With intensifying pressure from President Trump, the U.S. Department of Justice and women athletes over a transgender athlete contending for a state championship this weekend, California’s high school sports governing body announced a fresh compromise.
Should 16-year-old junior AB Hernandez, a transgender athlete from Riverside County, beat what athletic officials describe as a “biological female” for first place, the second-place finisher will share the first-place medal and top spot on the podium.
The new rule may cast a spotlight this weekend on two Bay Area athletes in the triple jump competition during the state finals in Clovis, near Fresno. Despite Hernandez’s win in the triple jump at the state sectionals in Ventura County last weekend, Kira Gant Hatcher from St. Mary’s Berkeley High remains the state’s top seed in the event and Clayton Valley Charter’s Santia Ali from Concord is No. 3. Hernandez, who also won the girls long jump last weekend, is No. 2.
The latest compromise — the second in as many days from the state high school sports governing California Interscholastic Federation — is intended to dampen the firestorm building since last weekend when nearly three dozen protesters, including some hecklers, rallied during Hernandez’s track and field events.
Reese Hogan of Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine, who finished in second place in the triple jump behind Hernandez last weekend, told Fox News Digital that Hernandez has “certain advantages … and it’s obviously just sad as a woman to watch that.” Hogan said Hernandez should compete in the boys’ division.
Video of Hogan went viral last weekend when, after Hernandez stepped off, she briefly stood on the first-place podium. Under the CIF compromise, if she placed behind Hernandez again this weekend, she would, officially, be standing on the top podium — presumably side-by-side with Hernandez.
“If necessary, in the high jump, triple jump and long jump events” this weekend, the CIF said in a news release Wednesday, “a biological female student-athlete who would have earned a specific placement on the podium will also be awarded the medal for that place and the results will be reflected in the recording of the event.”
Hatcher, the Berkeley athlete, declined comment through her coach and Ali’s coach didn’t respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
But Assemblymember David Tangipa, a Fresno Republican and former Fresno State football player, said CIF‘s latest compromise “almost feels like a double loss” for both athletes. If the transgender athlete wins, “the athlete that had essentially won is now going to be othered,” he said, and the athlete who came in second “is now going to be promoted without getting the satisfaction” of crossing the finish line first.
“This movement does every athlete a disservice,” Tangipa said. He suggested a better solution may be adding an all-gender “open division,” like in the sport of bowling.
Jorge Reyes of Equality California said his LGBTQ organization wants to protect transgender students from a “bullying and harassing” federal administration that is “putting real kids at risk” and ensure they have the ability to play in sports that “respect their gender identity.” He will be following the state finals this weekend to see how the new rules and the podium ceremonies work out.
The new CIF policy, which only applies to this weekend’s championship, was announced the same day that the U.S. Department of Justice said it was joining the Department of Education in investigating whether California’s law allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports discriminates against female athletes.
On Tuesday, with news of Hernandez’s advancement to the state finals spreading through conservative media, President Trump threatened to cut federal funding to California “maybe permanently.”
He challenged Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called transgender athletes competing in women’s sports “deeply unfair,” to disallow it.
Despite a decision by CIF on Tuesday to allow girls displaced from the finals by Hernandez’s wins to compete this weekend, Trump warned Tuesday that he may order local authorities to block Hernandez from competing in the finals that begin in Clovis on Friday.
Jurupa Valley’s AB Hernandez makes an attempt in the girls long jump during the CIF Southern Section Master’s meet at Moorpark High School in Moorpark on Saturday, May 24, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer)
U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said Wednesday his office is starting the Title IX investigation into the CIF and the Jurupa Unified School District, where Hernandez competes, for allowing her to “dominate on the track team and take first place in competitions.” The U.S. Department of Education started its own investigation in February when Trump signed an executive order authorizing it.
The California Legislature in 2012 passed a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown allowing transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports. The issue has become fraught in recent years as female athletes have lodged complaints after being beaten by transgender competitors they believe have an unfair competitive advantage, despite rules requiring testosterone levels not exceed certain limits in an effort to achieve fairness.
The issue has tapped into frustrations across the political spectrum, including from Newsom, who stunned his progressive supporters and those in the LGBTQ community when he said in March that he considered transgender athletes competing in women’s sports “deeply unfair.” He also has said he’s looking for the “humanity” and “not the politics around that conversation.”
During the presidential election last fall, San Jose State Volleyball player Brooke Slusser sued the school over a transgender teammate and numerous colleges forfeited games rather than play against the Spartan team with a transgender player.
The CIF said it continues to follow California law Brown signed in 2012 that allows transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.
“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 CIF said in announcing its new policy. “We now turn our attention to the 1,533 student-athletes participating in the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships.”
Staff Writer Joseph Dycus contributed to this report.