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Track and field isn’t supposed to be a dangerous sport, especially not at the high school level, but a recent incident between student-athletes from two opposing high schools in Virginia has boiled over into controversy as one student has been accused of intentionally attacking another competitor with her baton during a relay race.
According to ABC 7, Kaelen Tucker, a junior at Brookville High School, was running in the second leg of the 4×200 relay in the Virginia State High School League Championships when she was captured in a viral video appearing to be struck in the head by the baton of another student recently identified as Alaila Everett, a senior at I.C. Norcom High School.
From ABC 7:
“I just felt a bang on my head, and then I fell off the track immediately,” Tucker said.
Tucker was seen on camera dropping her baton and reaching for her head.
“The whole coliseum pretty much gasped,” said Tamarro Tucker, Kaelen’s mother. “I just jumped up out of the bleachers immediately and ran to her on the main floor.”
The 16-year-old was diagnosed with a concussion.
The family said neither the athlete who struck Kaelen nor the other team’s coaches checked on her or reached out afterward.
“To see that they kept running and she not stop and check on my daughter. That was the part I was like, it couldn’t have been an accident,” Tamarro Tucker said.
But Everett, who has since become the subject of intense social media backlash, claims it was, in fact, an accident, and that people are passing judgment after only seeing video footage of the incident from “one angle.”
Everett told WJYZ what happened with her baton was a mishap that occurred after she and Kaelen nearly collided with each other while rounding a curve on the track.
“After a couple times of hitting her, my baton got stuck behind her back … and it rolled up her back. I lost my balance when I pumped my arms again. She got hit,” she said.
“I know my intentions and I would never hit someone on purpose,” she added.
Of course, most people online don’t seem to be buying it, because the video footage that has gone viral makes it pretty difficult to imagine an “angle” that makes what happened look less like an assault. Still, Everett’s parents say she’s innocent, and that the way she has been treated has been abhorrent, video footage be damned.
“I didn’t have to see a first video, second video or tenth video. I know 100 percent that she would never do that to nobody,” Zeketa Cost, Everett’s mother, said.
From WJYZ:
The I.C. Norcom High School team was ultimately disqualified, which Vincent Pugh, former Citywide Athletic Director at Portsmouth Public Schools, found questionable. He said a play-by-play showed that Turner was running closely to Everett.
“If a person comes up on the outside, they got to be a full stride ahead of me before they can cut in front of me,” Pugh said.
The Tuckers spoke with WSLS in Roanoke and said they are seeking an apology from Everett. She revealed she has made efforts to get in contact with Tucker but has been blocked by her on social media. Moreover, the Everett family was served with court papers as the Tuckers want a protective order.
“It doesn’t seem right that this would happen and now we have to go to a city three hours away that everyone hates our guts already,” Genoa Everett, her father said.
“They are assuming my character, calling me ghetto and racial slurs, death threats… all of this off of a nine second video,” Alaila Everett said.
Yeah — I mean, we all know how social media instantly turns into a cesspool of unbridled misogynoir whenever there’s a trending story about a Black woman or girl even being accused of any form of misconduct. If the incident had involved two white student-athletes, the one who allegedly hit the other with her baton certainly would have been well-criticized, but the word “ghetto” or any other anti-Black slur would not come up.
Anyway, the directors of communication for Virginia High School League and Portsmouth Public Schools provided statements addressing the incident.
“We don’t comment on individuals or disciplinary actions. I can tell you that the actions taken by the meet director were appropriate and correct. We are still reviewing the situation but that’s all I have for you right now. It’s a serious issue especially when it involves the safety of athletes in competitions,” wrote VHSL Communication Director Mike McCall.
PPS’s director, Lauren Nolasco, said in her statement, “The division immediately reported the incident to the Virginia High School League (VHSL), which is still investigating. We are cooperating with the VSHL in its work. The division will support and follow the ruling that comes from the VHSL upon its completed investigation.”
See below how social media is debating if the baton-hitting incident was purposeful.