CIF track: De La Salle’s Jaden Jefferson wins state title in 100 as encore to record run
Pittsburg’s Khaliq Muhammad sets meet record in pole vault. CIF rule change helps St. Mary’s-Berkeley’s Kira Gant Hatcher, Monta Vista’s Lelani Laruelle capture state titles. St. Ignatius’ Prince Buchango-Babalola wins 200. Darren Sabedra, high school sports editor/reporter, for his Wordpress profile. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) By Darren Sabedra | dsabedra@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group UPDATED: June 1, 2025 at 6:57 AM PDT De La Salle sprinter Jaden Jefferson knew what he had to do, that smashing the California record in the 100 meters during a qualifying heat on Friday would have been spoiled had he not won the state championship Saturday night. “Without me winning tonight, the record that I broke really means nothing because I didn’t finish,” Jefferson told the Bay Area News Group. Jefferson made sure he finished. One day after he ran the 100 in a state-record 10.01 seconds, the junior kept his focus and posted another blistering time at Buchanan High’s Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis. Jefferson won the state title in 10.27 to edge Servite-Anaheim’s Benjamin Harris (10.31). The triumph was one of several highlights for Bay Area athletes at the 105th running of the California Interscholastic Federation championships. The video player is currently playing an ad. You can skip the ad in 5 sec with a mouse or keyboard Another record Pittsburg’s Khaliq Muhammad broke the state-meet record in the boys pole vault, winning in 17-10 1/2. Davis’ Sondre Guttormsen had held the record of 17-10 since 2019. St. Mary’s-Berkeley’s Kira Gant Hatcher shared first place in the girls triple jump with Jurupa Valley’s AB Hernandez, an openly transgender athlete whose presence at the state meet led to last-minute rule changes that prevented Hernandez from displacing a biological female student-athlete on the medal stand. Hatcher jumped 40-5 to Hernandez’s 42-2 ¾, but they both received first-place medals. The girls high jump had a similar outcome as Hernandez would have finished alone in first without the rule change. She cleared 5-7 in her first attempt. Lelani Laruelle of Monta Vista in Cupertino and Long Beach Wilson’s Jillene Wetteland hit the mark in their second try. But the three shared first place. Hernandez split second place in the girls long jump with River City’s Brooke White despite jumping 20-8 ¾ to White’s 19-4 ¼. St. Ignatius’ Prince Buchango-Babalola won the boys 200 in 20.79. Jefferson finished fourth in a personal-best 20.86, capping a meet that also included him running the second leg on De La Salle’s 4×100 relay, which finished fourth in 40.80. Jefferson’s maturation Jefferson arrived at De La Salle as an ultra-talented athlete, so gifted that he made the storied varsity football team as a freshman, but he was far from refined. As he put it Saturday night, he has grown up. “With De La Salle, they really teach you to become a man and be mature,” said Jefferson, who orally committed in January to play football for Bill Belichick at North Carolina. “I am focused on being more mature, focused on what I have to do in life for me to succeed.” On Friday night, as he watched video of Jefferson breaking the state record in the 100, De La Salle football coach Justin Alumbaugh said he was brought to tears. He knows how far Jefferson has come since his early years at De La Salle and to see it rewarded is something to behold. “He has grown so much as an athlete and as a young man, I am so proud of him,” Alumbaugh said Saturday morning. “I really am. It’s one of the best success stories in De La Salle. To be that talented when you show up as a freshman and to accept humble pie, if I might speak freely, and commit to work, commit to being better, commit to being a better human, commit to the weight room, commit to everything, I can’t give the kid enough credit.” Jefferson has also experienced loss at De La Salle, the sudden death of assistant football coach Steve Jacoby during the 2023 season and the passing of head track coach John Harvey in late April. Harvey’s words that he once preached to Jefferson remained loud and clear this weekend. “It’s been very emotional, very motivational to see him looking over us, him pushing us,” Jefferson said. “It was very great for me to win this. I honestly did it all for him.” Other highlights In the boys 110 high hurdles, San Diego’s Jasir Fontenot broke his own meet record from Friday, winning in 13.21 after running 13.31 in the prelims. Buchango-Babalola finished second in 13.59. Montgomery-Santa Rosa’s Hanne Thomsen finished first in the girls 3,200 in a meet-record 9:48.98. In the girls 400, St. Mary’s Academy’s Madison Mosby wins the gold in 53.52. Mountain View’s Hannah Rutherford takes the silver in 54.27. Menlo School’s Landon Pretre took second in the boys 3,200 in 8:54.25. Woodcrest Christian’s Eyan Turk won in 8:51.62. In the boys 1,600, Clovis North’s Conor Lott wins in 4:03.32. Crystal Springs Upland’s Benjamin Bouie finishes second in 4:04.84 and Los Gatos’ Aydon Stefanopoulos takes fourth in 4:06.68. Archbishop Mitty’s Maya Ifo Desai won the silver medal in the girls discus with a throw of 154-3. Jaslene Massey of the Southern Section’s Aliso Niguel took first in 163-9. In the girls 1,600, Santiago-Corona’s Braelyn Combe wins in 4:35.64. Kinga Czajkowska of Palo Alto finishes fourth in 4:42.91. Temecula Valley’s Jack Stadlman won the boys 1,600 in 46.02. Woodside’s Mattheo LaCasia was fourth in 47.14. In the girls 800, Carlsbad’s Makenna Herbst finished first in 2:02.28. St. Francis’ Sabrina Zanetto was third in 2:09.22. Santiago-Corona won the girls 4×800 in a meet-record 8:49.01. St. Francis took third in 8:57.49. San Ramon Valley’s Kaleb Pleis finished fourth in the boys long jump in 23-9 ½. Santa Margarita’s Leo Francis won in 25-0 ¾. Bellarmine’s Joshua Haven placed sixth in the boys 300 hurdles in 37.87, a race that Carson-Los Angeles’ Jayden Rendon won in 36.50. Clovis North’s McKay Madsen easily won the boys discus in 210-8. Nobody else cleared 190-0. Woodside’s Evan Usher took fifth in 179-11 and San Mateo’s Emmanuel Fitzgerald was sixth in 177-10. Bay Area Preps HQ: Your guide to high school sports, every week. By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive emails from The Mercury News. Madsen also won the boys shot put in 69-11. Serra’s Luke Lewis took third in 58-6 ¾ and Woodside’s Evan Usher was fifth in 58-4 ¾. Originally Published: June 1, 2025 at 5:05 AM PDTCIF stands by De La Salle sprinter Jaden Jefferson’s record-breaking run
Despite questions about results posted in 100-meter preliminary heat at state track and field championships, CIF says two independent timing systems were working. Darren Sabedra, high school sports editor/reporter, for his Wordpress profile. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) By Darren Sabedra | dsabedra@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: June 2, 2025 at 5:55 PM PDT In a meet that wasn’t lacking in controversy, another surfaced when track and field officials and coaches questioned the record times recorded in a 100-meter preliminary heat at the California high school championships in Clovis. At this point, nothing will change. The California Interscholastic Federation said Monday that it stands by the results and will report the record-breaking run by De La Salle’s Jaden Jefferson to the National Federation of State High School Associations as an official mark. “We received similar notifications from coaches via email about this on Saturday morning,” CIF spokesperson Rebecca Brutlag said in an email to the Bay Area News Group. “We followed up with our timer and verified that at the time of the event in question, there were two independent systems, both showing the same readings, and they were double-checked. Both systems were working properly.” The CIF’s stance isn’t likely to change opinions. Rich Gonzalez, the editor of PrepCalTrack and the meet director of the prestigious Arcadia Invitational since 2001, wrote Monday on the social media platform X that his publication is “not carrying results from that heat on our state all-time lists.” Later, in an interview with the Bay Area News Group, Gonzalez explained that none of those times fit the projection models for those athletes under those wind readings. He suspects that the starter fired the gun too far from the electronic timing sensor, causing a clock delay. “Most of the time when you go to a track meet and a race is recalled – and if it’s not a false start, a kid slipping in the blocks or someone jumping, but a mechanical thing – most of the time it’s because the gun was not held close enough to the sensor,” Gonzalez said. “So it didn’t pick up.” When that happens, Gonzalez added, the starter will usually fire a recall gun or shout “recall, recall.” Jefferson won Heat 1 in a wind-legal 10.01 seconds on Friday night, the fastest time ever posted by a high school athlete in California and nearly three-tenths of a second faster than the junior’s previous best time set a week earlier. Nicolas Obimgba of Torrance ran 10.20 to finish second. That time matched the previous state record and was more than three-tenths of a second faster than Obimgba’s best wind-legal time. Antrell Harris was timed at 10.24 to finish third in the heat. At his sectional meet the previous weekend, he ran 10.92. Five of the nine qualifiers for the final came from Heat 1, extremely rare given that the athletes are seeded and spread out evenly across four heats. Jefferson went on to win the championship on Saturday night, running 10.27. Obimgba took seventh in 10.62 and Harris placed eighth in 10.67.Trans athlete Hernandez wins two competitions
CLOVIS — AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley and Kira Gant Hatcher of St. Mary’s-Berkeley stood atop the podium at California’s state track and field championship finals Saturday evening. The two were both first-place winners in the girls triple jump as a result of a new rule enacted this week by the California Interscholastic Federation ahead of the meet. Both received 10 points to contribute to the overall team scoring and were applauded by competitors and the crowd as their names were announced. Hernandez, who is transgender, competed in the long jump, high jump and triple jump finals on Saturday. She jumped 20 feet, 8 3/4 inches to come in second in long jump, cleared 5-foot-7 to tie for first in high jump and recorded 42 feet, 2 3/4 inches to win first in triple jump. Although Hernandez had the best mark in high jump and triple jump, the new CIF rule, announced after President Donald Trump threatened to cut federal funding to California if Hernandez competed, allows for a cisgender female competitor who was displaced by Hernandez to also win in those respective events. Hatcher was also awarded first place in the triple jump after recording a mark of 40 feet, 5 inches. Hernandez, Monta Vista’s Lelani Laruelle and Long Beach Poly’s Jillene Wetteland all cleared 5-foot-7 in the high jump, but Hernandez did it on her first attempt while Laruelle and Wetteland required a second try. Long Beach Wilson’s Loren Webster won the state title in the long jump for the second straight year, leaping 21 feet and 1/4 inches for the crown. She said she was aware of the attention surrounding her event this season, but tuned it out when it came time to perform. Skip Ad The video player is currently playing an ad. You can skip the ad in 5 sec with a mouse or keyboard “I knew there was a lot of media around the event, but I knew to dial in and focus on myself,” Webster said. “Me worrying about other people and trying to control the uncontrollable wasn’t going to help me or fall into my favor.” Demonstrators who were against the new rule and Hernandez competing were outside the stadium Saturday and briefly forced the championships to pause. The group of about 15 was chanting phrases like “protect girls sports” and “stop discriminating against female athletes” through a bullhorn. The championships were paused for roughly a minute as the event announcer asked the demonstrators to stop chanting in the direction of the track. “The only thing you are hurting is these athletes on the field,” the announcer said. “Please show respect to the athletes that are out here. They have worked hard. You are distracting them. We will continue to pause if this behavior continues.” The crowd that filled the stands at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium cheered after the announcement. The bullhorn chants briefly continued, but eventually died down. Earlier in the day, drivers passing by honked horns and waved in support of the group as spectators cheered for Hernandez inside the stadium. Two protesters wore shirts with the acronym “CIF” spelled out as “can’t identify females.” “I’m a gay woman and I’ve been called you name it,” said Marcy Strange, who wore one of the shirts. “I don’t care. What I do care about is protecting all children, including the transgender kids, because they’re being sold a bill of goods that physically harms them.” There was no sign of a pro-trans group openly protesting in opposition. Some social media accounts had encouraged supporters to purchase a ticket for the track meet and cheer on Hernandez. Transgender participation in girls and women’s sports has featured prominently in political discourse since Trump seized on San Jose State’s Blaire Fleming, a trans woman who played volleyball for the Spartans the last three seasons, in the lead-up to last November’s election. The Spartans saw a string of forfeits by opponents, and Trump eventually signed an executive order to bar trans athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. On Friday before preliminary events at the state meet, a plane flew overhead with a banner trailing behind that said “NO BOYS IN GIRLS’ SPORTS!” The banner was organized and funded by the grassroots coalition Women Are Real, a group that’s in favor of single-sex athletic competition. “The action is a direct protest against the California Interscholastic Federation’s policy of allowing male athletes to compete in the girls’ division, displacing female athletes and undermining the integrity of women’s sports,” Women Are Real said in a news release. Aside from the banner, Women Are Real did not have a presence at the track meet Friday or Saturday. Inside the stadium, Hernandez chatted and laughed with other jumpers Friday as she waited for her group to compete in the triple jump. Bay Area Preps HQ: Your guide to high school sports, every week. By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive emails from The Mercury News. She had already qualified for the high jump and long jump finals, recording top marks out of all competitors in each event. She went on to do the same in triple jump and needed only one jump of 40 feet, 9¾ inches to qualify for Saturday’s finals.Small group protests outside CIF State track finals as transgender athlete AB Hernandez prepares to compete
Roughly 10 anti-trans protesters came to Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis in opposition to Hernandez competing on Friday afternoon Author By Haley Sawyer | hsawyer@scng.com UPDATED: June 2, 2025 at 6:36 AM PDT CLOVIS — About 10 people stood outside Veterans Memorial Stadium Friday afternoon, May 30, where the CIF State track and field prelims were slated to be held, protesting the participation of openly transgender athlete AB Hernandez. The state finals will be held on Saturday, and Hernandez has qualified in the girls long jump after recording 19 feet, 11.75 inches in the prelims — the top mark in the event — and the girls high jump with a leap of 5-5. She qualified for a third event late in the meet when she hit 40-9 3/4 for the top mark in the triple jump. Multiple demonstrations were held at CIF Southern Section postseason track meets leading up to the state meet regarding the participation of Hernandez, a Jurupa Valley student-athlete who qualified to compete in the girls long jump, triple jump and high jump at the state meet. “I wouldn’t need to know a single thing about AB Hernandez other than the fact that AB Hernandez is male in a female competition,” Blake Nestell, a Fresno resident who is against the participation of trans athletes in girls sports, said Friday afternoon outside Veterans Stadium. Nestell brought a sign that read “Your bravery wins when the game isn’t fair,” and was frustrated that signs and banners were not allowed inside the stadium for the event. “I have a lot of women in my life who have played a sport and I asked a lot of them: What message would you want to see if you were out there? It’s a message to them.” A plane with the message “No boys in girls sports!” also flew in circles around the stadium as Hernandez competed in high jump — her first event of the day — at 3 p.m. as the temperature reached 95 degrees. President Donald Trump even weighed in on her participation earlier in the week, threatening to pull federal funding to the state of California if trans student-athletes are allowed to compete in girls events. The CIF introduced a pilot entry program prior to the state meet that allowed an additional student to compete in the events that Hernandez is competing in. Amaya Faison of Rosary Academy in Fullerton is one student-athlete who was allowed to compete in the triple jump as a result of the rule change. “She has a twin sister who qualified in the long jump,” Rosary coach Brandon Thomas said. “And so for them both to be able to come to state and be able to compete is a magical moment for her and her family.” A representative from the CIF confirmed that on-site security at Veterans Stadium was increased and a plan was in place to increase the scale and scope of that security if needed. Six Clovis Police Department vehicles, in addition to two police motorcycles, were parked outside the stadium’s spectator entrance, and police officers were seen roaming the area both on foot and in vehicles. Jurupa Unified School District and Jurupa Valley track and field did not respond to requests for comment before Friday’s CIF State prelims. Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda, is declining interviews with the media at this time out of an abundance of caution, but issued a statement on Thursday that was shared to social media accounts including 50501 Movement and Pride at the Pier. “As a mother, my heart breaks every time I see my child being attacked, not for a wrongdoing but simply for being who they are,” she said in the statement. “My child is a transgender student-athlete, a hardworking, disciplined and passionate young person who just wants to play sports, continue to build friendships, and grow into their fullest potential like any other child.” Additionally, 50501 Movement listed steps that supporters can take to show solidarity as opposed to protesting or rallying. An Instagram post by the organization requested that those attending the meet should not bring pride flags and clothing but rather wear plain clothes and cheer for Hernandez as they would for any other student-athlete. The post also asked supporters not to engage with anti-trans protestors. Hernandez has been competing for Jurupa Valley High School for the last three seasons in various events, but has the most experience and success in long jump, triple jump and high jump. “It is not until recently that she has faced an onslaught of hatred, lies and harassment,” Nereyda said in the statement. “It is most heartbreaking that it is not her fellow competitors the ones attacking her. In fact, many of them. Have shown respect and sportsmanship.” RELATED: Triple jumper benefits from rule change Hernandez is not the first openly transgender student-athlete to compete in high school sports. Athena Ryan of Sonoma Academy and Lorelei Barrett of Buckley competed in both cross country and track and field last season but opted not to compete in the CIF State track meet.The CIF says it will allow one extra competitor in three events
By SOPHIE AUSTIN, Associated Press (May 29, 2025) SACRAMENTO — California is opening up its high school track-and-field championship to more girls after a transgender athlete drew controversy for qualifying for the meet. The California Interscholastic Federation says it will allow one extra competitor in three events featuring high school junior AB Hernandez, who is trans. The group announced the temporary rule change Tuesday after President Donald Trump criticized her participation in a social media post, though the group said it decided on the rule change before that. Here’s what to know: State law lets trans athletes compete Former California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law in 2013 allowing students to participate in sex-segregated school programs, including on sports teams, and use bathrooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity. Related Articles A Republican-led effort to block that law failed recently in the Democratic-dominated Legislature. Another proposal that also failed would have required the federation to ban students whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls school sports team. The video player is currently playing an ad. Bill Essayli, a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor for the Central District of California, announced an investigation Wednesday into the federation and the Jurupa Unified School District, which includes Hernandez’s high school, to determine whether federal sex discrimination law was violated by allowing trans girls to compete in girls’ sports. Federation announces rule change The federation said it was launching a “pilot entry process” to allow more girls to participate in the championship track-and-field meet. It only applies to the three events in which Hernandez is competing: triple jump, long jump and high jump. The group says “biological female student-athletes who would have earned the next qualifying mark” at the recent qualifying event have been invited to participate in the championships. The rule change may be the first attempt nationally by a high school sports governing body to expand competition when trans athletes are participating. If a transgender athlete medals, their ranking would not displace a “biological female” student from medaling, the federation confirmed. In high jump, triple jump and long jump, a “biological female” who would have earned podium placement will get the medal for that place and will be reflected in the records, the federation said. The federation did not specify how they define “biological female” or how they would verify whether a competitor meets that definition. Experts from the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association say gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure consisting of only males and females. Backlash centers on one student Hernandez won the long jump and triple jump during qualifying events and is expected to perform well this weekend. She also set a triple jump meet record at the Ontario Relays earlier this year. Critics have accused her of having an unfair advantage over other athletes. Hernandez told the publication Capital & Main earlier this month that she couldn’t worry about the critics who have called out her participation and heckled her at postseason meets. “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 said. She noted that she has lost some of her events, saying that disproved arguments that she can’t be beat. Rule change prompts criticism The rule change may discriminate against transgender athletes, said Elana Redfield, a policy director at the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute, which researches sexual orientation and gender identity policies. “The CIF policy creates two sets of rules — one for transgender girls, who must earn a place through traditional measures of competition, and another for ‘biological females,’ some of whom are allowed an extra chance to earn a spot,” Redfield said in an email. The change seems to “thread a fine needle” by trying to ensure cisgender girls aren’t denied a competition slot while still allowing trans athletes to participate, Redfield said. Doriane Lambelet Coleman, a professor at Duke Law School, said the change would help ensure that “no female athlete loses a place on a team or in a competition when a trans girl is included.” “Unlike inclusion policies that ignore sex differences, doing it this way doesn’t gaslight the other girls about their biology,” said Coleman, who has researched subjects including children, sports and law and wrote recently on the evolving definition of sex. Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, called the rule change “a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness” and said the governor thought it was a thoughtful approach. Newsom angered some liberal allies earlier this year when he questioned the fairness of transgender girls participating in girls’ sports. ___ Associated Press writer Janie Har in San Francisco contributed. ___Trump warns California Gov. Newsom of a transgender athlete showdown this weekend
News Politics California Politics News Trump warns California Gov. Newsom of a transgender athlete showdown this weekend Two Bay Area athletes, from Berkeley and Concord, are set to be top contenders against against a transgender athlete at a state championship Laurence MiedemaDarren Sabedra, high school sports editor/reporter, for his Wordpress profile. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) By Julia Prodis Sulek | jsulek@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group, Laurence Miedema | lsmiedema@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group and Darren Sabedra | dsabedra@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group UPDATED: May 28, 2025 at 4:30 AM PDT News that a Southern California high school transgender athlete is advancing to the girls’ state track and field championship this weekend triggered President Trump on Tuesday to threaten “large scale” funding cuts to the state and to order local authorities to block the athlete “if necessary” from competing in the Clovis meet. Trump’s Truth Social post early Tuesday also blasted Gov. Gavin Newsom, who stunned many in his party in March by telling conservative commentator Charlie Kirk that while the issue is nuanced, he agreed transgender players on girls’ teams is “deeply unfair.” While transgender athletes make up a minuscule percentage of college and high school athletes, the issue became a national hot-button topic during the presidential election last fall when a San Jose State volleyball player sued the school over a transgender player on her own team. When Trump took office, he signed an executive order entitled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” that enabled federal agencies, including the Justice and Education departments, to investigate states’ policies on transgender athletes at all levels of sports. Related Articles Unlike many of Trump’s positions geared toward his conservative MAGA base, his fundamental opposition to transgender athletes competing in women’s sports found support among many Democrats as well. In his social media post Tuesday, Trump said he planned to speak to Newsom on Tuesday “to find out which way he wants to go???” and that, “In the meantime I am ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow the transitioned person to compete in the State Finals. This is a totally ridiculous situation!!!” During the qualifying track meet in Ventura County last weekend, protests erupted over the “unlevel playing field” with the participation of AB Hernandez, an outspoken transathlete and junior on the Jurupa Valley High School track and field team. Hernandez won the girls long jump and triple jump at the Southern Section finals and is the only known transgender athlete competing in the upcoming meet at Buchanan High School in Clovis starting Friday. Two Bay Area athletes are contending with Hernandez for the championship in the triple jump this weekend: Kira Gant Hatcher from St. Mary’s in Berkeley and Santia Ali from Clayton Valley Charter in Concord. Hatcher remains the top seed, with Hernandez as second and Ali as third. “I leave the controversy out at the meet,” Hernandez, 16, told City News Service at the qualifying meet at Moorpark High School Saturday. “I just relax and … do what I can do, hone in, and leave it all out on the (field) and just focus.” How well that might go this weekend in Clovis remains to be seen. Whether Trump and Newsom spoke Tuesday remained unclear, or whether the possibility remains of a direct confrontation between local authorities and Hernandez somewhere on a track northeast of Fresno, where students and parents and sign-carrying protesters are expected to gather. “This is another example of the president trying to pick a political fight in an area where his position may be popular, even if what he’s doing — having the federal government micromanage high school athletics and threatening a universal cut in a wide range of grants — is without any due process or deliberation about a specific instance,” said UC San Diego political science professor Thad Kousser. “In many ways, he is trying to drastically expand the power that the federal government would have to intercede in a matter that is really something for the California CIF to decide upon,” Kousser said. The California Interscholastic Federation that governs high school sports decided before Trump’s post Tuesday that the athletes who barely missed the finals eligibility cutoff last weekend because of Hernandez’s performance will be able to compete in the finals after all. The “pilot process,” as the CIF called it, is intended to create a path for displaced athletes, but it only applies to this weekend’s meet. Critics pounced on it, however. “This pilot program is an admission that opportunities are being stolen from female athletes,” said state Assemblyman David Tangipa. “This decision doesn’t effect a select few athletes, but rather every female competitor in the state.” Jorge Reyes of Equality California, a statewide LGBTQ activist group, described Trump’s threats as a “blatant abuse of power.” He emphasized that transgender athletes must meet certain criteria to compete in women’s sports, including a limit on testosterone level. “It’s important for people to know that California has had these guidelines in place for over 10 years to ensure inclusion and safety and science,” Reyes said. Newsom’s office on Tuesday didn’t say whether he received a call from Trump. But spokesperson Izzy Gardon said that “CIF’s proposed pilot is a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness — a model worth pursuing.” She said that Newsom is “encouraged by this thoughtful approach.” During a news conference in April, Newsom again addressed the complexity of the issue, saying he’s “open” to a discussion about a law restricting transathletes from women’s sports if it can be done “in a way that’s respectful and responsible and could find a kind of balance.” The White House did not respond Tuesday to questions about Trump’s threat to cut federal funding, “maybe permanently,” or whether he intends to follow through with threats for any direct confrontation between federal agents and the teenager. After the controversy at San Jose State last fall and Trump’s executive order in February, the National Collegiate Athletic Association announced it was limiting competition in women’s college sports to athletes assigned female at birth only after previously allowing transgender athletes to play. “President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said at the time. Although it wasn’t as visible as Trump’s efforts to remove transgender athletes from the collegiate level, high school sports also were put on notice. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent letters to high school athletic administrators across the country, including at the California Interscholastic Federation. California is one of 22 states with laws allowing transgender students to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity. It was signed into law in 2013 by Gov. Jerry Brown. At least 24 states, however, outlaw transgender athletes from competing in women and girls sports, although some of the policies have been blocked in court. Originally Published: May 27, 2025 at 5:13 PM PDT