Two high school track coaches in Washington are speaking out after watching a trans-identifying male athlete crush his female competition at the state championship.
Brad Anderson is the boys’ track head coach, and Jason Keniston is the girls’ track head coach at Liberty High School near Seattle.
In May, the two coaches watched Veronica Garcia, a biological male formerly known as Donovan Brown, win first place at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) state track meet.
Garcia won the girls’ 400-meter race with a record-smashing time of 55.59.
The two Liberty High track coaches began wondering how things could change and decided to speak up in an interview with the Independent Women’s Forum.
He “just completely blew the competition away,” Keniston recalled.
The win garnered 10 points for Garcia’s school, East Valley Spokane High School, which ended up winning the state championship by eight points, Keniston said.
“And they shouldn’t have,” the girls’ coach added.
The girls’ team from Cedar Crest High School, the “rightful state champions” according to Keniston, ended up in second place.
“Their coaches and everyone who gave everything to their program deserved a title, and they’ll never get that,” he said.
The mother of the girl who got third place in the 400-meter race behind Garcia said Garcia’s time would not have been impressive against male athletes.
“He wouldn’t even have made it to districts,” the mom said. “That time isn’t even competitive for a varsity high school male athlete. He’s a [junior varsity] runner.”
In October 2022, Garcia ran in the boys’ 5,000-meter junior varsity race and performed much worse against his male competitors, placing 164th out of 172.
“How can anyone think this is fair, regardless of the politics of our world and our country?” Keniston asked.
The problem was “really right in your face at state,” Anderson said.
When Garcia stood on the podium, “It was very quiet. There [were] a couple people booing,” Keniston said.
“This individual robbed these girls of their podium spot, and the girl who could have come in eighth [place] didn’t even get to be on the podium and earn a medal,” he said.
Garcia previously said he was “somewhat hurt” the girls did not congratulate him.
“I guess maybe I expected sportsmanship because I was cheering the rest of them on when they were called. So I guess I expected to get that reciprocated,” Garcia told The Spokesman-Review. “But I didn’t get that.”
“I’m just a teenager. I wish people would remember that,” he said.
Anderson, the boys’ coach, said biological males are simply faster than their female counterparts.
“When you come down to a sport, an endurance sport especially, I think the numbers always speak pretty clearly that biological males are faster, and I just don’t know how you can argue otherwise,” Anderson said. “There’s a difference. [To] say there’s not is an injustice.”
Anderson said that one of the girls “just put a heck of a time on the board — great time — and she still loses. That was hard to watch.”
The two coaches emphasized that they are not the only ones who have a problem with trans-identifying males competing against girls.
“There’s a large group that stands against this, however, they’re like most, where we feel the need to hide under this mask of going along with it out of fear that if you are willing to just speak up and say what you believe, even just your opinion, there is going to be a repercussion,” Keniston said.
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At first, Keniston said he hesitated to speak out.
“Your job is at risk, your livelihood, you’ll be labeled a bigot or this and that,” he said, adding, “We actually just care about kids, and we want what’s best for everybody.”
Keniston and Anderson said they hope their actions will inspire other coaches to speak out against trans-identifying males in girls’ sports.
“We are going to speak up. We don’t back down from bullies,” Keniston said.
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[[{“value”:”
Two high school track coaches in Washington are speaking out after watching a trans-identifying male athlete crush his female competition at the state championship.
Brad Anderson is the boys’ track head coach, and Jason Keniston is the girls’ track head coach at Liberty High School near Seattle.
In May, the two coaches watched Veronica Garcia, a biological male formerly known as Donovan Brown, win first place at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) state track meet.
Garcia won the girls’ 400-meter race with a record-smashing time of 55.59.
The two Liberty High track coaches began wondering how things could change and decided to speak up in an interview with the Independent Women’s Forum.
He “just completely blew the competition away,” Keniston recalled.
The win garnered 10 points for Garcia’s school, East Valley Spokane High School, which ended up winning the state championship by eight points, Keniston said.
“And they shouldn’t have,” the girls’ coach added.
The girls’ team from Cedar Crest High School, the “rightful state champions” according to Keniston, ended up in second place.
“Their coaches and everyone who gave everything to their program deserved a title, and they’ll never get that,” he said.
The mother of the girl who got third place in the 400-meter race behind Garcia said Garcia’s time would not have been impressive against male athletes.
“He wouldn’t even have made it to districts,” the mom said. “That time isn’t even competitive for a varsity high school male athlete. He’s a [junior varsity] runner.”
In October 2022, Garcia ran in the boys’ 5,000-meter junior varsity race and performed much worse against his male competitors, placing 164th out of 172.
“How can anyone think this is fair, regardless of the politics of our world and our country?” Keniston asked.
The problem was “really right in your face at state,” Anderson said.
When Garcia stood on the podium, “It was very quiet. There [were] a couple people booing,” Keniston said.
“This individual robbed these girls of their podium spot, and the girl who could have come in eighth [place] didn’t even get to be on the podium and earn a medal,” he said.
Garcia previously said he was “somewhat hurt” the girls did not congratulate him.
“I guess maybe I expected sportsmanship because I was cheering the rest of them on when they were called. So I guess I expected to get that reciprocated,” Garcia told The Spokesman-Review. “But I didn’t get that.”
“I’m just a teenager. I wish people would remember that,” he said.
Anderson, the boys’ coach, said biological males are simply faster than their female counterparts.
“When you come down to a sport, an endurance sport especially, I think the numbers always speak pretty clearly that biological males are faster, and I just don’t know how you can argue otherwise,” Anderson said. “There’s a difference. [To] say there’s not is an injustice.”
Anderson said that one of the girls “just put a heck of a time on the board — great time — and she still loses. That was hard to watch.”
The two coaches emphasized that they are not the only ones who have a problem with trans-identifying males competing against girls.
“There’s a large group that stands against this, however, they’re like most, where we feel the need to hide under this mask of going along with it out of fear that if you are willing to just speak up and say what you believe, even just your opinion, there is going to be a repercussion,” Keniston said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP
At first, Keniston said he hesitated to speak out.
“Your job is at risk, your livelihood, you’ll be labeled a bigot or this and that,” he said, adding, “We actually just care about kids, and we want what’s best for everybody.”
Keniston and Anderson said they hope their actions will inspire other coaches to speak out against trans-identifying males in girls’ sports.
“We are going to speak up. We don’t back down from bullies,” Keniston said.
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