June 4, 2025 — Two Clovis North athletes took home the top prize at the Annual 105th California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Track and Field Championships. Senior McKay Madsen (shot put & discus) and junior Conor Lott (1600) brought gold medals to Bronco Nation. There were 80 athletes from Clovis Unified high schools that competed at the event on Friday and Saturday, May 30 & 31, at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School.
Madsen repeated as state champion in both the discus and the shot put. The last time that happened was in 1922. His discus throw was 210 feet, 8 inches and in the shot put he threw 69 feet, 11 inches. He committed to playing football at BYU. Overall, Clovis North finished second in the team standings behind Lott receiving the number one spot in the boys 1,600 meters.
Temperatures rose not just in the weather over the weekend, but during the meet. Controversy surrounded Jurupa Valley High School junior, AB Hernandez, a transgender athlete, who won gold in all their events (girls’ high jump and triple jump) and second place in the high jump. AB Hernandez’s presence drew the ire of President Donald Trump who made threats of withdrawing federal funding for the event, even suggesting that local law enforcement intervene to prevent her from competing.
On Wednesday, May 28, CIF made new rules where athletes assigned female at birth will
receive medals based on where they would have finished if a transgender athlete had not
competed in the same event − calling it an entry process.
Protesters voiced their opinion on both sides of the spectrum while BA Hernandez’s victories have gotten national attention. An aerial banner reading “No Boys in Girls’ Sports” circled over the stadium midway through Friday’s meet. The tension led to the arrest of 19-year-old Ethan Kroll, who was carrying a transgender flag, attacked Josh Fulfer who was sitting in his car at an intersection of Nees and Minnewawa with the flag after a verbal altercation. Clovis Police took Kroll into custody on charges of assault with a weapon, vandalism, and delaying an officer. Currently, the investigation is ongoing.
Controversy also took place inside the stadium. Clara Adams, a sophomore at North Salinas High School, took first place in the 400-meter sprint. She celebrated her victory by spraying a small fire extinguisher on her shoes that was reminiscent of Olympic sprinter Maurice Greene. CIF stripped her of her title deeming the celebration as being unsportsmanlike. She was also disqualified from the rest of the meet. Adams and her father, who handed her the fire extinguisher, are protesting the decision believing it to be racially motivated.
Other Clovis schools and athletes finished in the top 10 of their respective events. Here’s the list:
Boys
Discus – Karsyn Van Grouw, junior, Buchanan, 4th place
4×100 Relay – Buchanan, 5th place
1,600 Meters – Luke Sanders, senior Buchanan, 3rd place
110 Hurdles – Hudson Hergenrader, senior Buchanan, 3rd place
300 Hurdles – Hudson Hergenrader, senior Buchanan, 5th place
Girls
Long Jump – Krista Hopkins, sophomore, Clovis, 8th place
High Jump – Indiana Davis, senior, Clovis East, 9th place
4×100 Relay – Clovis North, 8th place
1,600 Meters – Sierra Cornett, senior Buchanan, 7th place
Triple Jump – Liliana Medrano, freshman Clovis East, 9th place
200 Meters – Victoria Chatter, senior, Buchanan, 7th place
4×400 Relay – Clovis North, 7th place