Outrage over high school trans runner rising to 4th in girls' division after placing 172nd in the boys'
The sophomore competed with the girls in the Maine XC Festival of Champions on Saturday
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Parents and students were outraged over a transgender runner competing with the girls in the Maine XC Festival of Champions on Saturday.
Maine Coast Waldorf School high school sophomore Soren Stark-Chessa previously competed in the boys’ category for the school one year prior. In the 5k division, Stark-Chessa ranked approximately 172nd among males in the state. After transitioning, however, the runner shot up to 4th place in the girls’ division.
High school track mom Katherine Collins from Winterport, Maine, later spoke with "Fox & Friends" about the event, calling out the "unfairness" of the race.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It’s all a matter of unfairness. The men are bigger, stronger and faster than women," Collins said.
Transgender athletes competing in women and girls' events have drawn backlash from parents. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
She also criticized the Maine Principals Association for allowing the transgender runner to compete based on its "Gender Equity and Inclusion Policy."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Obviously, there is an unfair advantage, but they’ve allowed this. Last year, in outdoor track, in the Class-C state meet, two boys participated. One podiumed and was moved on to the New England track meet. So a girl was put aside and not allowed to medal and not allowed to participate in a higher level because of this boy," Collins explained.
The policy declares that "all students should have the opportunity to participate in MPA activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, unless such participation would result in an unfair athletic advantage or would present an unacceptable risk of injury to other student athletes."
Although Stark-Chessa placed only fifth in the event, Collins argued that it was only because of the top-ranking girls competing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TRANSGENDER FEMALE CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNER DOMINATING NEW COMPETITION AFTER STRUGGLING AGAINST BOYS
Mother Katherine Collins spoke to "Fox & Friends" about a transgender runner competing in a girls division. (FOX NEWS)
"The only reason that this boy did not win the meet on Saturday is because Greene has some of the strongest female athletes in the nation. The first two girls who finished the race on Saturday…the first-place winner ranks number 8th in the country and the second-place winner ranks number 15th in the country. If it wasn’t for these top-ranked girls who are faster than most girls in the whole United States, this boy would have won the entire girls’ cross-country meet," Collins said.
In a comment to Maine podcast host Shawn McBreairty, an anonymous female runner also commented, "It is not fair to a female who has trained hard. Males are biologically faster than females, with testosterone. They need to run under their biological gender."
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The Maine Principals Association did not respond for a comment to FOX News Digital.
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