A male transgender-identifying track runner won two events at a five-team high shool girls' track meet in Maine last week. .Maine Coast Waldorf junior Soren Stark-Chessa won the 800-meter (2:43.31) and 1600-meter (5:57.27) events on Friday, May 2, according to Milesplit.Stark-Chessa won the 800-meter race by 1.56 seconds and the 1600-meter one by 19.05 seconds.Had the runner competed on the boys' side, Stark-Chessa would've come in eighth place out of 10 runners in the 800-meter and 12th out of 16 runners in the 1,600-meter.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 last spring, 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, was the runner-up.When Maine news outlets such as The Portland Press-Herald, Bangor Daily News, and CentralMaine.com reported on Stark-Chessa's state championship victory, they did not mention the athlete's transgender status.Additionally, Stark-Chessa had third-place finishes in the Maine Principals' Association Class C state championships for girls' cross country and girls' Nordic skiing last year, as NewBostonPost also reported.Yet, the three-sport competitor only started playing on girls' teams last school year. During the 2022-2023 school year, Stark-Chessa competed on the boys' side in outdoor track, cross country, and Nordic skiing.As a freshman, Stark-Chessa never finished higher than 14th in any boys' track meet, while competing against mostly older runners. When competing against boys, Stark-Chessa used the same name: Soren Stark-Chessa.Waldorf School athletic director Susan Sonntag has defended letting Stark-Chessa's play on girls' teams."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."Stark-Chessa isn't the only transgender-identifying high school track state champ in Maine.Greely High (Cumberland, Maine) junior Katie Spencer won a Maine Principals Association Class B girls' indoor track state title in the pole vault (10 feet, 6 inches) and a team state championship in February.Spencer's first-place finish in the pole vault got Greely 10 points; it was the difference-maker in a state championship meet the school won by one point; Greely got 72 points and the runner-up, Freeport High, got 71, according to The Portland Press-Herald.Maine state Representative Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) first brought attention to Spencer's victory in a Facebook post that now has more than 100,000 reactions and 60,000 comments.The Maine Principals' Association lets student-athletes 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 says."At the same time, the MPA is committed to ensuring fair competition and adequate protection of student-athletes," it 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 Coast Waldorf is a private school in Freeport, Maine, with 268 students enrolled from pre-kindergarten through grade 12, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Freeport, Maine is a town with about 8,800 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Freeport is roughly 17 miles northeast of Portland.A spokesman for Maine Coast Waldorf could not be reached for comment on Sunday or Monday.
A male transgender-identifying track runner won two events at a five-team high shool girls' track meet in Maine last week. .Maine Coast Waldorf junior Soren Stark-Chessa won the 800-meter (2:43.31) and 1600-meter (5:57.27) events on Friday, May 2, according to Milesplit.Stark-Chessa won the 800-meter race by 1.56 seconds and the 1600-meter one by 19.05 seconds.Had the runner competed on the boys' side, Stark-Chessa would've come in eighth place out of 10 runners in the 800-meter and 12th out of 16 runners in the 1,600-meter.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 last spring, 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, was the runner-up.When Maine news outlets such as The Portland Press-Herald, Bangor Daily News, and CentralMaine.com reported on Stark-Chessa's state championship victory, they did not mention the athlete's transgender status.Additionally, Stark-Chessa had third-place finishes in the Maine Principals' Association Class C state championships for girls' cross country and girls' Nordic skiing last year, as NewBostonPost also reported.Yet, the three-sport competitor only started playing on girls' teams last school year. During the 2022-2023 school year, Stark-Chessa competed on the boys' side in outdoor track, cross country, and Nordic skiing.As a freshman, Stark-Chessa never finished higher than 14th in any boys' track meet, while competing against mostly older runners. When competing against boys, Stark-Chessa used the same name: Soren Stark-Chessa.Waldorf School athletic director Susan Sonntag has defended letting Stark-Chessa's play on girls' teams."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."Stark-Chessa isn't the only transgender-identifying high school track state champ in Maine.Greely High (Cumberland, Maine) junior Katie Spencer won a Maine Principals Association Class B girls' indoor track state title in the pole vault (10 feet, 6 inches) and a team state championship in February.Spencer's first-place finish in the pole vault got Greely 10 points; it was the difference-maker in a state championship meet the school won by one point; Greely got 72 points and the runner-up, Freeport High, got 71, according to The Portland Press-Herald.Maine state Representative Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) first brought attention to Spencer's victory in a Facebook post that now has more than 100,000 reactions and 60,000 comments.The Maine Principals' Association lets student-athletes 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 says."At the same time, the MPA is committed to ensuring fair competition and adequate protection of student-athletes," it 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 Coast Waldorf is a private school in Freeport, Maine, with 268 students enrolled from pre-kindergarten through grade 12, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Freeport, Maine is a town with about 8,800 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Freeport is roughly 17 miles northeast of Portland.A spokesman for Maine Coast Waldorf could not be reached for comment on Sunday or Monday.
