What's happened before can happen again.A transgender-identifying athlete won a girls' track and field state title in Maine last month..However, in the spring, it may be two transgender athletes winning Maine Principals' Association girls' outdoor track and field, on June 7, 2025.Greely High School junior Katie Spencer won two Maine Principals' Association Class B girls' indoor track state titles last week -- one in the pole vault (10 feet, 6 inches) and a team state title. Greely won the team state title by one point, beating Freeport 72-71, and the 10 points Spencer got for winning the pole vault was the difference-maker.During the spring 2024 season, the winning jump at the girls' outdoor Class B state title meet was also 10 feet, 6 inches -- and the girl who got it was a senior.Meanwhile, Spencer's best performance during the winter season was an 11-foot jump at a January 31 meet; Spencer jumped 10 feet, 6 inches at the rest of the meets, according to Athletic.net.Additionally, Spencer competed with the boys last season under the name John Rydzewski, several outlets have reported. Maine state Representative Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) also posted a picture of Spencer on the podium in boys' and girls' track and noted the athlete's position in the boys' state championship meet.The athlete's best jump ever was 12 feet in a meet on February 2, 2024. Spencer also finished fifth (11 feet, 6 inches) at the boys' outdoor Class B state championship meet last June, according to Athletic.net.Another transgender-identifying athlete may win another girls' outdoor track state title this spring: Maine Coast Waldorf (Freeport, Maine private school) junior Soren Stark-Chessa.Stark-Chessa won the Maine Principals' Association Class C girls' outdoor track state championship in the 800-meter last season, as NewBostonPost previously reported.Since Stark-Chessa won the event by over 10 seconds last year, the athlete is in position to repeat as a state champ.The Maine Principals' Association allows student-athletes to participate on teams that match their self-selected gender identity instead of 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."Greely, which Spencer attends, is a public high school in Cumberland, Maine; it serves about 600 students. Cumberland is a town with around 8,700 people, located about 10 miles north of Portland, Maine.Meanwhile, Maine Coast Waldorf, which Stark-Chessa attends, is a small private school in Freeport, Maine. It has 268 students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Freeport, Maine is a town of approximately 8,800 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It is located about 17 miles northeast of Portland.Athletic directors for Greely and Maine Coast Waldorf could not be reached for comment.
What's happened before can happen again.A transgender-identifying athlete won a girls' track and field state title in Maine last month..However, in the spring, it may be two transgender athletes winning Maine Principals' Association girls' outdoor track and field, on June 7, 2025.Greely High School junior Katie Spencer won two Maine Principals' Association Class B girls' indoor track state titles last week -- one in the pole vault (10 feet, 6 inches) and a team state title. Greely won the team state title by one point, beating Freeport 72-71, and the 10 points Spencer got for winning the pole vault was the difference-maker.During the spring 2024 season, the winning jump at the girls' outdoor Class B state title meet was also 10 feet, 6 inches -- and the girl who got it was a senior.Meanwhile, Spencer's best performance during the winter season was an 11-foot jump at a January 31 meet; Spencer jumped 10 feet, 6 inches at the rest of the meets, according to Athletic.net.Additionally, Spencer competed with the boys last season under the name John Rydzewski, several outlets have reported. Maine state Representative Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) also posted a picture of Spencer on the podium in boys' and girls' track and noted the athlete's position in the boys' state championship meet.The athlete's best jump ever was 12 feet in a meet on February 2, 2024. Spencer also finished fifth (11 feet, 6 inches) at the boys' outdoor Class B state championship meet last June, according to Athletic.net.Another transgender-identifying athlete may win another girls' outdoor track state title this spring: Maine Coast Waldorf (Freeport, Maine private school) junior Soren Stark-Chessa.Stark-Chessa won the Maine Principals' Association Class C girls' outdoor track state championship in the 800-meter last season, as NewBostonPost previously reported.Since Stark-Chessa won the event by over 10 seconds last year, the athlete is in position to repeat as a state champ.The Maine Principals' Association allows student-athletes to participate on teams that match their self-selected gender identity instead of 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."Greely, which Spencer attends, is a public high school in Cumberland, Maine; it serves about 600 students. Cumberland is a town with around 8,700 people, located about 10 miles north of Portland, Maine.Meanwhile, Maine Coast Waldorf, which Stark-Chessa attends, is a small private school in Freeport, Maine. It has 268 students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Freeport, Maine is a town of approximately 8,800 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It is located about 17 miles northeast of Portland.Athletic directors for Greely and Maine Coast Waldorf could not be reached for comment.
