A California postseason track meet on Saturday opened with a “Save Girls’ Sports” rally outside the gates and ended in familiar fashion, as one athlete again separated from the field in the jumping events, highlighting growing concerns over competitive fairness in girls’ sports.
Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Division 3 preliminaries in Yorba Linda drew attention before competition began, with demonstrators protesting California’s policy allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.
Inside, the focus turned to the jumping events, where biological male AB Hernandez, a senior from Jurupa Valley, competed against women and finished first across all three competitions with dominant performances.
Hernandez, a trans multi-sport athlete (previously involved in girls’ volleyball), won the Long Jump Division 3 Prelim and Triple Jump Division 3 Prelim by wide margins and tied for first in the High Jump Division 3 Prelim with Reese Hogan, an athlete with past ties to Hernandez.
The long jump result separated the field. Hernandez posted 20 feet, 4 1/4 inches. The next closest finishers reached 19 feet, 1 1/2 inches and 18 feet, 7 inches.
More than a foot separated first from second.
Hellbound and Down 