Sophie Cunningham commends Washington state girls who walked off cross country race over male teammate

Read the original at Fox News ↗
Cite

Thompson, J. (2026, October 17). Sophie Cunningham commends Washington state girls who walked off cross country race over male teammate. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/sophie-cunningham-commends-washington-state-girls-walked-off-cross-country-race-male-teammate

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Fox News · collected 2026-10-17 · by Jackson Thompson

Quick Summary

WNBA star Sophie Cunningham endorsed Washington state high school girls who walked out of a cross-country race to protest against a male teammate competing in the female division. This incident occurred on October 13 and has garnered national attention, leading to plans for an October 21 rally supporting the protesting runners. Cunningham previously advocated for separating women’s sports by sex, defending her stance while condemning discriminatory behavior. The article highlights the broader debate over Initiative 638 in Washington state, which would restrict biological males from competing in female-only school sports and requires verification of biological sex for eligibility.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-17, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On October 13, in Washington state, about a dozen girls from Camas High School walked off during a cross-country race against Battle Ground High School to protest the participation of a male athlete who had switched from the boys' team to the girls' team. The athlete, who began the season on the boys' junior varsity team and finished 76th in that event, later competed in and won the girls' varsity race. Sierra Retzlaff and Charlie Garret, both students at Skyview High School, were among those who walked off the course and expressed their views during an appearance on Fox News' "Fox & Friends," stating they believed it was unfair for a male athlete to compete against females.

The protest occurred after the race began; some girls refused to run while others walked past the starting line before leaving. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, which governs high school sports in Washington, allowed the male athlete's switch based on its rules. Sophie Cunningham, a WNBA star for the Seattle Storm, commended the protesting athletes and shared her support on social media, reinforcing the growing national debate over transgender participation in women’s sports.

Written for “Girls Walk Off Over Male Athlete Participation” on 2026-10-17, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 2 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 87056: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-17

Story

📰 Girls Walk Off Over Male Athlete Participation
Sports · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 27 📰 publisher trust 67
“The articles describe different events involving Sophie Cunningham: one is about Trump praising her during a rally, and the other is about her commenting on high school girls walking out of a race.”
New York Post
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 9% hedged 1 of 11 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe the exact same incident where girls from Camas High School walked off during a cross-country race to protest against a male athlete competing in their race, occurring on October 13, 2026.”
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 9% hedged 2 of 22 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe the same incident where girls from Washington high school walked off a cross-country race to protest against a male athlete who was participating in the race.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
67/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 4440 article(s) · 9 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 9 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jackson Thompson
40 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The measure would prohibit biologically male students from competing in certain female-only school sports and require health care provider verification of biological sex.
🔮 This week's cuts come as part of a restructuring that will replace 12 permanent advisory bodies with smaller working groups assembled to address specific issues.
🔮 Washington voters will consider Initiative IL26-638 on Nov. 3.
🔮 The hearing’s three listed witnesses were ICONS co-founder Kim Jones, former professional soccer player Carly Smolak and attorney William Bock III.
🔮 The WNBA didn't get Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham in the Finals, but it may have gotten the next best thing in terms of viewership hopes.
🔮 El-Sayed answered that he would support designating organizations engaged in political violence, without explicitly naming the Brotherhood in his responses.
🔮 In the postgame news conference, Reese spoke about a moment in training-camp when Coach Karl Smesko stopped a drill and made her hit two consecutive 3-pointers before her teammates could continue.
🔮 "We will ask you to leave now, yes, due to the violation.
🔮 During a September Fox News interview, Talarico said he would oppose transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports when participation threatened safety or fairness.
🔮 His campaign did not say whether he would support a federal law broadly protecting women's and girls' sports from male competitors when asked, including the Protection of Women's and Girls' in Sports Act, which failed to advance in the Senate last March when every Democrat senator voted against it.
Also by Jackson Thompson
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 40 articles by Jackson Thompson →

Topics

Seattle Storm WNBA Washington XX-XY Athletics

Subjects

Cunningham PERSON · 9× Seattle GPE · 4× Storm ORG · 3× Keaton PERSON · 2× Washington GPE · 2× XX-XY Athletics ORG · 2× Camas High School ORG · 1× Seattle Storm ORG · 1× Sophie Cunningham PERSON · 1× WNBA ORG · 1×

Narrative

Cunningham then reposted OutKick’s reporting of the Seattle controversy in July, writing "Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe," on X. Cunningham also emphasized that she welcomed people regardless of gender identity and believed disagreement should not prevent kindness.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-17
🔮 The measure would prohibit biologically male students from competing in certain female-only school sports and require health care provider verification of biological sex.

Claims (24 extracted, 0 hedged)

WNBA star Sophie Cunningham praised the Washington state high school girls who walked out of a cross-country race in protest of a transgender teammate. asserted
who → praise → teammate
"Good work girls," Cunningham wrote in a comment on an XX-XY Athletics Instagram post about the protest. asserted
Cunningham → write → protest
The three-word message echoed her earlier defense of teenage fans caught in a confrontation at a Seattle Storm game after showing support for her stance on women’s sports. asserted
message → echo → sports
About a dozen Camas High School runners walked off the course Oct. 13 during a meet against Battle Ground. asserted
runners → walk → Ground
Their teammate had begun the season competing in boys’ races before switching to girls’ competition. asserted
teammate → begin → competition
The dispute has drawn national attention and prompted plans for an Oct. 21 rally supporting the runners. Cunningham has previously argued that girls’ and women’s sports should be separated by sex. asserted
sports → draw → sex
In a July ESPN profile, she described her position as protecting opportunities for girls while rejecting accusations that she hated transgender people. asserted
she → describe → people
Later that month, two teenage supporters attended a Fever-Storm game at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena wearing XX-XY Athletics shirts and carrying a sign thanking Cunningham for speaking up for girls. asserted
supporters → attend → girls
The teenagers alleged that Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton confronted them and used profanity. asserted
Keaton → allege → profanity
The WNBA subsequently fined Keaton an undisclosed amount and suspended her from attending Seattle’s next five home games. asserted
WNBA → fin → games
Cunningham then reposted OutKick’s reporting of the Seattle controversy in July, writing "Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe," on X. Cunningham also emphasized that she welcomed people regardless of gender identity and believed disagreement should not prevent kindness. asserted
disagreement → reposte → kindness
But she sharply criticized the conduct attributed to Keaton. asserted
she → criticize → Keaton
Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is," Cunningham wrote. asserted
Cunningham → show → leader
Storm majority owner Ginny Gilder apologized for the co-owner’s comments. asserted
Gilder → apologize → comments
"Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome," Gilder said in a statement that also reaffirmed the team’s commitment to treating fans respectfully. asserted
that → attend → fans
The Fever said at the time that neither the organization nor Cunningham had advance knowledge of the demonstration held outside the Seattle arena or contact with its organizers. asserted
organization → say → organizers
The Camas dispute now brings Cunningham’s support back to Washington as voters prepare to consider Initiative 638 on Nov. 3. asserted
voters → bring → Nov.
The measure would prohibit biologically male students from competing in certain female-only school sports and require health care provider verification of biological sex. asserted
measure → prohibit → sex
Backers say the proposal would protect fair competition. asserted
proposal → say → competition
Opponents say it would exclude transgender girls and create new medical and privacy burdens. asserted
it → say → burdens
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) has said its gender-identity eligibility policy follows state law and that it cannot implement proposed restrictions that would violate that law. asserted
that → say → law
Amy Sousa, who helped organize demonstrations supporting Cunningham during the WNBA season, is organizing the "Camas Courage" rally for Oct. 21. asserted
who → organize → Oct.
"You should not have to become student activists. asserted
You → have → ?
Adults are now taking the reins and adults are standing up," Sousa said in an interview. asserted
Sousa → take → interview
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