California’s Own Governor Called It
“Deeply Unfair.” His State Just Sent a Biological Boy to the Girls’ State Championship Again.
On Saturday, May 23, 2026, at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet in Moorpark, California, AB Hernandez — a senior at Jurupa Valley High School in Riverside County who is a biological male competing in the girls’ division — won the long jump (20′0.75″), won the triple jump (40′7″), and tied for first in the high jump (5′8″). With those three results Hernandez qualifies for the CIF State Track & Field Championship, which runs this Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High in Clovis. It is the second consecutive year Hernandez has reached the state meet in the girls’ category.
The political geometry of this story is not subtle. California’s own Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom (D-CA), said on his own podcast on March 6, 2025 that transgender participation in women’s sports is “deeply unfair.” Fifteen months later, the California Interscholastic Federation he ultimately oversees — and the State Superintendent he appointed, Tony Thurmond (D-CA) — are sending Hernandez to a state championship in the girls’ category for the second year in a row, under a CIF-invented “pilot entry” rule that auto-elevates the biological-female finisher behind the trans athlete to a tied placement on the podium.
Meanwhile a Republican federal Department of Education under Secretary Linda McMahon (R) has 18 active Title IX investigations open — Jurupa USD among them — and the precedent for what non-compliance costs is already in the books: the University of Pennsylvania settled the Lia Thomas case last summer after roughly $175 million in federal funding was paused. Three Jurupa Valley girls and their mothers have a federal Title IX lawsuit pending in the Central District of California since September 9, 2025. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on women’s-sports protections in January. The state championship runs this weekend. Every actor in this fork is now accountable to a reader who can see the receipts.
- 3events sweptLong jump, triple jump, high jump (tied) · CIF SS Masters Meet, Moorpark, May 23, 2026 · Hernandez qualifies for state in all three
- 2ndstraight yearAB Hernandez (Jurupa Valley HS senior) qualifies for the CIF State Track & Field Championship in the girls’ category · meet runs May 29-30, 2026 at Buchanan HS, Clovis
- 18Title IX probesactive federal investigations opened by Sec. Linda McMahon (R) and the Department of Education’s Title IX Special Investigations Team · Jurupa USD is named
- $175MPenn precedentfederal funding paused at the University of Pennsylvania during the Lia Thomas case · settled July 2025 · the funding-loss precedent California faces
- 3Jurupa plaintiffsHadeel Hazameh, Alyssa McPherson, Madison McPherson · mothers Maribel Munoz and Hanan Hazameh · federal Title IX lawsuit filed Sep 9, 2025 in C.D. Cal.
- “unfair”Newsom’s wordGov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), on his own podcast with Charlie Kirk, March 6, 2025: trans participation in women’s sports is “deeply unfair” — the on-record admission his agencies have not acted on
The CIF Southern Section Masters Meet is the second-to-last meet of the California high-school track season. It is the meet that determines who qualifies for the CIF State Championship one week later. On Saturday, May 23, 2026, at Moorpark High School, three jumping events ended the same way: AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley HS on the top step of the podium. Long jump: a winning mark of 20′0.75″, more than a foot ahead of second-place Gianna Gonzalez of Moorpark HS (19′0.25″). Triple jump: 40′7″, 15 inches ahead of second-place Malia Strange of Shadow Hills HS (39′4″). High jump: a tie at 5′8″ with Gwynneth Mureika of Oak Park HS, with CIF’s shared-podium rule making the two co-champions.
One viral image came out of the meet. Reese Hogan, a senior at Crean Lutheran HS who set a school record of 37′2″in the triple jump, briefly stepped onto the first-place podium block after the awards ceremony — then explained: “It wasn’t planned. It was kind of just something that I did in the moment, that felt right. I was standing on the second-place podium and I just felt called to the first-place podium.” Hogan did not qualify for state in the triple jump this year despite the school record. The image — a teenage girl standing on a block she was told was not hers — is now the single most-shared frame from the meet.
“It wasn’t planned. It was kind of just something that I did in the moment, that felt right. I was standing on the second-place podium and I just felt called to the first-place podium.”
Reese Hogan · Crean Lutheran HS senior · on stepping onto the first-place podium block at the CIF SS Masters Meet · May 17, 2026
On March 6, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) sat down for an episode of his own podcast This is Gavin Newsom with conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The exchange that ran across cable was four words long. Asked about transgender athletes in women’s sports, Newsom said it was “deeply unfair.” Those two syllables became the most-quoted thing the governor of California has said about the issue, full stop. They came from his own mouth on his own podcast on his own production schedule. They are not a gotcha clip.
Fifteen months later the California Interscholastic Federation — a private nonprofit that runs high-school sports in California under authority delegated by the California Department of Education, which answers to State Superintendent Tony Thurmond (D-CA) and ultimately to the governor — is sending Hernandez to the state championship for the second consecutive year. The governor has not used the word “unfair” about it since the podcast. He has not asked CIF to revisit its policy. He has not asked Thurmond to revisit the state’s interpretation of AB 1266, the 2013 California statute that allows students to participate in sex-segregated programs consistent with their gender identity. He has not asked the legislature to revisit AB 1266 itself.
What the governor said on the record:trans participation in women’s sports is “deeply unfair.” Said in his own voice, on his own podcast, on March 6, 2025.
What his administration has done since:the California Department of Education has continued to defend the CIF’s policy of permitting trans athletes in the girls’ category. CIF rolled out a “pilot entry” rule that auto-elevates a biological-female finisher to a tied placement with the trans athlete — a workaround that everyone on every side of this story is now treating as an admission the underlying competition is not fair.
What he hasn’t done: no legislative ask, no CDE policy revision, no CIF reform request, no public follow-up to his own podcast statement. The single load-bearing fact of the governor’s posture is that he said it once and stopped.
“deeply unfair”
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) · describing transgender participation in women’s sports · This is Gavin Newsom podcast, episode with Charlie Kirk · March 6, 2025
After Hernandez won three state titles at the 2025 meet, CIF announced a “pilot entry process for the 2025 CIF Track & Field Championship.” Per CIF’s own statement, the mechanism is simple: when a transgender athlete places in an event, the biological-female finisher immediately behind them is auto-elevated to the same placement and shares the podium spot. CIF revived the same pilot for 2026. The KQED reporting (May 19, 2026) confirms the policy is back. The reporting frames it as a “quiet” reinstatement.
Riley Gaines — the former University of Kentucky NCAA swimmer who tied Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA championship and has become the most-recognized public advocate for sex-segregated women’s sports — had the most-quoted reaction. Posted on X after the CIF Southern Section Divisional Championship in mid-May:
“If you have to create a shared podium for the boy competing in the girls’ event, you’ve already admitted you know he isn’t a girl and that his participation is unfair.”
Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) · X · May 16, 2026
If you have to create a shared podium for the boy competing in the girls’ event, you’ve already admitted you know he isn’t a girl and that his participation is unfair.
ICONS has documented every athletic season since 2021 in which biological males have displaced biological females from podium finishes, state qualifying spots, and scholarship opportunities. The 2026 CIF Southern Section Masters Meet is the latest entry. Sex-based eligibility is not a debate — it is the entire premise of the women’s category.
The girls of Jurupa Valley and the rest of the CIF SS Masters field do not exist as a backdrop to one athlete’s story. They train year-round, set school records, and qualify on the strength of their own results. The point of a girls’ category is the girls who compete in it.
On February 5, 2025, President Donald Trump (R) signed Executive Order 14201, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” The order conditions federal education funding on Title IX compliance and instructs the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to enforce sex-segregated athletic categories as a matter of federal law. The NCAA changed its trans-eligibility policy the next day. California’s response, via CIF and CDE, was that the state would continue to follow state law (AB 1266).
On May 27, 2025, Trump posted on Truth Social that California’s federal funding would be held back, “maybe permanently,” if EO 14201 was not adhered to — referencing the AB Hernandez case by name in the surrounding cycle. In July 2025 the University of Pennsylvania settled the Lia Thomas case with the U.S. Department of Education after roughly $175 million in federal funding had been paused. That settlement is the operational precedent: federal funding is a real lever and the Department has shown it will pull it.
Large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, from California if the Executive Order on biological boys in girls’ sports is not adhered to. This is unfair. This is wrong. The girls deserve protection — and they’ll get it.
Paraphrased commentary · not a verbatim post
Trump’s May 27, 2025 Truth Social posture on California athletic funding, restated in the ongoing 2026 enforcement cycle over the AB Hernandez case.
By January 14, 2026, Education Secretary Linda McMahon (R) had stood up a Title IX Special Investigations Team and opened 18 active investigations into jurisdictions her office has identified as non-compliant. Jurupa Unified School District is among them. The California Community College Athletic Association is a separate, related federal probe. On February 13, 2026, McMahon told Breitbart that California and Minnesota are the two states at most acute risk of federal funding loss for non-compliance.
The Department of Education’s Title IX Special Investigations Team has opened 18 investigations in jurisdictions including the Jurupa Unified School District. Federal funding is conditioned on compliance with Title IX. Compliance is non-negotiable.
Paraphrased commentary · not a verbatim post
Composite of Sec. McMahon’s stated position on Title IX enforcement, January-February 2026, drawn from Department of Education press releases and Breitbart interview.
On September 9, 2025, three female student-athletes at Jurupa Valley HS — Hadeel Hazameh, Alyssa McPherson, and Madison McPherson — along with two of their mothers, Maribel Munoz and Hanan Hazameh, filed a federal Title IX lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the Jurupa Unified School District, the California Interscholastic Federation, and the California Department of Education. The complaint, as summarized by ABC7 Los Angeles and Athletic Business, alleges that placing Hernandez in girls’ athletic categories and locker-room facilities subjected the plaintiffs to “unfair athletic competition, safety risks, sexual harassment, and deprivation of equal opportunities” in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
Madison McPherson is now a college-level volleyball player. Her younger sister Alyssa and Hadeel Hazameh still compete for Jurupa Valley HS. The complaint is unresolved as of publication; the district’s response and the parallel federal Education Department investigation into Jurupa USD are both still active. Six high schools across California have reportedly forfeited volleyball matches rather than play Jurupa Valley with Hernandez on the roster — those forfeits are part of the complaint’s harassment / equal-opportunity record.
Jurupa Unified School District — Superintendent: Trenton Hansen. Riverside County; serves Jurupa Valley HS among other schools.
California Interscholastic Federation: private nonprofit governing high-school athletics statewide; operates under authority delegated by the California Department of Education.
California Department of Education — State Superintendent: Tony Thurmond (D-CA) — elected statewide official; has publicly defended the CIF trans-eligibility policy.
State of California — Governor: Gavin Newsom (D-CA) — said it was “deeply unfair” on his own podcast March 6, 2025; has not asked any agency in his administration to act on that statement.
Federal counterweight: U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon (R) under President Donald Trump (R) — 18 active Title IX investigations including Jurupa USD; the $175M Penn precedent is the funding-loss benchmark.
The arc from federal executive order to this weekend’s state championship is a 16-month sequence in which every actor has had time to act. Each row below is a public, dated event.
Read the timeline left to right and one fact dominates: the federal and state branches have moved in opposite directions for sixteen months. The federal Republican executive moved fast — EO, funding threat, 18 investigations, named the jurisdiction. The state Democratic executive moved twice: once with the governor’s podcast statement, once when CIF added the shared-podium workaround. Neither of those moves changed who is on the start line. The state championship runs this weekend with Hernandez entered in three girls’ events.
AB Hernandez’s mother Nereyda Hernandez went online after the Masters Meet to defend her child and to criticize the CIF officials who ran the shared-podium ceremony. Quoted by Fox News / OutKick:
“All these big tough ex-athletes at CIF, and the most courage they could muster was to hand this to coaches at AB’s meet today. Not one of them was brave enough to look her or her mother in the eye.”
Nereyda Hernandez · mother of AB Hernandez · Instagram · May 17, 2026
Her post is on the record. So is her concern, separately documented by KQED, that the pilot rule makes her child “nonexistent” because the headlines focus on the shared-podium spectacle rather than the athletic result. The dignity argument she is making on behalf of her child is a legitimate one. So is the dignity argument the three Jurupa Valley plaintiffs are making in federal court. The CIF’s shared-podium workaround papers over the underlying policy question precisely because it tries to honor both sides without resolving either. The federal investigation, the state championship this weekend, and the pending Supreme Court ruling will resolve it. The pilot rule will not.
The CIF State Track & Field Championship runs Friday May 29 and Saturday May 30, 2026 at Buchanan High School in Clovis, California. AB Hernandez is entered in three girls’ events: long jump, triple jump, high jump. In 2025 Hernandez won the high jump title outright and shared the long jump and triple jump titles under the same pilot rule. There is no procedural reason, on the eligibility track CIF currently runs, to expect a different outcome this year.
What does have the power to change the outcome runs on three parallel tracks:
- Federal funding action. Sec. McMahon (R) has named Jurupa USD as one of 18 active investigations. If the Education Department moves from investigation to funding pause — the way it did at Penn — the financial pressure shifts to the district and through it to CIF and CDE.
- Federal court. The Jurupa girls’ Title IX suit in the Central District of California has been pending since September 9, 2025. A motion for preliminary injunctive relief would be the fastest route to changing eligibility before the 2026-27 season.
- Supreme Court. The Court heard oral arguments January 14, 2026 on the consolidated women’s-sports cases (the West Virginia and Idaho statutes restricting trans participation in girls’ sports). A decision is expected before the term ends in late June. A ruling that those statutes do not violate the Equal Protection Clause or Title IX would reset every state’s policy posture, California’s included.
None of those tracks will move before the Clovis meet on Friday and Saturday. What will be on the record by Sunday night is one more set of CIF results showing biological-female finishers behind a biological-male athlete on the girls’ podium. That record will be cited in the Jurupa girls’ federal complaint, in the McMahon Department’s 18 investigations, in the next Riley Gaines podcast episode, and in the briefing books of every state legislator who will be asked to vote on a copy of the West Virginia statute in 2027.
The governor said it was “deeply unfair.” March 6, 2025. On the record. On his own podcast.
His agencies didn’t act on what he said. The CDE continued to defend the CIF policy. CIF invented a shared-podium workaround that treats the question as a ceremonial problem rather than a competitive one.
Girls are competing under a rule the governor publicly called unfair. This weekend at the state championship. In documented school records that say one of them is a co-champion of a contest that finished with another athlete’s name first. The accountability for that fork sits with named California officials, and it is not a partisan claim to say so when the on-the-record statement is the governor’s own.
This page will be updated after the Clovis meet with the final state results, with any federal funding action that follows, and with the Supreme Court decision when it comes down before the end of the term.