was also instructed to only conduct team practices on school grounds that season after it was revealed that students trained on public streets and sometimes in poor weather conditions with limited visibility.
Still, the team’s success was a hallmark of its output in the late 1990s, but complaints still rolled in and in 1999 the district was told by the parent of of student that she was pressured by the Kranicks to run through injuries in order to qualify for a national meet.
The inquiry also revealed that some allegations were not limited to Saratoga athletes. In 2004, Art Kranick allegedly raised his voice and cursed at a runner from another school during a meet, promoting a complaint from that school’s coach and athletic director. The incident was left in the hands of the coaches by Saratoga’s school district with Art Kranick and the coach opting “bury the hatchet” by discussing it amongst themselves.
But even reports of incidents involving non-Saratoga athletes emerged and a 2012 district memo notes that Art Kranick allegedly shoved a district runner on school grounds. The runner and Art Kranick gave differing accounts with the superintendent concluding that “Art Kranick’s behavior was categorically unacceptable and would jeopardize his ability to coach moving forward.”
More complaints are detailed in the 2023 report but highlight an unwillingness by district officials to remove the Kranicks as coaches despite concerns from parents and athletes.
Linda Kranick retired from teaching in 2007 and Art retired from teaching two years later but their coaching tenure continued.
At the time of their resignation from the team in April, the Kranicks cited Art’s health issues as the reason they would leave coaching.
Saratoga Springs City School District athletic director John Goodson made the abrupt announcement shortly after in a letter to parents and students.
“Dear parents, I’m writing to inform you that the legendary track and field coaches Art and Linda Kranick have officially resigned from their coaching positions, effective immediately,” Goodson said in the letter. “During this transitional period, we will implement the plan we have previously discussed to ensure continuity and support for our athletes.”
By that point Art Kranick was not a regular fixture at practices or meets during the season.
USATF’s disciplinary section of its website lists Art and Linda Kranik under separate infractions on December 23 with the reason for both bans described as “emotional misconduct, physical misconduct.” The governing body launched its own investigation into the Kranicks but it is unclear when that inquiry began, but by 2023 it was evident that USATF had been gathering first person accounts from women who were coached at Saratoga Springs.
At the time of Art Kranick’s death in November, tributes to the coach poured in despite a pattern of leadership that raised concerns in a track program that won at a commanding rate. Still, USATF ruled to issue the lifetime bans, effectively putting an end to its investigation.
