5 Photos of AB Hernandez: Trans Track Athlete Dominates State Championship Jumps While Counter-Rallies Mass Outside

Transgender athlete AB Hernandez won two California state titles in the girls' track and field finals on 30 May 2026, even as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the venue in a confrontation that reflected the widening fracture in American sports over gender and fairness.

Hernandez, a senior at Jurupa Valley High School in Riverside County, captured first place in the girls' high jump and triple jump at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Track and Field Championships, held at Veterans Memorial Stadium on the Buchanan High School campus in Clovis. She placed third in the long jump. The results closed out one of the most scrutinised high school athletic careers in recent American history, and reopened every political wound that has accompanied it.

Record Margins, Shared Podiums

Hernandez won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet 10 inches, besting the second-place finisher by two inches. She took the triple jump with a mark of 41 feet 8.5 inches, nearly a foot and a half longer than the next-closest competitor. She finished third in the long jump with a mark of 20 feet 2.25 inches.

Under a CIF pilot policy reinstated for the 2026 postseason, any female athlete who would have earned a podium placement in an event involving a transgender competitor was elevated to share that same position. The CIF described the policy as a measure to ensure 'a biological female student-athlete who would have earned a specific placement on the podium will also be awarded the medal for that place and the results will be reflected in the recording of the event.'

Protests Outside, Tension Within

Outside Buchanan High School, demonstrators wearing 'Save Girls' Sports' shirts lined the streets surrounding the venue, carrying flags and signs reading 'No boys. No bias. Just fairness.' Confrontations broke out between protest groups and counter-demonstrators, according to multiple reporters present.

Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate for California governor, attended a 'Save Girls Sports' press conference held on Friday, 29 May, outside Buchanan High. 'It's not fair. It's not fair for girls who've worked so hard,' Hilton told CBS News. Democrat gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer took the opposite position, posting an interview with Hernandez to his social media accounts before the finals.

Inside the stadium, the public address system issued a warning during the long jump after hecklers disrupted the event. 'We need to stop the disrespect of athletes,' the announcement read. 'The only people you are hurting are these athletes on the field. You are distracting to all athletes. We will continue to pause if this behaviour continues.'

A Legal Battle That Will Outlast the Season

Saturday's meet took place against a backdrop of escalating litigation. In July 2025, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against California's Department of Education and the CIF, alleging violations of Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in federally funded educational programmes. The complaint named Hernandez as 'Student 1' and threatened to withhold $3.8 billion (approx £3 billion) in federal education funding allocated to the state. Governor Gavin Newsom's office rejected the federal claim, stating that California follows AB 1266, the School Success and Opportunity Act of 2013, which permits students to compete on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. 'No court has adopted the interpretation of Title IX advanced by the federal government,' Newsom's office said.

A separate civil lawsuit filed in September 2025 by three female Jurupa Valley students alleged sex discrimination under Title IX, citing Hernandez's participation in both track and volleyball, and noted that six schools had forfeited or cancelled matches against the volleyball team since the 2025–26 season began. Looming over both cases is a pending Supreme Court ruling on whether state bans prohibiting transgender girls and women from competing in female sports are constitutional, a decision expected this summer that could affect similar laws in 25 additional states.

Two Voices on the Podium

Hernandez's mother, Nereyda Hernandez, told KQED that her daughter's reaction to the co-champion policy was one of erasure. 'It's kind of like she's nonexistent,' she said. 'She puts in the work, she participates, but she wants to be honoured. She wants to be acknowledged as the person, the athlete she is.' AB Hernandez herself told her mother: 'It's like they see me, but they see past me or through me.'

Sophia Lorey, outreach director for the California Family Council, offered the view from the other side. Speaking at Friday's press conference outside Veterans Memorial Stadium, she called the CIF policy 'a complete admission that CIF knows this is wrong.' She said girls had been 'forced to share a podium with a male' and called the dual-champion arrangement 'a public humiliation ritual.'

With Hernandez graduating this year, she will not return to defend her titles in 2027. The legal and policy battles she has come to represent, however, are nowhere near their end.