SEATTLE — A Washington Class 4A district cross-country meet has been moved to a different location amid safety concerns, The Columbian reported Wednesday.
The relocation comes as Camas High School, one of the four schools entered in the meet, is receiving national attention due to the participation of a transgender girl on the girls cross-country team. The Class 4A Greater St. Helens League district cross-country championships will now be hosted at the former Underwriters Laboratories campus in Camas, instead of Lewisville Regional Park.
The Columbian reported that league athletic directors voted 9-0 to move the race. League president Bob Kickner did not immediately respond to The Seattle Times’ request for comment on Wednesday night.
“Based on the controversial climate surrounding the cross-country community, the Greater St. Helens League reevaluated our potential host courses in terms of safety, security, controllability, staffing and course conditions,” Kickner told The Columbian. “We feel this move will put all the student athletes in the best position to have a successful and competitive championship.”
The Camas School District owns the Underwriters Laboratories campus property, according to The Columbian, which allows district security officers to patrol the site. Five district security officers and two Camas police vehicles were at Tuesday’s meet, the report noted.
Runners at the new site are also more visible as there is less tree coverage than the other course, according to The Columbian.
Tension has built within the Camas High School girls cross-country program in recent weeks as online posts criticized a transgender sophomore for participating in the girls category. Athletes and a parent from Skyview High School protested the athlete’s participation during a dual meet on Sept. 15.
Approximately a dozen runners from Camas walked off the start line at a dual meet on Tuesday afternoon in protest of their transgender teammate’s participation. Videos and photos from the protest have gathered millions of views online and fueled debate over Washington’s longstanding policy that allows students to compete in the category consistent with their gender identity.
The athlete, who The Seattle Times is not naming because she is a minor who has not given her consent to be identified, competed in the boys category on Sept. 5 before switching to the girls team after the season was underway.
Earlier this week, a Camas School District spokesperson said that The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s rules had not been violated. The WIAA, the state’s governing body of interscholastic sports, said it had not received an eligibility challenge and confirmed that its gender identity policy does not prohibit an in-season switch.
Next month, Washington voters will weigh in on the future of transgender athletes in youth sports via I-638, an initiative sponsored by Let’s Go Washington. If passed, the ballot measure titled “Defending Equity in Interscholastic Sports Act” would ban transgender girls from competing in K-12 girls sports and require that students submit medical documentation that verifies their “biological sex,” according to the initiative’s language.
Entries for the district championship meet are not yet public. Camas will compete against Skyview, Battle Ground and Union High Schools.
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