Thirteen girls on the Camas High School cross-country team walked off the course during a meet against Battle Ground High School, refusing to compete against a junior runner who had started the season racing on the boys’ team.
Camas Runners Forfeit Meet Over Eligibility Rules
When the starting gun fired at the University of Washington’s campus in Camas, roughly half of the 24 runners on the Camas girls’ cross-country team took off down the course alongside the Battle Ground team. The other 13 girls chose a different path. They walked forward past the starting line, veered into the nearby tree line, and forfeited the race.
At the center of the protest was Logan Mihailoff, a junior athlete who began the season competing in the boys’ division—including a 76th-place finish in a junior varsity race at the Ultimook meet in Oregon on September 5—before switching to the girls’ category during the season. The athlete later placed second out of 195 runners at the Nike Portland XC Invitational.
That transition was entirely permitted under the eligibility guidelines of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, which governs high school sports across the state. Camas School District officials stated that they follow WIAA rules allowing competition by gender identity.
Skyview High School Runners Stage Earlier Protest
The Camas walk-off followed a similar demonstration staged weeks earlier by runners from Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington. On September 15, Skyview junior captain Charlie Garrett and sophomore teammate Sierra Retzlaff arrived at a meet against Camas with Keep Women in Women Sports
written on their arms and legs.
The two girls lined up at the start alongside the rest of the field and walked off once the race began. Garrett explained that she felt uncomfortable racing against a biological male, noting that the situation impacts postseason opportunities.
Parental Fallout and the Criminal Trespass Notice at Camas High
The protests extended beyond the student-athletes into the spectator areas, resulting in confrontations and disciplinary action against a parent. Joel Retzlaff, Sierra’s father, brought two signs to the September 15 meet bearing messages about fair competition between biological sexes.
Other parents faced tense exchanges on-site. Holly Burns’s mother, Sarah Burns, pointed out that innate differences in bone length, muscle mass, and respiratory volume push dedicated female competitors out of the sport.
Washington Voters Prepare to Decide Initiative 638
The local cross-country disputes unfold as Washington voters prepare to decide Initiative 638 on November 3. The ballot measure would prohibit students defined as biologically male from competing in female-only interschool athletic competitions and would require verification of biological sex from a healthcare provider.
As athletes and families look ahead to remaining district and state championship meets, students like Garrett and Retzlaff maintain they will handle future encounters on the course with personal respect while continuing to advocate for policy changes.
Kevin Burns also engaged in a separate protest effort, displaying placards to object to the participation of the transgender athlete in female events. Kevin Burns described security guards following him and telling him he would have to leave, recalling that he told them he was not going to leave.
Gathered near podcast host and emcee Brandi Kruse at a Vancouver, Washington, event advocating for fairness in girls’ athletics were female competitors Bailey Andersen, Alanna Smith, Frances Staudt, Kendall Kotzmacher, and Sadie Sullivan. Organizers from Let’s Go Washington alongside commentator Brandi Kruse both stated that a Camas High student had participated on both the boys’ and girls’ cross-country squads throughout the same year.