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Transgender New Hampshire Girls’ Track Athlete Wins Another State Title

By Tom Joyce | May 24, 2024, 8:19 EDT

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2024/05/24/transgender-new-hampshire-girls-track-athlete-wins-another-state-title/

Maelle Jacques running in the 1600-meter in the Wilderness League championship meet on May 18, 2024. Screenshot of NH Track & Field livestream.

Maelle Jacques is a state champion — again.

Kearsarge Regional High School sophomore Maelle Jacques, a biological male who identifies as a transgender girl, won another state title at the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 3 outdoor track and field state championship meet. The meet took place on Thursday, May 23, at Winnisquam Regional High School in Tilton, New Hampshire.

Jacques tied for a state title win in the high jump (5 feet), according to Lancer Timing. The athlete tied Somersworth High junior Sya McKay. 

The Concord Monitor also mentioned Jacques winning the state title in its event recap but did not mention the athlete’s transgender status.

If the athletes all have the same height for their best jump, the winner is often determined by who took the fewest attempts to get the jump. After that, it would come down to how many attempts it took to clear the bar on previous jumps. Athletes have three attempts to clear the bar at any given height in the high jump event. 

However, Jacques and McKay had identical performances. They cleared each hurdle in one attempt before failing to clear the last hurdle (5 feet, 2 inches) in their final three attempts.

This is the second state title Jacques won this school year; the male athlete also won the NHIAA Division 2 girls’ indoor track and field state championship in the high jump (5 feet, 2 inches) this past winter, as NewBostonPost previously reported.

Kearsarge Regional School District superintendent Winfried Feneberg defended allowing Jacques to compete on the girls’ sports teams in a written statement emailed to NewBostonPost during the late spring of 2023:

Kearsarge supports all students and student-athletes regardless of their gender identity. Each student-athlete has the right to compete in the activity of their choice.

The New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association’s stance on this issue is clear:  Denying that opportunity is a violation of equal rights afforded under state and federal law.

Further, we believe that limiting access to any activity violates our core mission and vision, which are grounded in supporting every student and student-athlete’s right to pursue their goals and interests. As a school community – parents and guardians, faculty, staff, and peers – we celebrate student success and personal growth on and off the field. We firmly believe in guiding each student to become caring, compassionate people who contribute positively to the world and those around them.

We are thankful that our student-athletes have been welcomed throughout the season by competing teams and their coaches, in the true spirit of athletic competition. And we remain grateful to the Kearsarge community for its steadfast commitment to equity and inclusion.

As a school community – parents and guardians, faculty, staff, and peers – we celebrate student success and personal growth on and off the field.

 

The organization that governs interscholastic sports in New Hampshire allows athletes to compete based on their self-selected gender identity.

Here is the organization’s transgender athlete policy, according to its web site:

 

The NHIAA is committed to providing transgender student-athletes with equal opportunities to participate in NHIAA athletic programs consistent with their gender identity. Hence, this policy addresses eligibility determinations for students who have a gender identity that is different from the gender listed on their official birth certificates.

The NHIAA has concluded that it would be fundamentally unjust and contrary to applicable State and Federal Law to preclude a student from participation on a gender specific sports team that is consistent with the public gender identity of that student for all other purposes.

 

Kearsarge Regional High School, the public school in Sutton that Jacques attends, has about 520 students. It serves the towns of Bradford, Newbury, New London, Springfield, Sutton, Warner, and Wilmot. Sutton is a town of about 2,000 about 25 miles northwest of Concord, New Hampshire, the state’s capital.