Males take 9 girls’ sports titles in 5 states this year

At least nine state titles across five states in girls’ interscholastic sports were taken by boys this year.

The victories came in Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, California and Washington – states that still allow males to compete in girls’ sports.

Five of the titles came in girls’ outdoor track and field.

Katie Spencer, a Maine athlete, was the first transgender track state champ this school year.  

Spencer won a Maine girls’ pole-vaulting state title, gaining 10 points and helping Greely High win a girls’ indoor track state championship by one point. As a result, Spencer won two state titles in one meet. 

Similarly, AB Hernandez, a male transgender athlete from California, won two girls’ outdoor track state championships last month.  

Hernandez, a junior, won the triple jump and high jump state championships and finished second in the long jump behind a graduating senior. 

Additionally, Veronica Garcia, a transgender-identifying runner from Washington, won a girls’ outdoor track state championship for the second consecutive year. 

Garcia once again won the 400-meter state title and was booed both years upon winning the state title. 

“I’ll be honest, I kind of expect it,” Garcia told the Seattle Times. “But it maybe didn’t have their intended effect. It made me angry, but not angry as in, I wanted to give up, but angry as in, I’m going to push.” 

Beyond track, a transgender athlete also won a softball state championship.  

Marissa Rothenberger, a dominant starting pitcher, threw a complete game shutout to help Champlin Park win the state title game 6-0 earlier this month; the 6-foot pitcher threw several shutouts this season. 

Also, Massachusetts had boys win three girls’ sports state championships this school year.  

However, the athletes were boys who identified as boys.  

Massachusetts lets such athletes play on girls’ teams if their school lacks an equivalent sport due to a court’s interpretation of the state’s Equal Rights Amendment. Massachusetts is the only state with such a policy in place. 

Thanks to this policy, Ryan Crook helped his team win a field hockey state championship. He scored both goals as his team won the championship game 2-1. 

Additionally, Divier Ramos won girls’ gymnastics state titles in the floor and vault events.  

Boys have won the girls’ gymnastics vault state championship in Massachusetts in every season dating back to 2018.