Eastmont High School junior Ahnaleigh Wilson crossed the finish line in 150th place out of 155 runners at the Washington 4A girls state cross-country championship Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course, finishing a race she wasn’t sure she could complete because of a bone stress injury in her right fibula.
Her time of 22:58.30 was far off her usual pace of around 19:30, which would have placed her near 49th. But Wilson said she wanted to run anyway, despite her parents’ concern that the injury could develop into a fracture.
“I worked really hard this season, and I mean, I like running. So I wanted to run. I wanted to try at least,” Wilson said.
Wilson has become a recognizable figure in the statewide debate over transgender participation in girls’ sports since finishing second to a transgender athlete in a Junior Olympic track race more than two years ago. In July, she drew national attention when Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton confronted and cursed at her at a WNBA game for holding a sign that read, “Thank You Sophie (Cunningham) For Speaking Up For Girls!”
Saturday’s race also included a male runner from Camas High School who switched to the girls team midseason. After finishing 76th in a boys junior varsity race to start the season, he went on to win a varsity girls meet and bumped other female runners out of regional and state qualifying positions. He finished 23rd on Saturday, missing the top-16 podium.
Wilson said she considered quitting partway through the race because of the pain, but was kept going by cheers from spectators she didn’t know.
“There were a few times I didn’t know if I was going to finish, and I heard people I didn’t recognize their voices, but there were people cheering for me, and that was really cool,” she said.
The race was the Camas runner’s first competition since Tuesday’s election, in which Washington voters passed Initiative 638, a measure that will require biological boys and girls to compete separately in K-12 sports once it takes effect. The measure could go into force as soon as December 3, though legal challenges may delay implementation.
Other runners in Saturday’s field said beating the Camas athlete remained a goal even after the initiative’s passage. Skyview High junior Charlie Garrett, who walked off the start line last month in protest alongside teammate Sierra Retzlaff, finished 39th on Saturday; Retzlaff finished 92nd. Garrett said she’d heard the Camas runner had told teammates his goal was to beat the girls’ field every time he raced, which he again did Saturday.
“I guess the motivation (to beat him) is just that I don’t want my spot to be taken away by someone who shouldn’t be in my race. That’s my main motivation,” Garrett said. “I didn’t do it this season — and I won’t have to this season. But I mean, me and my mom are very competitive people, so I think it just runs in the blood to try and do better than the person who’s causing us stress.”
Kamiakin High sophomore Lauren Baumann, who finished 11 spots behind the Camas runner, said she felt similarly.
“My goal was to beat the guy from Camas because I don’t think he should be racing in a girls race,” Baumann said. “When he passed me at the 800 and I tried to stay with him but couldn’t, it made me feel really really mad and just that I couldn’t do anything to stop it. But I’m glad that he won’t be able to run next year.”
Wilson’s mother, Elizabeth, became emotional after watching her daughter finish the race while injured.
“I can’t believe she went out and did that with a bone stress…that’s just heart,” Elizabeth said. “She started this journey racing a boy, and she ended it, and hopefully this will be the last time a boy competes against girls.”
Wilson was limping after the race, and X-rays will determine whether the stress injury has become a fracture.
