The female high school track athlete who has continuously protested against a transgender rival has threatened to do the same again this weekend.
Reese Hogan of Crean Lutheran High School in California went viral last year with her protest against transgender student athlete and Jurupa Valley senior AB Hernandez.
After finishing second to her rival 12 months ago, Hogan was pictured standing atop the podium, where Hernandez had stood moments earlier. The photo of Hogan in the ‘first place’ position quickly went viral.
Now Hogan and Hernandez are set to compete against each other again this weekend in the long jump, high jump and triple jump events.
They have been rivals in all of the last three track and field postseason competitions in their area and met last weekend in a preliminary round.
And Hogan has not shut down the prospect of her defiantly protesting against the decision to allow Hernandez to compete against her at this week’s competition.
High school track athlete Reese Hogan has threatened to protest against a trans rival again
AB Hernandez finished first in three jumping events at a girls track and field event last week
When asked if she would take a stand again this weekend, Hogan told Fox News Digital: ‘If the opportunity presents itself, we’ll see, yeah.’
At last week’s meeting, Hernandez finished first in three jumping events – despite protests from ‘Save Girls Sports’, who accused California Governor Gavin Newsom of abandoning girls in the state.
Hernandez took the triple jump title at 42ft 4in, beating the nearest competition at the CIF Southern Section Division 3 preliminaries by several feet. Her long jump of 20ft, 4 1/4in was better than any other competitor by more than a foot.
She then tied for first in the high jump at 5ft 2in with Hogan. In the days that followed, Hogan – who also spoke at the protest prior to the events on the day – spoke with Fox News Digital to describe her ‘disappointment’ with officials.
‘This is my third year competing against a transgender athlete, and last year I was stripped away of a CIF Title. I basically worked my whole career to get to that point,’ Hogan told the outlet during the emotional interview.
‘It’s just really disappointing to go into a competition knowing you already lost.’
Her conversation with Fox came just days after the event itself, where Hogan took to the podium to call out Gavin Newsom for his lack of action over the matter.
She said: ‘I’m here to stand up for girls in girls sports and to call out CIF and the state of California for their poor leadership and lack of support for female athletes.
Hogan and Hernandez will come face to face again at another competition this weekend
Hogan doubled down on her criticism of Hernandez’s participation in the tournament last week
‘The recent statements coming from Governor Gavin Newsom’s office have made it clear that they have no intention of creating a safe, fair and equitable environment for female high school athletes.
‘The Governor himself has admitted that males competing in women’s sports is unfair yet nothing is being done to protect girls who train everyday to compete on a level playing field. I am here today to compete and to win.
‘The situation motivates me to work even harder but at the same time I know there’s a strong possibility that this male athlete will win all three titles.’
Meanwhile, Hogan’s Crean Lutheran teammate, Olivia Viola, also addressed the matter during an interview with Fox News Digital on Tuesday morning.
‘I haven’t heard nearly enough adults come out and say anything. A lot of them like to say that they agree with you, that they’re proud of you for speaking up now, but they won’t do it themselves,’ Viola said.
‘Just because it doesn’t affect every adult out there doesn’t mean it’s not worth standing up for.’
A source at Governor Gavin Newsom’s office previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital over the matter, defending the current rules and citing a 2013 law that requires students to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity.
‘The Governor has said discussions on this issue should be guided by fairness, dignity, and respect. He rejects the right wing’s cynical attempt to weaponize this debate as an excuse to vilify individual kids’, the statement read.
‘The Governor’s position is simple: stand with all kids and stand up to bullies.’
Hogan’s Crean Lutheran teammate, Olivia Viola, addressed the matter with Fox News Digital
It continued: ‘California is one of 22 states that have laws requiring students be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school sports consistent with their gender identity. California passed this law in 2013 (AB 1266) and it was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown.’
During the protest, Hogan told the crowd: ‘What has been more frustrating is the silence from CIF.
‘They have never responded to me, acknowledged my concerns and never listen to the female athletes who directly have been affected by these decisions.’
The uproar over the matter follows a lawsuit launched by the Department of Justice last July against California state agencies regarding alleged Title IX violations linked to the same athlete’s previous victories.
The U.S. Department of Education has since expanded that investigation to include 17 other institutions for potential civil rights breaches across the state.
