'Way to cheat, bro!' Trans high school athlete places 5th in girls' race after being ranked 172 as a boy

A male cross-country runner from a Maine high school competed against girls and was accused of cheating after he placed fifth, despite being ranked lower than 170th in his district when racing against boys.

Soren Stark-Chessa from Maine Coast Waldorf School, a private school in Freeport, Maine, was reportedly ranked 172nd as a freshman boy, according to the Daily Mail.

As a ophomore, Stark-Chessa began racing against girls after allegedly transitioning genders. The athlete is now reportedly ranked fourth in the female rankings and recently finished fifth at the Maine XC Festival of Champions. The boy finished with a race time of 18:11.35, bumping a young girl named Abby out of a top-five finish.

If still racing against boys, this time would have placed Stark-Chessa 143rd.

According to the Daily Caller, Stark-Chessa's best finish as a boy was 14th, but against girls he has a victory and a second-place finish. His victory was with a time of 18:55, a full 1:42 faster than the female in second place.

In a video posted to X, a member of a racing crowd is heard saying "way to cheat, bro!" as Stark-Chessa runs toward the finish line.

Journalist Shawn McBreairty reported that the top 10 finishers received a trophy, which meant one young woman went home extremely disappointed.

"It is not fair to a female who has trained hard," McBreairty claimed a female competitor told him. "Males are biologically faster than females, with testosterone. They need to run under their biological gender."

A Maine mother who has children in track competitions also gave comments of disapproval.

"Men are simply larger, faster, and stronger than their female counterparts," Katherine Collins said. "To compare, the top-ranked female high school runner in all of New England would only be ranked 47th among high school boys in Maine."

Another parent, a physician with two children in Maine high school cross country competitions, said that "if a boy, competing in a sporting event, were found to be using performance enhancing drugs, he would be disqualified due to the presumption of unfair competitive advantage."

"If instead, that same boy chose to compete as a girl, he would not only not be disqualified due to his enormous presumptive competitive advantage, he would be lauded, feted, and applauded," the father added.

The child's athletic director, Susan Sonntag, defended the school's decision to allow a boy to compete against girls.

"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."

The administrator said that the school has adhered to the Maine law that prohibits "unlawful educational discrimination."

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