CLOVIS, Calif. -- A transgender athlete bested the competition Saturday at the California high school track and field championship to take home her first gold in the girls' high jump at a meet that has stirred controversy and drawn national attention.
AB Hernandez -- a trans student who on Friday finished ahead in qualifying events for the girls' high jump, long jump and triple jump -- competed under a new rule change that may be the first of its kind nationally by a high school sports governing body.
On Saturday, she finished the high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 7 inches, with no failed attempts. The co-winner, Jillene Wetteland, also cleared the bar at that height after a failed attempt. The two shared the first-place win and the podium because of a new policy announced by the California Interscholastic Federation earlier this week in response to Hernandez's success in which the federation allowed an additional student to compete and medal in the events where she qualified.
Hernandez placed second in the girls' long jump and was a top contender in the to-be-completed girls' triple jump.
Olympians Marion Jones and Tara Davis-Woodhall previously set state championship records in the long jump in 1993 and 2017, respectively, both surpassing 22 feet. This year's winner, Loren Webster, topped 21 feet, with Hernandez trailing by a few inches.
The two-day championship kicked off Friday in the sweltering heat at high school near Fresno, and more hot temperatures followed Saturday for the finals.
The atmosphere was relatively quiet despite critics -- including parents, conservative activists and President Donald Trump -- calling for Hernandez to be barred from competing with girls. Some critics wore pink bracelets and T-shirts that read "Save Girls' Sports."
During Friday's qualifying events, an aircraft circled above the stadium for more than an hour, 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.
