Crean Lutheran Track Star Reese Hogan Faces Trans Athlete Again in Postseason After Viral Protest

Crean Lutheran High School track star Reese Hogan will compete against the same trans athlete this weekend in the postseason after going viral a year ago for protesting on a medal podium.

Hogan stepped up from second place to the top spot in the triple jump last year to protest the trans athlete who beat her. She placed second to AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley High School last Saturday in the sectional preliminary round. The two will face off again in long jump, high jump and triple jump.

Asked if she would make another demonstration on the podium this weekend, Hogan told Fox News Digital, "If the opportunity presents itself, we'll see, yeah."

The viral podium moment came days after an interview Hogan and other girls gave to Fox News Digital at the state tournament. That interview drew a response from the U.S. Department of Education and sparked a public feud between President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Hogan said she came up with the protest on the spot. "It wasn't planned. It was kind of just something that I did in the moment, that felt right," she said. "I was standing on the second-place podium and I just felt called to the first-place podium. I didn't want to disrespect anyone, so I made sure that the athlete stepped off the podium first before I stepped on."

The crowd nearby erupted in applause as Hogan took the first-place spot. "I felt validated in how I felt. I felt people saw me. I felt there was more support than I thought there would be, and more people who were backing our side of protecting girls' sports," she said.

Video of the stunt spread on social media and drew millions of views. It caught the eye of "Save Women's Sports" activists, including Riley Gaines, and fueled debate over trans athletes in girls' sports.

Hogan did not expect the attention. She said she first saw social media posts with just a few likes, but they gained traction later. "Now that I took a stand in this people do recognize who I am a little bit more, and they're like 'Oh, you're the girl who stepped up on the first-place podium,'" she said.

Hogan faced backlash from pro-trans critics. "Yeah," she replied when asked about mean comments. "When you do stuff like that, you have to expect that there's going to be people who don't agree with you. But I mean that's how life works. The mean comments are mean comments, I don't let it affect me."

Hogan and Crean Lutheran teammate Olivia Viola have led the Save Girls Sports effort this season. They spoke at a rally before the first round last weekend, competed against Hernandez and appeared on Fox News at Night on Tuesday.

This marks their final chance for a sectional and state title in high school. Males remain allowed to compete in girls' sports in California, putting a trans competitor in their path.

The past three years proved so tough for Hogan and her family that she rejected college offers from California schools. She will attend Texas Christian University.