Camas cross-country team, transgender girl qualify for state

UNIVERSITY PLACE — The Westside Classic regional race brought athletes from across the state together at Chambers Bay Golf Course on Saturday for a chance to qualify for the state meet. 

Curtis High School cross-country runner Charlotte White won the 4A girls varsity race with a time of 18 minutes, 21.6 seconds. The Camas High School girls team placed fourth, led by a transgender girl, who finished seventh overall with a time of 18:49.5. Seven teams, including Camas, and the top 49 individual runners from Saturday’s race advanced to the state championship meet on Nov. 7.

The Seattle Times has not named the Camas runner in coverage because she is a minor who has not given her consent to be identified. 

The Camas team became the subject of online attention in early October when an X account posted a video of the transgender girl running in a junior varsity race. Online posts, many of which go beyond criticizing the state’s policy and include disparaging remarks targeted at the runner, have gathered millions of views throughout the month. 

The online attention came in the final weeks of the campaign for Initiative 638, which seeks to change the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s longstanding rule that allows K-12 athletes to participate in the category consistent with their gender identity. 

The measure is sponsored by Let’s Go Washington and bankrolled by hedge fund manager Brian Heywood. If passed, it would ban transgender girls from participating with cisgender girls in athletic programs at public K-12 schools that are “intended for female students only,” per the initiative’s language. It would also require all students who want to participate in competitive girls sports to submit medical documentation.

According to the initiative’s text, this confirmation can come from a typical sports physical’s examination of “the student’s reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.”

Proponents of the measure say it is needed to protect “the integrity and fairness of women’s interscholastic sports.” No Hate in WA State, the campaign opposing I-638 says the measure could require “invasive genital exams” for all girls wanting to play sports.

The WIAA says it is aware of no more than 10 transgender athletes competing each year out of an overall number of approximately 225,000 students. However, there is no requirement for schools to notify the WIAA if they have a transgender athlete competing, and the organization acknowledged the number may be higher. 

The Camas athlete at the center of online attention ran one race in the boys category on Sept. 5 and began competing in the girls category on Sept. 15. Some online posts have drawn attention to the in-season switch. 

Both the WIAA and school district have said the student’s participation has not violated any rules. The WIAA’s gender identity policy, implemented in 2008, does not prohibit an in-season switch.

There have been protests at several of Camas’ races this season, including on Oct. 13 when 13 of 24 Camas runners walked off the start line of a dual meet in protest of their teammate’s participation. The district meet on Oct. 21, which was moved to Camas’ home course due to security concerns, saw an organized rally in support of I-638 and the Camas athletes who chose not to compete.

Some Camas runners, including a group of senior girls, decided to end their season early and forgo competing in the postseason. Camas won the district meet, where the athlete finished in second place. 

The Times observed approximately a dozen adults wearing shirts signaling their opposition to transgender girls competing in girls sports at Saturday’s race. No runners were observed walking off the start line on Saturday. 

The Camas girls scored 140 team points in Saturday’s race, with an average time of 19:42.9. Olympia, Tahoma and Curtis took first, second and third, with 81, 100 and 122 points, respectively. 

Teams and qualifying athletes now advance to the state championship race on Nov. 7. Election Day, which will decide the ballot initiative, is on Nov. 3.