Students from Skyview High walked off a girls’ cross-country race on Sept. 29 in protest of a male athlete competing in the girls’ field, Fox News reported.
Fox News named two of the students as Charlie Garret and Sierra Retzlaff and said they and about a dozen other girls stopped running a few meters after the start and then left the course. The report said the male athlete finished first in the girls’ varsity race on Sept. 29; the same athlete finished 76th in a boys’ junior varsity race on Sept. 5, the outlet added.
The outlet reported Garret and Retzlaff used body paint reading “keep women in women’s sports” on their arms and legs. It said some members of the male runner’s team also declined to compete in the girls’ race.
Fox News reported that Retzlaff’s parents brought signs supporting their daughter and that her father was removed from the event after the athletic director deemed the signs inappropriate, according to the report.
The Camas School District told Fox News it follows Washington Interscholastic Activities Association eligibility rules and Washington state law, the report said. The article noted Washington voters will consider Initiative 638 on Nov. 3, which would prohibit students defined as biologically male from competing in certain female-only interscholastic athletic competitions and would require verification of biological sex from a health-care provider to enter those competitions. The measure would take effect 30 days after the election and therefore would not apply in time for the state cross-country championships scheduled for Nov. 7, the report said.
OutKick’s Jackson Thompson was credited as a contributor to the Fox News report.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
