A B Hernandez shares three titles at CIF Southern Section finals
AB Hernandez shared first place in three girls' events at the CIF Southern Section Division 3 finals in Moorpark, California, on May 16, 2026. The Jurupa Valley High School trans student athlete took first in long jump, high jump and triple jump, with announcers declaring two co-champions in each medal ceremony.
Moorpark podiums
Hernandez was absent for the first long jump medal ceremony, where Gianna Gonzalez of Moorpark High School stood alone on the first-place podium after finishing more than a foot behind. In the high jump, Hernandez later shared the top spot with Gwynneth Mureika of Oak Park High School after winning by two inches.
In triple jump, Hernandez stood alone on top after Malia Strange of Shadow Hills was absent. Hernandez won that event by nearly two feet. Those results put Hernandez at the center of the Division 3 final and left other medal positions to be sorted through the meet's podium rules.
CIF rule last year
The podium ceremonies used a rule enacted last year. The same program changed how medals were awarded at the state level last May, when CIF created a pilot program for the state finals. Under that pilot, any female athlete who finished behind a trans athlete received one higher spot, and any female athlete who finished one place out of qualifying in events with a trans competitor could still compete for the title.
That setup mattered in Moorpark because the meet did not treat the podium as a simple winner-take-all result. Instead, the announcements created shared first-place finishes in two events and left Hernandez alone at the top in the third after another athlete did not appear.
Preliminaries next Saturday
All the other winners will move on to the CIF preliminaries next Saturday. Those preliminaries lead to the state finals beginning on May 29 in Clovis, California, where the same postseason structure will continue to shape advancement and medal placement in events that include a trans competitor.
The result leaves the next stage focused on qualification under the same rules rather than the meet in Moorpark alone. For athletes who finished just behind Hernandez, the path remains tied to the CIF's postseason system, which now determines both who advances and how podium spots are assigned.
