It was a cross-country course filled with twists, turns, hills and switchbacks. There was nothing round about it. But for Eastmont High junior Ahnaleigh Wilson, this was a case of things coming full circle.
More than two years ago, Wilson finished second to a trans athlete in a Junior Olympic track race. That set her on a path of speaking out against biological boys competing in girls' sports. If her name looks familiar, it's because she's the one Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton cursed out at a WNBA game in July for holding a sign reading, "Thank You Sophie (Cunningham) For Speaking Up For Girls!"
It brought a high school girl to tears, but as you'll learn, it takes a lot more than that to stop Ahnaleigh.
Since Keaton's tirade, quite a bit has happened in the world of Washington state transgender athletes. For the last month and a half, a male runner from Camas High who switched to the girls team midseason has dominated the headlines. After opening the season 76th in a boys' JV race, he crossed over to win a varsity girls' meet and knock female runners out of regional and state qualifying spots.
Well, guess who was lined up against him in Saturday's 4A girls state finals at Sun Willows Golf Course? That's right — one Ahnaleigh Wilson.
Wilson racing was no guarantee. Not just because she'd considered taking a stand against having to compete against a boy, but because she had a bone stress injury in her right fibula she feared might develop into a fracture. Her parents encouraged her not for health reasons. She didn't listen.
"I worked really hard this season, and I mean, I like running. So I wanted to run. I wanted to try at least," Wilson said.
It might have been good social-media material for activists had Wilson walked off in protest, but that wasn't going to happen. Plus, she'd already done enough in that department — regularly speaking in defense of girls and women despite her relatively shy nature.
She'd survived all the emotional abuse her detractors had thrown her way. Saturday was about surviving the physical.
A healthy Wilson likely would have finished somewhere in the top third of Saturday's 155-girl field. Her usual time of 19:30 would have been good for 49th place. But this was not a healthy Wilson. This was a high school junior slogging through a 5000-meter course with searing pain every other step.
Ahnaleigh said she thought about quitting multiple times mid-race. But the cheers from the crowd kept her going. And we aren't talking about the ones from her parents, friends or coaches. We're talking about random supporters who knew her name because of everything she'd fought for.
"There were a few times I didn't know if I was going to finish, and I heard people I didn't recognize their voices, but there were people cheering for me, and that was really cool," she said.
Wilson's final time? 22:58.30 — which placed her 150th. The Camas male, meanwhile, finished 23rd, which wasn't fast enough to put him on the podium reserved for the top 16 runners.
This was his first race since Tuesday's election, when Washington voters decisively passed Initiative 638, which will enforce the separation of biological boys and girls in K-12 sports once it takes effect. And even though many runners at Saturday's race were relieved the measure got through, they were still motivated to outrun the boy in the girls race.
One was Skyview High runner Charlie Garrett, who, alongside teammate Sierra Retzlaff, walked off the start line in protest of the Camas runner last month. She'd heard that the boy told his teammates that his goal was to beat them every time since that act, and while he was successful in doing so Saturday (Garrett and Retzlaff finished 39th and 92nd, respectively), Garrett took solace in the fact that she wouldn't have to face him again.
"I guess the motivation (to beat him) is just that I don't want my spot to be taken away by someone who shouldn't be in my race. That's my main motivation" said Garrett, a junior. "I didn't do it this season — and I won't have to this season. But I mean, me and my mom are very competitive people, so I think it just runs in the blood to try and do better than the person who's causing us stress."
Echoing that sentiment was Kamiakin High sophomore Lauren Baumann.
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"My goal was to beat the guy from Camas because I don't think he should be racing in a girls race," said Baumann, who finished 11 spots behind him. "When he passed me at the 800 and I tried to stay with him but couldn't, it made me feel really really mad and just that I couldn't do anything to stop it. But I'm glad that he won't be able to run next year."
I-638 could go into effect as soon as December 3, although there may be legal challenges delaying its implementation. But girls such as Wilson, Garrett and Retzlaff — all of whom played critical roles in getting it passed — are taking their metaphorical victory laps.
That said, perhaps nobody was as emotional Saturday as Ahnaleigh's mom, Elizabeth, who broke down in tears after her daughter's race.
"I can't believe she went out and did that with a bone stress...that's just heart," Elizabeth said. "She started this journey racing a boy, and she ended it, and hopefully this will be the last time a boy competes against girls."
X-rays will reveal whether Ahnaleigh — who was limping after the race — has a stress fracture. But she proved something Saturday. Whether it's a state cross country race or a ballot initiative — no matter how painful, she is going to finish what she started.
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