AB Hernandez swept the girls’ high jump, triple jump and long jump Saturday at the 2026 CIF Southern Section Track & Field Masters Meet in Moorpark, taking the top score in the high jump and earning state qualification in all three events.
Hernandez cleared 5-foot-8 in the high jump, surpassing a five-way tie at 5-foot-6 that included Nieve Oliver, a sophomore from Camarillo; meet organizers named Hernandez a co-champion and Hernandez posed with the second- and third-place finishers and a co-champion after the results were posted. Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High from Jurupa Valley, won two California state championships last year in the high jump and triple jump.
The numbers underline how decisive the day was: Hernandez will take three event entries to the state meet next weekend at Buchanan High School in Clovis, qualifying in the high jump, triple jump and long jump. The sweep at Moorpark also continues a pattern that, according to other competitors, has repeatedly changed the podium order in Southern Section competition.
That pattern is the point of friction. Reese Hogan, an athlete who has repeatedly been pushed off the top podium spot by Hernandez, said: "It’s just really disappointing to go into a competition knowing you already lost," reflecting the frustration some competitors say they feel when competing against Hernandez.
Parents of other athletes voiced concern in Moorpark. Jennifer Oliver, the mother of Nieve Oliver, said, "There’s no hate," and added, "None of that." She described her daughter as inclusive: "My daughter is super inclusive." Oliver said, "We get along with everybody," and insisted, "This has nothing to do with any of that." She went on to say, "But we also need to do the right thing," and: "My daughter is hoping the adults in charge will do the right thing." She urged decision-makers directly: "The adults need to make the right decision here. Period. Hands down. And so far, that’s not happening," and noted the safety concern in other sports: "Thank goodness high jump is not a contact sport." Oliver added, "My daughter plays girls flag football, too," and warned, "I’m very concerned that if there was an issue like this in flag football, I don’t think I’d let her compete." She concluded, "It wouldn’t be safe."
The dispute over transgender athletes in girls’ sports in California provides the backdrop to those remarks. Organizers at the Southern Section meet allowed the first-place girl in each event to share the podium with Hernandez after results were declared, and Hernandez’s results at Moorpark will advance Hernandez to the state championships at the end of the month.
What happens next is plain and immediate: Hernandez will travel from Jurupa Valley to Clovis next weekend to compete in the high jump, triple jump and long jump at the state meet at Buchanan High School. The meet will be the next test of the results that defined Saturday in Moorpark and the setting where those already-declared qualifications will be contested against a broader field of Californians.
