UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — When the Camas High School runner’s name was announced, Joel Retzlaff shouted, “That’s a man!” But no one came forward to receive the award. The runner, who moved from the boys’ team to the girls’ team partway through the season, was not at the podium.
Retzlaff is the father of Skyview runner Sierra Retzlaff and has publicly objected to the runner competing in the girls’ category. Camas coach Matt LeGrand declined to explain the runner’s absence. It was possible, though not confirmed, that the runner did not want to face a crowd aware that his seventh-place finish at regionals kept another girl from reaching the state meet.
The girl who missed out ran for Puyallup High. Her team placed eighth in the girls’ 4A division, where the top seven teams qualify for state. Without the Camas runner’s contribution, Puyallup would have advanced. The team’s coach also declined to comment.
At Saturday’s meet at Chambers Bay, some people were willing to speak publicly. Carol Brown, a three-time Olympian and bronze medalist in rowing, said she never expected to find herself again arguing about an issue she thought had been resolved decades ago.
“I fought for Title IX and for the right to participate in sports, and I’ve been fighting this battle,” Brown said. “I never thought that 50 years later I’d be fighting it again. I believe everyone should have the right to participate in sport, but for it to be fair and safe, it has to be based on sex.”
Asked about the Camas runner taking a place from another girl, Brown called it unfair. She said girls train hard and that their effort, feelings and voices are being pushed aside, as she believes they have been in the past.
The Camas runner began the season on the boys’ team and finished 76th in the opening junior varsity meet. After joining the girls’ team, he won a varsity meet and placed second three times. At the district meet last week and regionals on Saturday, he finished just ahead of Skyview runner Charlie Garrett.
Garrett said she was frustrated after finishing less than a second behind him. She had hoped to beat him, she said, but also set a personal record and qualified for state. Asked what she made of his absence from the podium, Garrett said it suggested he should not be competing in the girls’ category.
Jasmin Faulk, executive director of the Women’s Liberation Front, was also at the meet. Faulk said the group is speaking out because it sees the issue as one of fairness and safety for women and girls, rather than a partisan cause.
Faulk said she was frustrated that Democratic politicians had not spoken more clearly on the issue. In her view, Republicans have been more consistent, while fearmongering has made it harder for others to express their views.
Some people at the meet were reluctant to be identified. One male runner wearing XX-XY Athletics clothing complimented the crowd’s shirts but declined a “save girls’ sports” bracelet and would not comment. A female runner said the situation affected athletes who had trained all season and could take a spot from a girl. She later asked not to be identified or have her school named.
Others spoke openly. Dawn Land held a sign saying “Girls deserve fair sports!” and said she believed the Camas runner’s participation was unfair and criticized the adults who had allowed it.
Washington voters were due to consider Initiative 638 on Tuesday. The proposal would bar biological males from competing in girls’ K-12 sports. Brown urged voters to support it, saying, “Vote yes if you believe in fair and safe sports for girls.”
