Latest news with #NorthSalinasHighSchool
USA Today
13 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
HS track star DQ'ed over fire extinguisher celebration after win
HS track star DQ'ed over fire extinguisher celebration after win A California track runner was disqualified and stripped of her title after high school sports officials deemed her victory celebration unsportsmanlike. Clara Adams, a sophomore track star at North Salinas High School, had her 400 meter dash title taken away after her dad handed her a fire extinguisher to celebrate on Saturday. She sprayed the fire extinguisher on her spikes, much like sprinter Maurice Greene during a 2004 celebration. California sports officials disqualified her for the act, stripping her of her title and preventing her from participating in her other race. Clara was shocked when she realized she was being reprimanded, she told Fox News. 'When the officials told me that I would be disqualified, I was just sent into shock,' she said. 'They just took my moment away from me that quick.' The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's requests for comment on June 5 and neither did the Salinas Union High School District. Reactions pour in Clara is a sophomore track runner at North Salinas High School, about 58 miles south of San Jose. She is a member of the Central Coast Cheetahs track team and is slated to graduate in 2027, per her Instagram account. She was competing over the weekend in the CIF state finals. She won the 400 meter dash over the weekend and still had the 200 meter race to compete in. Her father and coach, David Adams, admitted to handing her the fire extinguisher to celebrate that day, he told news station KION-TV. As Clara celebrated her win over the weekend, one announcer laughed off the celebration. "She knows what she did today,' the announcer said, laughing. "Clapping it up. She's hype ... She had a fire extinguisher on the track. I love the way we're having fun with the sport." And once community members got wind of her disqualification, some called for it to be reversed, sharing a clip of Greene's celebration in 2004. Greene has chimed in on the situation, according to multiple news outlets such as KSBW and KABC-TV. 'This girl who just ran the 400 did your celebration,'' he recalled the callers saying. 'I was like huh? What?" Greene said. "If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her." Teen's father: 'I'm the one that handed it to her' David Adams, Clara's father and coach, told Fox News that his daughter was celebrating off the track and on the grass so she wouldn't be seen as taunting the other runners. 'Make sure you're (facing) yourself,' he recalled telling her. 'You're facing me, not your opponents, which, they were already 40, 50 meters away.' According to Clara's father, he has been training her since she was 5 and she started competing at just 6, he told KION-TV. The pair vowed that this year, the 10th year working together, would be special for them, 'like a movie.' 'It just went left with the disqualification,' he said, adding that they still had hope since she still had to run the 200 meter race. 'Clara was crying,' her father said. 'Watching her hurt, it hurt me. I take responsibility over everything because I'm the one that handed (the fire extinguisher) to her.' He said he would've been OK leaving the stadium if it meant his daughter was able to stay and compete. 'I'm the adult,' he said. 'Reprimand me, not the kid.' Father thinks discipline may be racially motivated When Fox News' Will Cain asked her father if he has evidence that Clara's disqualification was racially motivated, her father said history shows it likely is. When White athletes celebrate, it's often viewed as passion that's good for the sport, her father said. 'When a Black girl or a Black boy or a Brown girl or a Brown boy, they celebrate, it's deemed as unprofessional, unsportsmanlike, it's ghetto, so why is it OK for one to celebrate and not the other?' he asked. 'We've seen that before. It's nothing new. I'm not making this up.' When Cain asked the father and daughter how they felt about her disqualification when the CIF allows transgender athletes such as AB Hernandez to compete, the pair said they were perplexed. "It's being celebrated, basically," David Adams said. "She can jump very well ... They celebrated AB Hernandez on the podium, and Clara was disqualified for having a celebration. We're lost on that ... I'm confused because now ... I've got to worry about an AB Hernandez jumping into the 400 meters next year?" More: Transgender athlete shares 2 titles at California state track and field meet Her father told KION-TV that his daughter is a good kid who works hard on and off the track. She has a 3.8 grade point average. He said he is a man of faith, and he was told his daughter will likely be able to compete in the Nike Outdoor Nationals in a few weeks. 'She's 16,' he said. 'She'll be the youngest one … This national meet is bigger than the CIF state meet.' Contributing: Barry Werner, USA TODAY High School Sports Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@
New York Post
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Dad of high school track star disqualified over celebration believes decision came with racial motivations
Clara Adams and her father, David, continued to speak out after the teen sprinter had been disqualified from the California state championships over an 'unsportsmanlike' celebration. David Adams believes the penalty is motivated, in part, by race. Clara Adams, 16, was competing in the CIF State Championships when she won the 400-meter dash, leading the North Salinas High School sophomore to celebrate by using a fire extinguisher on her running spikes, in homage to famed sprinter Maurice Greene. Advertisement 3 David Adams, handed his daughter Clara a fire extinguisher, and away from her competitors, she sprayed on her shoes as if they were on fire. Oceanside Dolphins Track Club/YouTube CIF officials almost immediately approached her and eventually stripped her of her state title and disqualified her from her other events. Since then, the story has garnered national attention, and Adams' father has alleged that there is a racial component to the situation, explaining during an appearance on 'The Will Cain Show' on Fox News that the belief stems from a 'history in our country.' Advertisement 'I say that because you look at the governing body, you look at the officials that are on the grass, on the grass area,' David Adams said. 'I know for a fact, with the history in our country when it comes to celebrations, when a white girl celebrates or a white boy celebrates, it's called, he's passionate. He's good for the sport. We need this for the sport. 3 Clara Adams was disqualified from the race. Oceanside Dolphins Track Club/YouTube 'But when a black girl or a black boy or a brown girl or a black boy, they celebrate, it's deemed as unprofessional, unsportsmanlike. It's ghetto. So why is it OK for one to celebrate, not the other? We have seen that before. It's nothing new. I'm not making this up.' Cain did acknowledge that 'there is some merit to what you're saying' in response to David Adams' explanation. Advertisement Clara Adams has said she was 'set into shock' when she was disqualified from the state championship. 'It was just really disappointing, because they just took my moment away from me that quick,' she told Cain. 'You know, you think about, like, how long I have taken, me and my dad, to work for this moment. And then just for them to take it in minutes, it just — it's unbelievable.' 3 Clara Adams, the high school track star stripped of her Calfornia state title over celebration paying homage to Olympic gold medalist, sits with her father David. ksbw Advertisement The CIF has not publicly commented on the controversy surrounding Adams. Adams does have support from one track star, with Green telling local outlet, KSBW, that if the celebration 'was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
High School Track Champion Disqualified for Spraying Her Shoes with Fire Extinguisher in Celebration
NEED TO KNOW Clara Adams won the 400-meter final at the California state championships but was disqualified and stripped of her medal due to her celebration The athlete sprayed her shoes with a fire extinguisher The celebratory move was an homage to a former Olympian who once did the same thing after a win A California high school athlete was disqualified and stripped of her gold medal after she celebrated on the track with a fire extinguisher. Clara Adams, a sophomore sprinter from North Salinas High School, lost her state championship title in the 400-meter final on Saturday, May 31 after she sprayed her shoes with the device, according to KSBW-TV. Advertisement "I worked so hard for that title," Adams, 16, told the station of the race, in which she finished first in 53.24 seconds. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) deemed her celebration 'unsportsmanlike' and she received a DQ — all of which does not sit well with Adams, her father and the man to whom she was paying homage, retired Olympic racing legend Maurice Greene. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Greene, 50, famously extinguished his own 'smoking hot' spikes on the track after he won the 100-meter dash in 2004. Advertisement "When I heard it happened, and then people just started calling me, 'This girl who just ran the 400 did your celebration,' I was like huh? What?" Greene told the station. "If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her." Matthew Stockman/Getty Maurice Greene in 2004. Maurice Greene in 2004. The athlete's father, who also serves as her coach, David Adams, is similarly pushing back on the extent of Clara's punishment. "When she blew the fire extinguisher, the opponents were gone," he told KSBW. "That was our moment of celebration, and CIF officials made it about them. The crowd went crazy, they loved it, the CIF booth went crazy, they loved it. But those few guys in those jackets took offense to it, didn't like it, and made a decision based off emotions." Advertisement In footage from the race, David Adams is seen handing his daughter the extinguisher. The news station reported that he then climbed over the railing — which is also against the rules — to address CIF officials. 'I saw an official grab my daughter by the arm, they were yelling in her face,' Adams said. 'I'm a father now, I'm not coach any more.' According to the station, in the last 20 years of state championships, no other athletes have been disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct. Read the original article on People
News.com.au
2 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
‘Robbed': 16-year-old stripped of state championship over fire extinguisher act
The moment that 16-year-old Clara Adams' State Championship dreams went up in smoke was captured on video, as the controversy surrounding the teen's post-race celebration has made headlines across America. Adams, a sprinter from North Salinas High School in Salinas, California paid homage to a celebration made famous by American sprint icon Maurice Greene by taking a fire extinguisher from her father and spraying her spikes after winning the 400-meter event Saturday. CIF officials didn't take too kindly and disqualified her, stripping her of her state title. The teen could be seen standing in the infield of the track away from other participants as she bent over and started extinguishing her shoes with the fire extinguisher. Several people who appeared to be CIF officials looked on, with one almost immediately approaching her after the celebration and leading her away. The celebration was ultimately deemed unsportsmanlike and she was disqualified. The decision to disqualify Adams came moments before she was slated to run in the 200-meter event, and due to the ruling she was not allowed to run the race, which she had been of the favourites to win. A devastated Adams spoke after the disqualification after the officials handed down the decision. 'I don't know what's going through my mind right now,' Adams told the Mercury News. 'I'm disappointed and I feel robbed. I am in shock. They (officials) yelled at me and told me, 'We're not letting you on the podium.' They took my moment away from me.' Adams' father, David, insisted that 'the opponents were gone' when she used the fire extinguisher and said that CIF officials 'made it about them.' 'The crowd went crazy, they loved it, the CIF booth went crazy, they loved it. But those few guys in those jackets took offence to it, didn't like it, and made a decision based off emotions,' he told the TV station. Adams does have one big supporter in her corner, with Greene himself indicating that he was happy that she did his celebration and felt that she should get her title back. Greene used the celebration when he won the 100-meter dash in 2004 at the Home Depot Invitational. 'When I heard, cause it happened, and then people just started calling me 'This girl who just ran the 400 did your celebration,' I was like huh? What?' Greene said. 'If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her.'
New York Post
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
See the shocking fire extinguisher celebration video that got 16-year-old track star stripped of state title
The moment that 16-year-old Clara Adams' CIF State Championship dreams went up in smoke was captured on video, as the controversy surrounding the teen's post-race celebration has made national headlines. Adams, a sprinter from North Salinas High School in Salinas, Calif. paid homage to a celebration made famous by American sprint icon Maurice Greene by taking a fire extinguisher from her father and spraying her spikes after winning the 400-meter event Saturday. CIF officials didn't take too kindly and disqualified her, stripping her of her state title, and that moment was visible in a video shared by KSBW. Advertisement 7 Adams hoses her shoes. 7 Adams holding the bottle. The teen could be seen standing in the infield of the track away from other participants as she bent over and started extinguishing her shoes with the fire extinguisher. Several people who appeared to be CIF officials looked on, with one almost immediately approaching her after the celebration and leading her away. Advertisement 7 Greene's celebration involving a fire extinguisher. Getty Images The celebration was ultimately deemed unsportsmanlike and she was disqualified. Advertisement The decision to disqualify Adams came moments before she was slated to run in the 200-meter event, and due to the ruling she was not allowed to run the race, which she had been of the favorites to win. Adams' father, David, insisted that 'the opponents were gone' when she used the fire extinguisher and said that CIF officials 'made it about them.' 7 The Adams family. 7 Adams holding the extinguisher after being handed it by her father. @OceansideDolphins/YouTube Advertisement 'The crowd went crazy, they loved it, the CIF booth went crazy, they loved it. But those few guys in those jackets took offense to it, didn't like it, and made a decision based off emotions,' he told the TV station. Adams does have one big supporter in her corner, with Greene himself indicating that he was happy that she did his celebration and felt that she should get her title back. 7 Adams shakes the extinguisher. 7 Adams being talked to after the celebration. Greene used the celebration when he won the 100-meter dash in 2004 at the Home Depot Invitational. 'When I heard, cause it happened, and then people just started calling me 'This girl who just ran the 400 did your celebration,' I was like huh? What?' Greene said. 'If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her.'
