Male NCAA Track Star Swamps Competition After Competing As Female

AP Ted S. Rainbow Flag
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

NCAA track star CeCe Telfer is racking up record after record for Franklin Pierce University in women’s college track. But the feat seems a bit less impressive upon learning that only just last year Telfer was competing as a man named Craig, and was a solid athlete in the men’s division as well.

Franklin Pierce was beside itself with joy that Telfer was headed to the NCAA Championships, Daily Wire reported.

“Telfer has qualified in a pair of events, as she will compete in the 200-meter dash and the 60-meter hurdles,” The Franklin Pierce athletic department said on its website. The announcement added that Telfer apparently has the “fastest time of the year in the 200-meter dash is 24.08 seconds, which was set at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships earlier this month. Her fastest time in the 60-meter hurdles is 8.33 seconds, which came in December, at the UMass Boston Indoor Open.”

“She is ranked third in the country in the hurdles and seventh in the 200-meter dash,” the university crowed.

That was not all for Telfer’s records count.

“The 21-year-old cleaned up last Sunday at Smith College, taking home three Northeast-10 Conference titles and scoring 31.5 of the school’s 49.5 points. Franklin Pierce University finished 6th, which ‘was the highest NE10 Championships finish in program history,'” DW reported.

Telfer’s astonishing record continued to grow by earning three-quarters of the points FPU won at last Sunday’s match, recorded the highest NE10 Championship finish in history, and now ranks as one of the fastest NCAA runners for women’s tack as the third-fastest at the women’s DI level.

NCAA rules allow a biological male to compete as a woman as long as he suppresses his testosterone levels for one year. Since Telfer was competing as a male just last year, it is unclear if the athlete was asked to prove compliance with the one-year requirement.

The final analysis is that Telfer was a successful competitor in men’s track last year, but not quite in the top tier. But after becoming a woman, Telfer is suddenly cleaning up in the women’s division.

The records sparked much comment on Twitter:

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.

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