A Virginia high school track athlete is facing a misdemeanor charge following a viral video of her at a meet where her competitor gets struck in the head with a baton.
Video circulating online shows high schoolers Alaila Everett and Kaelen Tucker running in a 4×200 meter relay at a state finals race on March 4, neck and neck as they round a corner. As they are coming out of the curve, Tucker is hit by Everett’s baton and stumbles off the field in apparent pain.
Everett continued the race.
Lynchburg Commonwealth Attorney Bethany Harrison said this week that an assault and battery charge has been filed over the incident.
Both girls spoke to NBC affiliates WSLS and WAVY, offering their accounts of what happened on the track.
Tucker told WSLS she initially backed off of Everett as the girls were crossing the track because Everett cut her off as they tried to merge into lane one. The two girls were bumping arms as they rounded the curve, according to Tucker.
“Then finally we got off the curve, I like slowly started passing her and then that’s when she just hit me with the baton and I fell off the track,” Tucker said.
The Brookville High School junior was diagnosed with a concussion, according to WSLS. Tucker’s parents said Everett never checked on their daughter or asked if she was OK, even after the race concluded.
Everett told WAVY the incident was an accident, which started when the girls were so close together that Everett said her baton kept hitting Tucker.
“Eventually after a couple times of hitting her, my baton got stuck behind her back like this, and it rolled up her back,” Everett said. “I lost my balance, when I pumped my arms again she got hit.”
The I.C. Norcom High School senior said she would never hit anyone intentionally, attributing the incident to Tucker cutting in too quickly after the girls merged into the lane. Everett looked to check on Tucker after she passed the baton off to her teammate, but said Tucker was surrounded by people at that point.
“After the race I went to my coach and he said he’s handling it, and for me to do my cool down, so I did my cool down,” Everett said.
Everett said when she was finished, her coach told her the other team declined an offer for a re-run of the race and that I.C. Norcom had been disqualified.
“He told me to stay around him because he didn’t want nothing else to happen,” Everett said.
She also added that she when she went to find Tucker on social media to apologize for the incident, Everett discovered she was blocked. Everett cried when asked how she felt seeing the comments online after the video went viral.
“They’re going off of one angle, I know what happened…I’m just a person by myself, nobody’s going to believe me,” Everett told WAVY. “I can admit from the video it does look purposeful, but I know my intentions and I would never hit somebody on purpose because of jealousy.”
The Portsmouth NAACP chapter released a statement, obtained by WAVY, calling it concerning that criminal charges were considered in the matter. Everett, an honor student, is not an attacker, the organization said.
“From all accounts, she is an exceptional young leader and scholar whose athletic talent has been well documented and recognized across our state,” the NAACP said. “She has carried herself with integrity both on and off the field and any narrative that adjudicates her guilty of any criminal activity is a violation of her due process rights.”
The organization also wished Tucker and her family well.
Mike McCall, communications director for the Virginia High School League, said he could not comment on specific disciplinary measures due to student privacy laws.
“The actions taken by the meet director to disqualify the runner were appropriate and correct,” McCall said. “We thoroughly review every instance like this that involves player safety with the participating schools.”
Portsmouth Public Schools said it was cooperating with the VHSL’s investigation on the incident.
“The division will support and follow the ruling that comes from the VHSL upon its completed investigation,” it said.
