The celebration that cost a California girl her state track title ...Middle East

CLOVIS —After Clara Adams appeared to have become a state track champion Saturday night, controversy erupted to mar what was thought to be a historic achievement.

Adams, a North Salinas High sophomore,  was the first-place finisher in the 400 meters in the state high school championships. Then, in a celebratory moment, she took a fire extinguisher from her dad, stepped away from the track and sprayed her shoes with the retardant foam.

“I told Clara, ‘You’re on fire,’” said her father, David. “She did not do it in front of her opponents. She wasn’t disrespecting anyone.”

Apparently, California Interscholastic Federation officials felt differently. They immediately disqualified Adams and stripped her of her state title, leaving her in disbelief just minutes before she was scheduled to run the 200 meters.

“I don’t know what’s going through my mind right now,” Clara Adams said later that night. “I’m disappointed and I feel robbed. I am in shock. They (officials) yelled at me and told me, ‘We’re not letting you on the podium.’ They took my moment away from me.”

The gold medal instead went to Madison Mosby, a senior at St. Mary’s Academy in Inglewood.

The day only got worse. Because Adams was disqualified for what was ruled an unsportsmanlike act after winning the 400, she was also disqualified from the meet and was not allowed to run in the 200, where she was one of the favorites to finish in the top three.

“I have video of it,” said David Adams, who is also his daughter’s sprint coach. “She was on the other side of the wall. I told her to step off the track. She did not spray her shoes on the track. We have protested the decision. I feel it was racially motivated.” (Adams is Black.)

The protest fell on deaf ears as the decision to disqualify Adams was upheld, preventing her from her second straight podium finish in the event — having finished fourth last year as a freshman.

“It’s a very unfortunate event,” said North Salinas head track coach Alan Green. “We are all heartbroken. Clara ran an incredible 400 race and is the fastest 400-meter girl in the state.”

Adams had hoped to match Calvin Harrison’s achievement 32 years ago of winning the 200 and 400, even wearing the throwback North Salinas uniforms from that era. But with the protest upheld, her day was finished.

“She was trying to have some fun at the finish line after the 400,” said Green, choosing his words carefully. “It was interpreted as unsportsmanlike. What an incredible season and run. It’s unfortunate.”

Adams had advanced to the finals after clocking the second-fastest time in the trials on Friday, nearly matching her state-leading time of 53.23 seconds, achieved at the Central Coast Section finals last week. In the finals, she blistered the track out of Lane 6, clocking 53.24.

Related Articles

In the 200 trials on Friday, Adams shaved nearly half a second off her best time, clocking 23.71 and going from being ranked 12th to No. 2 going into the finals.

Adams, who broke the CCS finals record in the 400 last week and is the Monterey County record holder, is now No. 2 all-time in the county in the 200, behind Monterey’s Sani Roseby’s mark of 23.52, set in 1999.

During the season, the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Cypress Division 100-, 200- and 400-meter champion set school records at North Salinas in the 100, 200, 400 and 800.

“Clara is taking it really hard,” said her father. “But she’s had a lot of support from people in the stadium.”

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The celebration that cost a California girl her state track title )

Also on site :

• PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 7.1886 (vs. estimate at 7.1977)
• ‘American Pickers' Mike Wolfe Makes a Bold Declaration About Country Star
• Structure Fire In Standard