Social media slams male high school athlete for cheating in girls’ track and field championship.

High School Freshman Dominates Girls’ Championship, Social Media Users Call Him a “Cheat”

Controversy erupted after a high school freshman boy won two events at the Wilderness Championship in New Hampshire, with social media users calling him a “cheat.”

At the event, Maelle Jacques finished first in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:27 and first in the high jump with a jump of 4 feet, 11 inches. However, his victory was met with criticism on social media, with users issuing condemnatory responses to the news of Jacques’ domination of the two events.

What Social Media Users Had to Say

• “No. He didn’t win. Cheating is entering the building from the side door like the service maid does,” one commenter remarked.
• “Pathetic cheating male,” another echoed.
• “Cheat, he knows he’s a cheat, we know he’s a cheat, everyone knows he’s a MASSIVE CHEAT,” a third person added.
• “So, basically, this tells me that a guy can grow pigtails and place in certain women’s events as a freshman? Good job erasing women,” a fourth user stated.

However, the NHIAA by-laws state that gender equity is an atmosphere and a reality where fair distribution of overall athletic opportunity and resources, proportionate to enrollment, are available to girls and boys, and where no student athlete, coach, or athletic administrator is discriminated against in any way in the athletic program on the basis of gender.

In 2016, after the NHIAA’s previous policy that required transgender athletes to have taken hormones before they were allowed to compete had been jettisoned, Jeff Collins, executive director of the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association, said that the requirement was “unrealistic,” adding, “What it’s all about is: How do we accommodate these kids, and how do we make sure that they have a fulfilling high school experience? That’s what it really comes down to.”

John Stark Regional High School Principal Chris Corkery stated, “No kid is going to say, ‘Wear a skirt this month and go by Mary and we’ll win the championship.’ That’s just not going to happen.”

At the 2023 NHIAA Division III Track & Field Championships, Jacques finished second in the girls’ 1600 with a time of 5:32.39, less than two seconds behind the winner, Molly Ellison, who hails from the same high school, and fifth in the Girls High Jump.