Latest news with #statechampionships
Fox News
a day ago
- General
- Fox News
Trans athlete fires message toward critics after dominating girls' 400 for state title
Verónica Garcia, a transgender competitor, has been on top of the competition in the girls' 400-meter races during the Washington state outdoor season in 2025 and finished in first place during the state championships on Saturday. Garcia, who competes for East Valley High School in Spokane, took home the title in the 2A race for the second straight year. Garcia finished first in the 2A Greater Spokane League District Championship on May 23 and won several other regular-season races over the course of the year. On Saturday, Garcia told The Seattle Times there were boos from the crowd that didn't agree that biological males should compete against girls in sports. However, Garcia fired back with a defiant message after the race was over. "I'll be honest, I kind of expect it," Garcia told the outlet. "But it maybe didn't have their intended effect. It made me angry, but not angry as in, I wanted to give up, but angry as in, I'm going to push. "I'm going to put this in the most PG-13 way. I'm just going to say it's a damn shame they don't have anything else better to do. I hope they get a life. But oh well. It just shows who they are as people." Garcia finished with a time of 55.70, more than a full second faster than the second-place finisher who clocked in at 56.75. Garcia also won a state championship last year and complained about the lack of sportsmanship from fellow competitors. Washington has been among the states to defy President Donald Trump's executive order to keep men out of women's sports. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA)'s Representative Assembly proposed two amendments to its policies earlier this year that would keep girls' sports to biological females only and potentially offer an open division if student-athletes were interested. The proposals were advisory votes only and no changes to the rules were made. Washington officials have cautioned that any proposed change would violate state law. BELOW VIDEO IS FROM 2024: Washington state law requires local educational agencies to allow transgender students to participate in interscholastic sports "that most closely aligns with their gender identity," according to the WIAA. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
ABC News
2 days ago
- General
- ABC News
How Perth's king and queen of skating keep rolling back the years
When Peter and Barbara Rye get into their rollerskates, they move in a kind of unison that only comes after five decades of marriage — three of them on wheels. Now aged in their seventies, the pair first fell in love with rollerskating when they competed in a couples' dance event in the 1990s, a time when the category was overflowing with skaters. But the event has since died out. In fact, Peter and Barbara were the only couple in the rink at the state championships in Perth this year. Despite the challenges, the couple have maintained the same commitment to the sport as they have to each other, in the hope artistic rollerskating can be revived. Peter and Barbara picked up the skates by chance when they were in their forties, and have been hooked ever since. Despite their age, the couple trains about three times a week. "You can trip each other up and we do sometimes have falls," Barbara said. The joy of coming up with choreography and keeping the beat of the music has kept the pair engaged in the sport, even if there isn't much competition. "It's still fun. It's still rewarding to go out there and compete, to push yourself," Peter said. "So many people our age sort of just vegetate rather than push yourself and keep achieving. "Even if sometimes you can't achieve what you used to be able to achieve." When rollerskating first hit Australia in the 1980s, it was a booming sport for social and competitive skaters. But participation declined over the following decades, as trends moved on and more options entered the market. "Couples skating like [us] have really gone out of fashion, there are very few left now," Barbara said. "It's a real shame that the young skaters aren't still doing it because they can do so much more than we can now." Many of Peter and Barbara's peers have either given up the sport or died, but for those still committed to rollerskating, the competitions have become an opportunity to reminisce. "The national championships isn't so much a competition as a reunion," Peter said. "It's unfortunately becoming less and less so as our friends have faded away one way or the other." The couple are now an anomaly in Perth. But they don't mind standing out from the crowd and have no intention of slowing down while they are both willing and able to keep skating. "You get some quite amazing feedback from the audience when we skate at competitions because we are quite unique," Peter said. The fluctuation of rollerskating's popularity, particularly in a social capacity, has often been tied to popular culture. Barbara said that cycle has kept her hopeful that up-and-coming skaters will start walking through the doors again. "We've had ups and downs, but it's never stayed that way," she said. Morley Rollerdrome owner Ozzy Kilgallon said the end goal was to get rollerskating to the Olympics. "World sports are best when you watch on TV and then you can go and do it … it's accessible," he said. "If they can get rollerskating to the Olympics, like skateboarding did, everyone will want to try it and that's a good thing. "That will keep us going."
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Metamora, Dunlap sending big numbers to state tennis championships
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — A pair of area schools are hoping to show the rest of the state the tennis in central Illinois is pretty good. Dunlap and Metamora each won sectional championships last weekend and are sending six players apiece to this week's state tennis meet. 'It's so exciting. This is what we have worked for all year, to get all six guys (to state),' said Metamora senior Adam Culp. 'It's such a great feeling to have everybody going to state.' Culp is paired with Tommy Sopko on Metamora's top doubles team heading to the state meet in suburban Chicago. They hope to hold their own against the typically-strong schools from the northern part of the state. 'Individually, we've done great. But as a team also, we were 23-2, I think,' Sopko said. 'It's always great to have good results as a team. A really successful season, I'd say.' Metamora opened the season with 19 consecutive wins and continues to ride that momentum as the season comes to an end at the state championships. Qualifying six players for the state meet is a part of that. 'The support you get from having six guys there, is something special,' said Metamora junior Dane Hutchison. 'Cheering, having them cheer for you, watching them compete at a very high level and have success, is something we can be proud of.' Dunlap's six state qualifiers include seniors Alex Fei and Ethan McRaven, who are undefeated as a doubles team this season. McRaven, who teamed with ____ to finish second at state a year ago, has enjoyed his pairing with Fei. 'He's going to hit a great ball and get me back in my groove,' McRaven said. 'This weekend I feel great about our chances. I came up just short last year. But this year I feel like I have learned a lot more, I have matured as a tennis player and I'm feeling great about our chances.' This will be Fei's fourth trip to state but in the previous three trips he was in the single's draw. 'The last three years I have been through singles, although doubles is a different type of effort,' Fei said. 'I find it easier on my body than singles.' The state meet runs Thursday through Saturday at Palatine High School. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
23-05-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Michigan high school rowing team heading to nationals
The crew team at St Mary's Preparatory High School in Orchard Lake, Michigan, has been competing since the 1970s, taking home 28 state championships and numerous national appearances. For decades, the historically all-boys school competed in the men's races. But five years ago, the school accepted its first class of girls, an idea that was met with skepticism by some in the school's community. "I will be the first to admit that I was not enthusiastic about the girls starting here, I mean, we've been an all-boys school since 1885. But I couldn't be more wrong about something," said head coach and English teacher Chris Czarnecki. "They are very much a mirror image of the boys. Ambitious, driven, competitive." Student Sadie Ross will be heading to the nationals in her boat. She tells CBS Detroit that when she was a freshman, there were no senior girls. "I'd say it's weird, especially considering it's an all-boys school and coming in and being like, oh there's a whole bunch of girls here," she said. "I think we've worked really hard to create this sisterhood instead of a brotherhood. And I'd say, honestly, all the girls, it's like we're one big family." "It's nice to have that coed group because it's not just around all guys the entire time," said sophomore Evan Cadieux. "They're all very hardworking, and it's nice to be around them." The athletes carry their boats to the dock and carefully lower them into the water. Once they are far enough out in the water, they begin their drills. Assistant varsity coach David Stration is an alumnus of St. Mary's Prep and graduated when it was still an all-boys school. "Obviously, when everyone found out, there was a lot of apprehension with it," he said. "A lot of people were talking, like: 'Is this a good idea, is it not?' But it's been amazing to have them. It just adds so much more to the school and to the rowing program as a whole." The women's team has remained competitive against established programs across the state due to a rigorous training schedule that includes two practices a day near the end of the season, with the first practice starting at 5 a.m. Stration said he's proud of what the team has accomplished in such a short time. "The fact that within five years we've already had a national championship on the girls' side, we've sent multiple, multiple boats to nationals, we've won a Midwest medal in the eight, which is one of the more prestigious medals to be winning," he said. "It's wonderful to see how fast and how quickly they've taken on and really made it their own."
Washington Post
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Softball Top 10: Bishop O'Connell wins VISAA, Maryland contenders begin playoffs
For the top Maryland public school softball teams, all roads end in College Park this weekend. The University of Maryland Softball Complex will again host the Maryland state championships, where four teams will close out their seasons on a thrilling high. But to make it to College Park, those teams must first survive and advance at Bachman Sports Complex in Glen Burnie Tuesday. In one of the most exciting events of the spring season, all 16 state semifinalists across the state's four classifications will duke it out on Bachman's sprawling campus for the opportunity to play for state title glory.
