“No girl should have to settle into her starting blocks knowing that you don’t have a fair shot at winning. That’s the situation I’ve faced over and over in my high school career.”
Those were the words of Connecticut high school track and field star Chelsea Mitchell early last week, in support of her lawsuit aimed at a Connecticut high school trans-inclusion sports policy.
On Friday, Mitchell, a 10-time high school track-and-field champion, defeated the trans athletes she had days before called unbeatable.
Mitchell, Canton High’s standout sprinter and the recipient of the Hartford Courant’s 2019 state girls high school athlete of the year honor, defeated defending state champion Terry Miller from Bloomfield High in a close race in the 55-meter dash finals.
Mitchell also beat Miller in the 300 meters en route to another state title; Miller, the defending state champion, failed to qualify for the final heat. Mitchell added a third state championship in the long jump.
Adding to the drama of the meet was the specter of an Alliance Defending Freedom-sponsored Federal lawsuit against the Connecticut Association of Schools, concerning the CIAC’s policy regarding participation of transgender student athletes. Mitchell and two other cisgender female student athletes are part of the suit.
Miller, along with Cromwell high sprinter Andraya Yearwood, both transgender girls, were named in the suit and in an ADF complaint to the U.S. Department of Education last year.
Mitchell’s reaction to her championship day was shock followed by joy.
“It’s definitely big because I’ve never beaten her before,” Mitchell said to the Hartford Courant in reaction to her two wins over Miller. “I guess it’s just exciting.”
Her excitement was dulled by questions of what her performance could mean as her anti-transgender suit goes forward. Mitchell stood by her sentiments from earlier in the week in a post-race interview with WVIT-TV.
“I don’t think it could go against,” she said, “there’s still tons of girls that lose on a daily basis.”
For Miller, who won gold as part of her school’s 4×200 meter relay squad in addition to the silver in the 55-meter sprint, her response was a sporting clap in celebration of the winner at the finish line.
“I clapped because, for me, I’m not a hater,” she told the Hartford Courant. “When you take a win, you take the win. And even if you don’t respect me, I’ll respect you.”
Yearwood was disqualified in the 55-meter prelims due to a false start. She went on to earn two silver medals for legs on her school’s 4×200- and 4X400-meter relay teams.
All three athletes, along with best from all classes in Connecticut, will meet up again for the CIAC Open Championships, Feb. 22.
Yearwood’s mother, for one, is already focused on the next meet, as well as the contest in court ahead:
