AB Hernandez, a junior on the Jurupa Valley High School track and field team, was preparing Tuesday, May 27, for the CIF State meet, but the biggest challenge is not on the field — it is coming from elected leaders, including President Donald Trump.

Hernandez, the only openly transgender athlete competing at the CIF State Track and Field meet later this week, has been facing opposition from outspoken critics, including Trump, who posted on social media Tuesday that he will withhold federal funding from California if transgender athletes are allowed to compete in girls sports, and he called on local authorities to prevent Hernandez from competing in the CIF State meet.

“THIS IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS. Please be hereby advised that large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, if the Executive Order on this subject matter is not adhered to,” Trump wrote, in part, on his Truth social.

AB Hernandez has competed on the Jurupa Valley High School track and field team for three years. Last year as a sophomore, she was third in the triple jump in the CIF State Track and Field.

“I couldn’t be any prouder regardless of all the noise,” AB Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda Hernandez, said. “She’s successful. She is first place, and it’s her third year. I couldn’t be any prouder.”

AB Hernandez, who won the girls invitational portion of the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut in April and CIF Southern Section Division 3 titles in May at Moorpark High School in the long jump and triple jump, is ranked by athletic.net No. 1 in the triple jump and No. 2 in the long jump. She will compete in the state competition Friday and Saturday in Clovis.

“I leave the controversy out at the meet,” Hernandez told City News Service at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Moorpark High School on Saturday. “I just relax and … do what I can do, hone in, and leave it all out on the (field) and just focus. Do what I can do and just leave the controversy out.”

Hernandez’s participation in high school girls track and field meets has drawn the ire of Sonja Shaw, Chino Valley Unified School District board president and a candidate for California superintendent of public instruction.

Shaw said she’s been attending high school track and field meets in the area to draw attention to Hernandez competing in girls events.

“We will keep fighting, and our girls will win,” Shaw told CNS. “Our district has already sent a letter to President Trump asking him to intervene because one daughter hurt is one too many. This is the hill we are willing to die on, and we are not standing alone.”

Shaw said she’ll continue to file “claims with the Office of Civil Rights, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Education. Advocates for Faith & Freedom already has a lawsuit in motion, and California Family Council has launched a petition.”

Nereyda Hernandez sent a cease-and-desist letter to Shaw in response to comments Shaw posted on her Instagram account. The comments were directed at AB Hernandez about biological males competing in high school girls sports.

Shaw brought the letter and read parts of it during a school board meeting in March.

When Shaw was finished reading the letter, she tore it in half and said, “This is how I feel about the letter.”

“I ripped up the cease-and-desist letter in front of the board and I’d do it again,” Shaw said. “That letter was nothing more than an intimidation tactic designed to silence truth and protect an agenda that’s hurting our girls. I’m not here to cower to threats or political theater. I’m here to stand for reality, fairness, and the rights of young women who are being erased in real time.”

Trump says in his post that he plans to speak to Gov. Gavin Newsom Tuesday and also ordered authorities to intervene at the state competition to be held Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High School in Clovis.

“The Governor, himself, said it is ‘UNFAIR.’ I will speak to him today to find out which way he wants to go???,” the post reads. “In the meantime I am ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow the transitioned person to compete in the State Finals. This is a totally ridiculous situation!!!”

Meanwhile, AB Hernandez continues to prepare for what’s ahead.

Following the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Moorpark High School, Hernandez was ranked first by athletic.net in the state in the triple jump at 41 feet, 4 inches, set in April at the Mt. SAC Relays. Kira Gant Hatcher from St. Mary’s College is ranked second at 40 feet, 10.5 inches set at the CIF North Coast Section Meet of Champions on Saturday.

Hernandez is ranked second in the state by athletic.net in the long jump at 20 feet, 1.5 inches, set in March in a meet against La Sierra High School. Katie McGuinness from La Cañada High School was ranked No. 1 in the state in the long jump at 20 feet, 4 inches, set in April at the CIF Southern Section Division 3 preliminary meet.

The top six athletes in each event automatically qualified to compete in the CIF State meet.

“At state, it’s a different environment,” Hernandez said. “Everyone’s pushing for that No. 1 spot.”

The outcry online and from elected officials has been concerning for the Hernandez family and their supporters.

Daisy Gardner, a friend of the Hernandez family, said the family has received death threats in social media posts and there are coordinated campaigns of harassment against transgender athletes, not only AB Hernandez.

“Some of the scariest people are coming out of the woodwork saying they wish harm on this family and this kid,” Gardner said. “I cannot tell you how impressive it has been to see a child compete and focus on her sport.”

In the United States, about 3.3% of high school students identify as transgender, according to a 2023 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We don’t keep statistics on transgender athletes,” said Thom Simmons, assistant commissioner of the CIF Southern Section. “It’s not a data point we keep.”

Following Tuesday’s controversy and push from Trump, the governing board for California high school sports announced it is changing its competition rules at this weekend’s state track and field championships to allow more girls to take part.

The CIF said it was extending access for more cisgender athletes to participate in the championship meet this weekend.