A Virginia high school sprinter was struck by an opponent with a baton during a state championship race.
The incident took place on March 7 when Kaelen Tucker, from Brookville High School in Lynchburg, Va., was running in a relay race at a state indoor championship held at Liberty University, WSLS reported.
The high school junior had passed Alaila Everett, a track star and senior at I.C. Norcom High School, when she said she felt a sharp pain in her head that forced her to stop running.
Tucker was later assessed by a doctor and was told she had a concussion and possible skull fracture, according to the outlet.
In video that was widely shared on social media, Tucker, who was running the second leg, can be seen grabbing a baton from her teammate and taking off.
As Tucker overtakes Everett, Everett appears to raise her own baton and strike out in Tucker’s direction.
Tucker is seen grabbing her head and falling towards the infield as Everett continued running.
“When you go to the other side of the track, you have to cross into lane one, you have to merge in,” Tucker detailed to the outlet.
“As I was coming up on her, she kind of made me get cut off a little bit, so I backed away,” the athlete continued.
The girl’s parents, Tamarro and Keith, told WSLS that the opposing school’s athletic director and Everett’s father reached out to them, but they want an apology from the team’s coach and Everett.
“They were beside us at the event. They were watching the video at the event, but no one apologized or came to check on her,” the parents said.
“Even if it was a fluke or freak accident, you still would check on her.”
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Everett told outlet WAVY that it indeed was an accident and the video is being misinterpreted.
She claimed the camera angle made the strike look intentional but she insisted her baton “got stuck behind her back, then it rolled up her back, I lost my balance and when I pumped my arms against, she got hit,” Everett explained, tearfully.
“I know my intentions and I would never hit someone on purpose.”
Everett said she has been trying to get in touch with Tucker but was shut down and blocked on social media.
She added that she has been on the receiving end of racial slurs and death threats over the video, noting that while Tucker is “physically hurt” she wants people to sympathize with her feelings, saying through tears that people are “not thinking of my mental.”
The incident is being investigated by the Virginia High School League.
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