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EXCLUSIVE: The California high school track and field state championship is shaping up to be one of the most unprecedented high school sports events in recent history.
Amid a national controversy involving a trans athlete competing in the girls’ category, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) announced a series of sweeping rule changes in the days leading up to the event to accommodate female competitors.
But now multiple families of girls who have already been displaced by a trans athlete at previous meets have spoken out against the federation, expressing dissatisfaction with the changes.
On Tuesday, the CIF announced it would expand the size of the championship competition pool and inviting “biological female” athletes who missed out on making the title meet by one spot due to a trans athlete finishing ahead of them in last week’s qualifying round.
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AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley High competes in the girls’ high jump during the CIF Southern Section Division 3 Track and Field preliminaries at Nathan Shapell Memorial Stadium at Yorba Linda High School on May 10, 2025, in Yorba Linda, Calif. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
Then on Wednesday, the federation announced it would also recognize female athletes on the medal podium if a girl who misses out on a medal finish does so because they came behind a trans athlete.
Crean Lutheran track and field star Reese Hogan finished in second place to trans athlete AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley High School in the triple jump at the Southern Sectional final on May 17. Then, on the medal podium, after Hernandez stepped off, Hogan stepped up to the first-place spot for a photo-op to a roaring applause. The stunt went viral as Hogan was praised by women’s sports rights activists as a heroine.
But CIF’s latest rule changes won’t be giving Hogan the first-place medal for that event.
Hogan’s family provided a statement from her to Fox News Digital that read, “The recent CIF rule changes clearly acknowledge a misstep on their part. However, what they’ve proposed falls short of what we truly need for all girls across all sports. I placed second in CIF, and I know that if I hadn’t been competing against a boy, I would have claimed the top spot on the podium.”
“Unfortunately, we can’t revisit that moment to rectify this injustice. This issue transcends a single meet, sport, or individual; it’s fundamentally about the rights of all females to compete fairly among themselves. We deserve that opportunity, and we will continue to advocate for it.”
Hogan has previously told Fox News Digital she finds the situation involving Hernandez “sad.”
“It’s just kind of sad just watching. He’s obviously a really talented athlete, we’ve all seen him jump and stuff, and I wish him the best of luck, but in a boys’ division,” Hogan previously told Fox News Digital about competing against the athlete. “It’s pretty obvious the certain advantages that he has, and it’s obviously just sad as a woman to watch that.”
Meanwhile, the family of Hogan’s Crean Lutheran teammate, Olivia Viola, also isn’t satisfied with the rule changes.
“While we are grateful that a few female athletes will regain their ability to compete at states and females will earn their rightful titles at this weekends competition, unfortunately CIFs trial program doesn’t actually fix anything. Women are still being forced to compete against biological males. The title IX civil rights of our daughters, sisters, friends and teammates are still being violated,” Viola’s family said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Unfortunately, with each step our state leaders take, comes the realization that California really has no intention of protecting our girls in the ways that are necessary. The pilot program essentially admits that allowing biological males to compete in the female category was a mistake. Now it’s time for full course correction. There is a fundamental truth here that must be upheld. Separating competitive athletics into two XX-XY gender categories must be a non-negotiable.”
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Olivia Viola of Crean Lutheran competes in the girls’ high jump during the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Moorpark High School on May 24, 2025, in Moorpark, Calif. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump weighed in on the situation when he sent a Truth Social post on Tuesday morning, warning the state and Gov. Gavin Newsom of potential funding cuts and orders to local authorities to prevent a trans athlete from competing in the girls’ category on Saturday. The first rule change came just hours after Trump’s post.
The Department of Justice announced it would launch an investigation into the CIF and California Attorney General Rob Bonta over the state’s law that allows biologically male trans athletes to compete with girls and women on Wednesday. The second rule change took place shortly after that announcement.
On Tuesday, the family of another girls’ track star who has been displaced by Hernandez in the track and field postseason, Katie McGuinness of La Canada High School, told Fox News Digital they are grateful for Trump’s intervention.
“We are grateful that President Trump is fighting for female athletes and giving them a fair shot to compete on a level playing field. CIF’s ‘solution’ to this situation, which allows additional girls to compete at the state championship who otherwise didn’t qualify because the transgender athlete took their spot, isn’t good enough – it’s still an unfair competition and an injustice to the girls competing,” the family said in a statement.
“Allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports is unfair, unjust and defies common sense,” the family added.
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Spectators wear Protect Girls Sports shirts during the CIF Southern Section Division 3 Track and Field preliminaries at Nathan Shapell Memorial Stadium at Yorba Linda High School on May 10, 2025, in Yorba Linda, Calif. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
Katie previously spoke out against CIF for allowing the situation to get this far in an interview on Fox News’ “America Reports” last week.
“I have nothing against this athlete as a person, and I have nothing against the trans community,” McGuinness said. “My message today is really specifically to CIF and for them to act quickly and in a timely manner because this is a really time-sensitive issue.”
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