When Reese Hogan steps onto the track this weekend for CIF Southern California Division III preliminaries, she will once again face a competitor she never should have had to face—a biological male competing in the girls’ high jump, triple jump, and long jump.
Reese is a track and field athlete at Crean Lutheran High School in Orange County, and this is her second year competing directly against a transgender athlete—identified as AB Hernandez—who currently holds the top female records in all three jump events. California’s Interscholastic Federation (CIF) has taken no substantive action to protect the competitive fairness of girls’ sports.
“This season I’m competing against a male who is in first place in the three events I’ll be competing in,” Reese said in an interview with American Faith. “I expressed my concern. I wanted California and CIF to protect women’s sports.”
“At some point you have to sit back and realize there are limitations and a physical difference between us.”
— Reese Hogan, Crean Lutheran High School
Reese says she first learned the full picture when her brother was researching the topic of males in women’s sports for a school paper and brought it to her attention. Her brother approached her about her time competing against a male in track and field. At first, Reese was uncertain about the claims he brother was making, but upon going online and learning more, she confirmed what he had sensed but neither could prove.
“Obviously I’m going to support my daughter,” her mother Amanda. “We have our own feelings on this topic.” The news was jarring precisely because it felt so distant until it wasn’t. In recent years, the news has been full of stories of female athletes, just like Reese, speaking out about the inequity of a biological male competing in their sport.
“There was no way to verify [his biological sex] at first, so we didn’t think much about it… and I almost didn’t believe it, because I didn’t think it would hit so close to home… or that a high school student would have to deal with this.” she recalled.
The same athlete, AB Hernandez, also reportedly competes on a girls’ volleyball team.
Last season, in the name of “fairness,” CIF quietly introduced what participants described as a “pilot program.” This was a new measure that allowed a female athlete who finished second behind a transgender competitor to share the podium with the male. Reese and her teammates found it inadequate.
“We kept fighting and doing as much as we could,” she said. “It all exploded right before CIF.”
Earlier this year, the family held a press conference in front of CIF headquarters to draw public attention to the issue. Reese says she believes there are more transgender athletes competing in California girls’ sports than most parents and coaches realize, but that the culture of silence around the topic has kept it largely invisible.
“I think there are a lot of transgender athletes that people are unaware of, but no one is bringing attention to it,” she said. “A lot of people are not aware of it. I do club track, and people will come up to me questioning the message ‘Save Girls Sports’ — and they’re competing in this sport and in these jumps [against a male], and they have no idea.”
“Not enough athletes are speaking up. Some are okay with it—which is a problem in and of itself.”
— Reese Hogan
Track and field presents a unique dynamic compared to contact sports. Because there is no physical collision between competitors, Reese and Amanda believe that some observers have been less vocal. But the mother daughter duo argue the harm is no less real. The stakes in any CIF event include public recognition, scholarship visibility, and the simple dignity of a fair competition.
“There is a lot on the table,” noted Phil Hotsenpiller, who interviewed the family. “Being noticed for your skill, scholarships—all of it.”
Asked whether competing against a biological male motivates her to push harder, Reese gave a complicated answer. “It goes through my mind all the time,” she said. “It gives me motivation—but in my head, I know this is a male, and it will be really hard to beat someone like that. At some point you have to sit back and realize there are limitations and a physical difference between us.”
The silence among Reese’s peers troubles her more than the competition itself. She says not enough athletes are speaking out, and that some appear unbothered; a reality she finds difficult to accept. Reese and Amanda also believes male athletes have an untapped role to play. “It would be good to have male athletes step up for the women,” Amanda said.
Phil framed the broader stakes in moral terms: “When we don’t stand up for things like this, it is a commentary on who we are as a society.” Amanda, in agreement, went on to question why, in the current environment, an original birth certificate might be needed to establish a student’s eligibility to compete in a sex-separated sport; an outcome that would have seemed unimaginable a generation ago.
CIF Southern California Division III preliminaries begin this weekend, with the competition continuing in the days that follow. Female athletes will be holding a press conference before the meet begins to continue putting pressure on the state of California and CIF to properly protect and promote its female athletes.
California state officials and CIF leadership have not issued any public statement addressing the fairness concerns raised by Hogan and other families. Chad Biano is reportedly expected to attend the press event ahead of the competition.
For Reese, whatever the outcome on the field, the fight is already bigger than a podium. “We wanted California and CIF to protect women’s sports,” she said simply. “We’re still waiting.”
Watch the full interview here:
