The thing that never happens keeps happening

This past weekend in California, a boy who goes by AB Hernandez placed in 3 girls' track and field events at the sectional prelims. He is ranked #1 in the triple jump in the state.

Over the weekend at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Sectional Track and Field Prelims, a boy who identifies as a girl took away state qualifying positions from 3 different girls.

He goes by AB Hernandez and he placed in the high jump, the long jump and the triple jump. It is unusual to exhibit skill in each of these events. While athletes often compete in the long jump and triple jump, the high jump tends to be it’s own thing.

Hernandez placed 8th in the girls’ high jump, taking a qualifying spot from Lily Kimura of South Pasadena High School. He will advance to the finals, which takes the top 9.

Hernandez placed 3rd in the girls’ long jump with a 19’2” jump. He will also advance to the section finals in this event — taking away the spot from Sofia Boyd, a senior at Notre Dame High School.

In the triple jump, Hernandez jumped 40’2” finishing 1st, taking away the qualifying spot from Charlotte Nystrom of Thousand Oaks High School. Hernandez is currently ranked #1 in the state in the girls’ triple jump.

Here are the results:

If Hernandez has a birth certificate that says he is female, he will be able to compete in women’s in college under current NCAA rules. It is unclear whether or not he does at this point, but it is pretty easy to do so. All one needs to do in California to change your sex on a birth certificate is submit an Affidavit to Amend a Record form to the California Department of Public Health, along with an affidavit attesting that the change aligns with your gender identity and is not for fraudulent purposes (I mean, it’s all fraudulent, right?). The fee is $23 for the amendment and one certified copy. This is all that is needed.

Before the meet, Hernandez’s mother shared a video to social media. Here is that video with commentary from Brett Craig, our creative director at XX-XY Athletics.

For me, the most disturbing part of her video is the not so thinly veiled threat directed at any girl who might consider standing up in her own defense by refusing to compete or simply wearing a shirt that says Save Girls Sports (as some competitors have done earlier in the season and were forced to take them off by CIF, which also happened at this meet). Hernandez’s mom also suggests that her son just works harder than the girls, and if they only worked harder, they’d be able to beat him.

But Hernandez has male advantage. He is naturally faster and stronger, both required for all of the events that he competes in. And while he may not have gotten first in all events, that only speaks to his “average-ness” as a male competitor. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t have “male advantage” when competing against girls.

For instance, Hernandez jumped 5’2” in the high jump, garnering an 8th place finish. But a boys’ winning leap in the high jump in the California state championships in 2024 was over 7’, approximately 40% higher than Hernandez.

And in the long jump, Hernandez achieved a distance of 19’2” but in the California state championships in boys in 2024, the winner jumped over 24’, approximately 26% further than Hernandez.

And in the triple jump, where Hernandez is ranked #1 in the state at present, he jumped 40’2” but in the California state championships in 2024 the winner achieved a distance of over 47’, approximately 17.5% further than Hernandez.

Suffice it to say he would not qualify for state if he was competing in boys in any event.

It is very clear, when boys compete in girls track and field events, they win.

And girls lose.