A Virginia high school track star was in for quite the surprise while she was running the second leg of a 4 x 200 meter relay over the weekend at the VHSL Class 3 State Indoor Championships at Liberty University: She was seemingly attacked by a fellow sprinter who was just steps behind her.
In a video shared over the weekend, high school junior Kaelen Tucker is rounding a turn and fighting for second place in her leg of the race, when opponent Alaila Everett, who is attempting to pass her, smacks Tucker on the back of her head with a baton.
Tucker immediately got off the track and fell to the ground while grabbing her head. Watch below:
In an interview with WSLS, Tucker explained, “When we get onto the other side of the track we have to cross to lane one, you have to merge in, and as I was coming up on her she kind of made me get cut off a little bit so I backed away.”
She continued, “When we got to the curve she kept bumping me in my arm and when we got off the curve I finally passed her and that was when she hit me with the baton.”
Tucker was later diagnosed with a concussion, and Everett’s high school team was disqualified, according to WSLS.
She claims there has been no attempt by Everett to apologize, even if the incident was an accident.
However, Everett is now speaking out about the video and claiming that it was not intentional.
In her interview with WAVY, she said, “After a couple times of hitting her, my baton got stuck behind her back like this, and it rolled up her back. I lost my balance when I pumped my arms again. She got hit.”
Everett added, “I know my intentions and I would never hit someone on purpose.”
Despite her emotional response in the interview, many people on social media aren’t buying it.
@2entailed commented on Instagram, “Girl you are right, no one believes you …”
@rubiredfly also commented, “U hit her babe and didn’t think the consequences were this bad. Tough lesson learned.”
@ChampagneSloshy on X wrote, “She really expect us to believe that.”
The incident is currently being investigated by the Virginia High School League (VHSL), according to WSLS.