California’s high school sports governing body is allowing more students to compete in the state finals after President Donald Trump threatened to take away federal funding in a social media rant.
The rule change serves as an alternative to excluding 16-year-old AB Hernandez, a junior at Jurupa Valley High School in Riverside County, which Trump appeared to call for on Tuesday morning. Hernandez’s victories in the triple jump and long jump have been politicized, drawing the ire of Trump and other right-wingers who have even protested at her track and field meets.
The California Interscholastic Federation declared in a Tuesday statement that “any biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section’s automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet” will be able to compete in the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships.
“The CIF values all of our student-athletes and we will continue to uphold our mission of providing students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete while complying with California law and Education Code,” the organization continued, referring to the new rule as a “pilot entry process.”
