Veronica Garcia, a 16-year-old transgender high school runner from Spokane, Washington, won the 400-meter girls’ state championship title a full second ahead of the first actual girl to cross the finish line.
Garcia won by with a time of 55.75, followed by Lauren Matthew of the West Valley School District, Washington State Track & Field Meet, held in Tacoma last week.
If Garcia had run in the boys’ division, he would have placed no better than 16th.
According to the Independent Council on Women’s Sports ICON), Garcia was previously known both as Davina Brown and Donovan Brown, and came to attention earlier this season for being ranked No. 1 in the league and No. 4 in the state.
To compare, in Alaska’s state track championships in 2023, Ourea Busk from Unalakleet won the girls’ 400-meter, with a time of 1:01.22.
In the Alaska boys division in 2023, Niko Alvarado of Eielson High School in North Pole was the 400-meter winner with a time of 51.78, four seconds faster than Washington’s trans-runner Veronica Garcia.
In Washington’s boys’ division this year, the 400-meter winner ran it in 48.47 seconds, and the last-place runner came in with 50.73 seconds.
The Alaska School Activities Association passed a rule that prohibits transgender athletes from competing in the girls’ divisions, and the State Board of Education has passed a similar rule.
The Alaska House passed House Bill 183, sponsored by Rep. Jamie Allard of Eagle River, a measure meant to head off the unfair competition from boys competing as girls on a regular basis across the country, but the measure died in the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.
