A female high school runner is facing a criminal charge after striking and injuring another runner with a baton earlier this month.
On March 4 in Lynchburg, during a 4×200-meter indoor relay at the Virginia state championships, Kaelen Tucker was on the second leg of the relay when she passed Alaila Everett, who can be seen in videos pulling her arm back and striking Kaelen in the head.
Tucker held the back of her head, exited the track, fell infield, and did not finish the race. Her family later said that she had sustained a concussion.
The entire Norcom High School team was disqualified for ‘contact interference. ’
Videos of the event took the media by storm. Thousands of people on TikTok and Instagram are recreating the moment and stating their opinions on the matter. Many people believe that Everett intentionally assaulted Tucker because she had a motive since it was a rivalry match.
Alaila Everett was charged with a misdemeanor of assault and battery, said Bethany Harrison, the commonwealth attorney for the city of Lynchburg.
However, days after being charged, Everett held a rally outside her high school, I.C. Norcom High School, in Portsmouth. The Norcom senior sobbed as she took the microphone and thanked her friends and family for standing by her as she faced accusations that she intentionally struck Tucker.
“Nobody else wanted to hear my story except for the people that know me, and people that know I would never do anything like that,” she said at the rally outside her high school. “I would never harm anybody. I’m not a fighter. I’m not even confrontational. I wouldn’t even do that on purpose. And I thank y’all for believing in me. And I love y’all,” she said in video footage.
In interviews, Everett admitted that she understood that the video looked like she intentionally hit Tucker, but swore she would never do something malicious like that. Due to people’s perception of the video, she has been receiving death threats and enduring a slew of racial slurs.
Portsmouth NAACP President James Boyd attended the support rally for Everett and said the threats she received were ‘unacceptable.’ “From all accounts, she is an exceptional young leader and scholar whose athletic talent has been well-documented and recognized across our state,” the Portsmouth NAACP said. Community activist Germain Green, who also came to support the young lady, said at the rally, “It bothered me to my heart to see how the whole world was dragging this young lady, dragging her character based on what they thought they saw.”
However, Tucker didn’t buy her story, telling local ABC affiliate WSET News, “I’m still trying to take it all in, I can’t believe it happened.”
Kaelen’s mother, Tamarro Tucker, openly slammed the team at Norcom for not checking in on her daughter after the accident. “No apologies. No coaches. No athlete. No anything. Even if it was an accident, which I don’t believe it was… nothing,” she told the outlet.
After her mother’s statements, Alaila’s father sent out a formal apology, along with an apology from the athletic director at Norcom.
In recent months, there have been several incidences of violence and poor sportsmanship in women’s sports ranging from a “heated” third-grade basketball game that left parents and coaches upset and caused a fight, to a college-level basketball game LSU, vs. Oklahoma where two players received technical fouls ejecting them from the game and benching them for the following match.
Contrary to recent trends, Sahuaro High School placed #1 on the Overall School Sportsmanship Rating and also won best school for sportsmanship in Southern Arizona.
