Transgender athlete AB Hernandez captured two more California girls’ state track-and-field titles, capping a stellar prep sports career made possible by the state’s ongoing refusal to ban biological males from female sports.
Hernandez, a senior at Jurupa Valley High School, appeared on the podium three times Saturday at the California Interscholastic State Track and Field Championships in Clovis, taking first place in the girls’ high jump and triple jump, and placing third in the long jump.
Hernandez won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet 10 inches, besting the second-place finisher by two inches, and the triple jump with a showing of 41 feet 8-1/2 inches, a jump nearly a foot-and-a-half longer than that of the next-closest competitor.
Last year, the athlete won gold medals in the triple jump and high jump at the finals, easily making Hernandez the most decorated state athlete in girls’ jumping events in the last few years.
For the second year in a row, the federation advanced the girls who placed behind Hernandez, allowing them to share the podium and awarding them the medals they would have won had the Jurupa Valley standout not competed in the event.
The policy was enacted amid an outcry over transgender athletes in girls’ sports, and Hernandez’s eligibility for the state championships in particular, but the accommodation failed to appease critics of biological males in female athletics.
Sophia Lorey, outreach director for the California Family Council, called the policy a “complete admission that CIF knows this is wrong,” as well as an exercise in “public humiliation” for girls standing with the transgender athlete.
“Female athletes have been forced to share a podium with a male,” she said at a press conference Friday outside Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Clovis. “Girls who worked their entire lives to earn a place on that podium were denied the dignity of standing among their female peers alone. CIF forcing girls to publicly celebrate their own displacement is a public humiliation ritual.”
Hernandez, 17, who also took MVP honors as a member of the Jurupa Valley girls’ varsity volleyball team, leaves high school with a trophy case full of awards, but the aftershocks from the athlete’s career continue to reverberate across the legal and political landscape.
The state championships became a springboard for the California governor’s race. Republican candidate Steve Hilton headlined Friday’s press conference, vowing to suspend the law immediately if elected and begin proceedings to abolish it.
“You have to vote if you want to end the insanity of biological boys in girls’ sports and spaces,” the Republican said in a video post.
Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Tom Steyer threw his support behind Hernandez ahead of the championships.
“I’m so proud of you for what you’re doing, I’m so proud of you for succeeding, so proud of you for competing. That’s really the point,” the Democrat told Hernandez in the video. “And I’m going to hope like heck that you don’t just make state, but that you do really well there.”
“I’m so proud of you for what you’re doing,” says CA candidate for Gov Tom Steyer to the boy stealing opportunities and titles from deserving girls
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) May 29, 2026
There’s literally 0 regard for girls. Actual girls. pic.twitter.com/d8fvCPlNCT
In September, three girls’ volleyball players filed a Title IX lawsuit against the Jurupa Unified School District and the state Department of Education, coming on the heels of a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration challenging the state law banning discrimination based on gender identity.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a leading contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, called the transgender-athlete situation “deeply unfair” in an interview last year, but his office issued a statement ahead of the state championships accusing conservatives of weaponizing the issue.
“The Governor has said discussions on this issue should be guided by fairness, dignity, and respect. He rejects the right wing’s cynical attempt to weaponize this debate as an excuse to vilify individual kids,” the governor’s office said. “The Governor’s position is simple: stand with all kids and stand up to bullies.”
His office noted that 22 states now allow students to compete in scholastic sports based on gender identity versus biological sex.
Sophia Lorey, outreach director for the California Family Council took issue with the “bullies” comment, saying it “sends a chilling message to every female athlete: stay silent or face the consequences.”
“But these girls are not bullies. They are not extremists,” said Ms. Lorey at the Friday press conference. “They are courageous young women asking adults to do what every generation before us has understood: protect fairness in female athletics and spaces.”
She also said that three biological males who identify as female competed this month in qualifying meets leading up to the state championships. Only Hernandez has been identified publicly.
How Much Longer Will We Let Biological Males STEAL Girls’ Sports?
— Reverend Jordan Wells (@WellsJorda89710) May 30, 2026
Trans athlete AB Hernandez just dominated the California sectional finals in high jump, long jump, and triple jump — and is headed to another State Final.
Biological males competing in girls’ sports isn’t… pic.twitter.com/pdVI0kPWNG
Hernandez dominated the girls’ field in the three events throughout the 2025-26 season. The athlete took first place in the triple jump in all 16 tournaments; won 16 of 17 tournaments in the long jump, and won 14 of 16 in the high jump, as shown on Athletic.net.
Nereyda Hernandez, AB’s mother, attributed her child’s success to hard work and perseverance.
“Her identity doesn’t give her an advantage; it gives her courage,” Ms. Hernandez said in a May 11 statement. “It takes immense bravery to show up, compete, and be visible in a world that often questions your very right to exist, let alone to participate.”
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