California track-and-field championships draw limited protest over trans student’s participation

CLOVIS Calif AP A transgender teen will compete in the California high school track-and-field finals on Saturday one day after advancing in the competition as a protest plane circled about the meet that has drawn national attention including criticism from President Donald Trump AB Hernandez a trans novice who on Friday advanced in the girls high jump long jump and triple jump will be in the finals Saturday competing under a new rule change that may be the first of its kind nationally by a high school sports governing body The new California Interscholastic Federation disclosed the new procedures earlier this week in response to Hernandez s success According to the initiative the federation will let an additional participant compete and medal in the events where Hernandez qualified The two-day championship kicked off in the sweltering heat at high school near Fresno The atmosphere was relatively quiet Friday despite critics including parents conservative activists and Trump calling for Hernandez to be barred from girls competition leading up to the meet There was specific pushback Friday A group of fewer than people gathered outside the stadium ahead of the meet to protest Hernandez s participation A few of them wore Save Girls Sports T-shirts At one point as Hernandez was attempting a high jump someone in the stands yelled an insult An aircraft circled above the stadium for more than an hour during the events carrying a banner that read No Boys in Girls Sports Two groups the Independent Council on Women s Sports and Women Are Real that oppose transgender athletes participating in women s sports took credit for flying the banner Separately one person was arrested outside the competition on Friday after getting in a confrontation with another protester that turned physical according to the Clovis Police Department The rest of the night ran smoothly for Hernandez who finished the triple jump with a mark close to feet meters nearly inches centimeters ahead of her closest competitor San Francisco Bay Area junior Kira Gant Hatcher Hernandez also led in the long jump with a mark close to feet meters to advance to the final She advanced in the high jump clearing feet inches meters with ease She did not address the press California at center of national debate The federation s rule change reflects efforts to find a middle ground in the debate over trans girls participation in youth sports The CIF values all of our student-athletes and we will continue to uphold our mission of providing students with the opportunity to belong connect and compete while complying with California law the group explained in a message after announcing its rule change A latest AP-NORC poll determined that about in U S adults think transgender female athletes should not be allowed to participate in girls and women s sports at the high school college or professional level That view was shared by about in Republicans and roughly half of Democrats The federation released the rule change after Trump threatened this week to pull federal funding from California unless it bars trans female athletes from competing on girls teams The federation announced it decided on the change before then The U S Department of Justice also disclosed it would investigate the state federation and the district that includes Hernandez s high school to determine whether they violated federal sex discrimination law by allowing trans girls to compete in girls sports Particular California Republicans also weighed in with several state lawmakers attending a news conference to criticize the federation for keeping Hernandez in the competition and a Republican gubernatorial candidate planning to attend Saturday s finals California law allows trans students to compete on sex-segregated sports teams consistent with their gender identity The federation commented the rule would open the field to more biological female athletes One expert revealed the change may itself be discriminatory because it creates an extra spot for biological female athletes but not for other trans athletes The federation did not specify how they define biological female or how they would verify whether a competitor meets that definition Hernandez informed the publication Capital Main earlier this month that she couldn t worry about critics I m still a child you re an adult and for you to act like a child shows how you are as a person she disclosed Another candidate breaks a record California s state championship stands out from that of other states because of the number of competitors athletes are up against to qualify The state had the second-largest number of students participating in outdoor track and field in the nation during the - school year behind Texas according to a survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations Olympians Marion Jones and Tara Davis-Woodhall previously set state championship records in the long jump in and respectively both surpassing feet meters The boys -meter dash heats were also a highlight Friday Junior Jaden Jefferson of De La Salle High School in Concord finished in seconds about seconds faster than a meet record set in Jefferson s time won t count as a record unless he can replicate his results in the final Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press Document for America Statehouse News Initiative Analysis for America is a nonprofit national amenity scheme that places journalists in local newsrooms to statement on undercovered issues Follow Austin on X sophieadanna Source