District cross country championships moved over security concerns surrounding Camas transgender runner

The 4A Greater St. Helens League district cross country championship meet Wednesday has been moved from a public park to the former Underwriters Laboratories campus in Camas over security concerns. The Camas High School cross country program has received national attention over the participation of a transgender runner. Logan Mihailoff has competed in five girls races since Sept. 15 after running in a boys race Sept. 5. Mihailoff competed on the Camas boys team the previous two seasons. On Tuesday, about a dozen runners on the Camas girls team staged a protest against the state policy that allows Mihailoff to compete as a girl. They walked the first 50 meters of their race against Battle Ground before exciting the course. Several more Camas runners also stayed home from Tuesday’s dual meet, as did five Battle Ground girls. That protest drew national attention. Fox News and a slew of conservative online figures shared videos of the runners walking off the course. That footage has been viewed millions of times and been accompanied by derisive comments aimed at Mihailoff and Camas school administration. The 4A district meet is typically held at Lewisville Regional Park, north of Battle Ground. 3A/4A Greater St. Helens League President Bob Kickner said league athletic directors voted 9-0 to move the race. “Based on the controversial climate surrounding the cross country community, the Greater St. Helens League reevaluated our potential host courses in terms of safety, security, controllability, staffing and course conditions,” said Kickner, who is the athletic director at Kelso High School. “We feel this move will put all the student athletes in the best position to have a successful and competitive championship.” Lewisville Regional Park sits outside of city limits and is operated by Clark County Public Works. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for law enforcement at that site. By contrast, the Camas School District bought the UL campus property in 2019. That allows school district security officers to patrol the site along with the Camas Police Department. Five district security officers and two Camas police cruisers were present at Tuesday’s dual meet, a far larger security presence than is typical for a local cross country event. Runners are visible for much of the 5,000-meter course at the UL campus. That is not the case on the heavily forested Lewisville Park course. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, which governs high school sports in the state, allows athletes to compete in accordance with their gender identity. That policy is in line with state anti-discrimination protections. Local protests against that WIAA policy have gone back as far as Sept. 15, the first time Mihailoff competed in a girls race. In that dual meet at the UL campus, two Skyview girls walked off the course in protest. One girl’s father was banned from Camas school property for a year after driving his vehicle through a closed area while loudly protesting. Moving the Wednesday’s race to the UL campus allows the Camas School District to enforce that ban. For Camas, Wednesday’s district meet is the first of three postseason races that culminate in the WIAA state championships Nov. 7 in Pasco. For the Camas girls who protested, one major objection is that Mihailoff might take a postseason spot away from another teammate. After two-plus seasons of competing as a junior varsity runner as a boy, Mihailoff has been the first- or second-fastest Camas runner in each girls race. A team is allowed to enter seven varsity runners and bring two alternates to postseason events. The Camas controversy also comes amid heightened political tension ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Initiative 638, which is on the ballot, would change state law to require students who want to play on K-12 girls sports teams to verify that they were assigned female at birth. The campaign against the initiative, No Hate in WA State, argues that girls would be subject to invasive genital exams to medically certify their sex, while boys would be exempt, which amounts to discrimination.

Related Stories