Maine transgender cross country runner named to girls’ all-state team

A transgender-identifying girls’ cross-country runner was recently named to an all-state team in Maine, one of many decorations the athlete has received in high school girls’ athletics.

Maine Trust for Local News named Maine Coast Waldorf junior Soren Stark-Chessa to its 2024 girls’ cross-country all-state team earlier this month. The organization owns newspapers such as The Portland Press-Herald and The Kennebec Journal.

Stark-Chessa was one of nine runners to make the girls’ all-state team.

“Another top runner in a loaded Class C field, Stark-Chessa placed sixth at the Festival of Champions (18:31) before claiming Western Maine Conference (20:29) and Class C South (19:09.37) championships for the second year in a row,” the media company wrote. “She finished third at the Class C meet (19:08.82) and 35th at New Englands (19:15).” 

The media company also named Stark-Chessa to its all-state team last season, as NewBostonPost reported. 

Stark-Chessa, a three-sport athlete, is also a state champion. The runner won the 800-meter (2:19.72) at the Maine Principals’ Association (MPA) Class C girls’ outdoor track and field state championship as a sophomore in June. 

Along with New Hampshire, Connecticut, Washington, and Oregon, Maine was one of five states where a transgender track runner won a state championship in the spring 2024 season. 

Additionally, Stark-Chessa excels in girls’ Nordic skiing. The Western Maine Conference named the competitor to its girls’ Nordic skiing all-conference team last winter, one of only 10 skiers to receive the honor. 

However, Stark-Chessa has not always been a girls’ sports athlete. As a freshman in high school, the athlete competed on the boys’ teams under the same name: Soren Stark-Chessa. 

Waldorf School athletic director Susan Sonntag has defended the athlete’s ability to compete on girls’ sports teams despite criticism about fairness. 

‘We support all our students at Maine Coast Waldorf School and are proud that our students are given the opportunity to participate in all of our school programs,’ Sonntag told The Daily Mail in October 2023. 

Sonntag added that the school follows the state’s rules on the issue. 

The MPA lets males who identify as transgender compete in girls’ sports with no restrictions. 

“A student who wishes to participate in MPA-sponsored interscholastic athletics must declare their gender identity to their member school if their gender identity differs from the student’s sex assigned at birth,” the MPA’s policy says. “The member school shall have the sole authority to verify the student’s gender identity assignment for the purposes of athletic registration and participation in MPA-sponsored events. No medical records or official documents shall be requested or required to establish a student’s gender identity.”