A male transgender-identifying runner competed at the Maine Class C state championship girls’ cross-country meet this past weekend.
Soren Stark-Chessa, a junior at Maine Coast Waldorf School, finished third (19:08.82) out of 81 runners on the girls’ side. Stark-Chessa ran the course about 30 seconds behind Teanne Ewings (18:38.95), a senior at Houlton High School who won the state title.
Late last month, Stark-Chessa won the Southern Maine Class C Regional meet. Stark-Chessa came in first place out of 84 competitors at the October 26 meet, according to Athletic.net. Class C features the smallest schools of the three divisions in the Maine Principal’s Association in girls’ cross country.
Stark-Chessa ran the 5,000-meter course in 19:09.37; it was 16.87 seconds faster than the runner-up, Karen Higgins (19:26.24) from Boothbay Regional High (Boothbay Harbor, Maine).
Had Stark-Chessa competed on the boys’ side at this meet, the runner would have finished in 12th place out of 107 competitors, according to Athletic.net.
This marked the second straight year where Stark-Chessa won the Southern Maine Class C Regional meet; the athlete finished the 5,000-meter course in 19:17.8 last year, as NewBostonPost previously reported.
A three-sport athlete, Stark-Chessa won the 800-meter (2:19.72) at the Maine Principals’ Association Class C girls’ outdoor track and field state championship on Saturday, June 1, as NewBostonPost previously reported. Stark-Chessa’s winning time was 10.12 seconds faster than the second-place finisher: Houlton High runner Natalie Johnson (2:29.84), a junior at the time.
Stark-Chessa also had third-place finishes in the MPA Class C state championships for girls’ cross country and girls’ Nordic skiing last year, as NewBostonPost also reported.
However, Stark-Chessa only started competing on the girls’ side last school year. During the 2022-2023 school year, Stark-Chessa competed on the boys’ side in track, cross country, and Nordic skiing. In boys’ cross country as a freshman, Stark-Chessa never placed higher than 14th in any given meet but mostly finished behind older competitors. Stark-Chessa competed on the boys’ side under the same name: Soren Stark-Chessa.
Waldorf School athletic director Susan Sonntag has defended allowing Stark-Chessa’s participation on the girls’ team.
“We support all our students at Maine Coast Waldorf School, and are proud that our students are given the opportunity to participate in all of our school programs,” Sonntag told NewBostonPost via email on October 25, 2023. “Additionally, MCWS adheres to the Maine Statute, Title 5, §4602 ‘Unlawful educational discrimination’ which is further supported by Maine Principals’ Association (MPA) policy.”
The Maine Principals’ Association allows student-athletes to participate on teams based on their self-selected gender identity rather than their anatomical sex, according to the Gender Equity and Inclusion Policy in its 2022-23 handbook.
“The MPA is committed to maximizing the opportunities for all students to participate in interscholastic activities and athletics, regardless of their gender identity or expression,” the policy states.
“At the same time, the MPA is committed to ensuring fair competition and adequate protection of student-athletes,” the policy adds. “Consistent with its principles, the MPA believes that all students should have the opportunity to participate in MPA activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity unless such participation would result in an unfair athletic advantage or would present an unacceptable risk of injury to other student-athletes.”
Maine conservative activist Shawn McBreairty, who died in June 2024, was the person first to report on Stark-Chessa’s transgender status.
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