Trans runner who placed 76th in boys’ JV takes second in Washington girls’ district championship

Logan Mihailoff finished second at the October 21 Class 4A Greater St. Helens League district cross-country championships in Camas. Skyview High School’s Sierra Retzlaff and Charlie Garrett finished third and fourth, respectively. Without Mihailoff in the girls’ field, the two would have placed second and third.

Retzlaff and Garrett are the same Skyview runners who walked off the starting line during a September meet to protest competing against a male. On Wednesday, both competed, and both finished one position lower because Mihailoff occupied second place.

The district result came less than seven weeks after Mihailoff finished 76th in boys’ JV at the September 5 Ultimook Race.

After switching to girls’ competition, Mihailoff finished second among 195 runners in the girls’ junior/senior JV race at the September 26 Nike Portland XC Invitational, placing ahead of 193 girls. Three days later, he won the girls’ varsity race against Union High School, finishing ahead of 45 female competitors.

At the October 10 Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational in Arlington, Mihailoff finished 39th among 135 runners in the girls’ elite 5K, placing ahead of 96 girls. His time was 18:36.8. That time would have placed last among the 159 competitors in the boys’ elite race.

Opposition has spread beyond rival teams. Nearly half of Camas’s own girls’ cross-country team walked off the starting line during the October 13 meet against Battle Ground.

Retzlaff and Garrett had staged their earlier protest with messages supporting women’s sports painted on their arms and legs. “We did it because we didn’t want to act like we were OK with what was happening,” Retzlaff previously explained at the time.

Camas has defended its participation policy by citing state law and Washington Interscholastic Activities Association eligibility rules, which permit students to compete consistent with their gender identity. The district previously said it would continue following those requirements unless the rules or laws change.

Wednesday’s championship also drew supporters to the “Camas Courage: Support Our Girls” rally organized by Sousa. Demonstrators gathered near the competition to support female athletes objecting to males competing in girls’ sports.

Sarah Babb, whose daughter Madeline has run on Camas’s cross-country team for three years, told the rally that her daughter participated in the walkout. “She is one of the girls that decided to walk out the race last week to let the coaches and the administrators know that they are tired of competing against a boy on the girls team. It isn't right. It isn't fair. And the girls are frustrated,” Babb said.

“This has been going on since the second week of the season. It's been a distraction from their desire to just run and compete against other girls, which is what they are entitled to do according to Title 9, something so many women fought for in the seventies.”

Tumwater basketball player Frances Staudt, who previously refused to compete against a male opponent, also addressed the rally and urged more girls to stand together. “Two years ago, I stood up for something I truly believe in. I stood up for fairness, I stood up for privacy, and I stood up for the rights of girls to compete in sports that were created for us,” Staudt said.

“And because I stood up, I was called a bigot. I was called hateful. I was told I was the problem. Why? Because I refuse to stay silent.”

Staudt praised the Camas runners who forfeited their race rather than compete against their male teammate. “We shouldn't have to walk away from the starting line just to make our voices heard,” she said, adding that girls should not be publicly shamed for speaking up.

She closed by urging Washington voters to approve Initiative 638. “Believe the girls,” Staudt said. “We're in the 12th round of this fight, and we need to deliver the knockout punch and vote yes on I-638 to protect girls' sports.”

The rally came less than two weeks before Washington voters decide on Initiative IL26-638, which would prohibit biological males from competing in designated girls’ school sports and require health care provider verification of biological sex through sports physical documentation.