Attack/accident during track meet

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Not trying to turn this into Sports Journalists/Virginia High School Track and Field.com ...

For some reason, I've been getting peppered with notifications about this story, where a runner in a relay at the indoor state championships was injured after being struck by the baton of a runner she was passing. Injuries were a concussion and "possible" fractured skull.

The dispute comes from whether you can call this intentional, which the video sure seems to support, and the other runner's insistence that it was just an accident.

Athlete defends herself after hitting competitor with baton in race

And now an assault and battery charge: MSN

 

[FileNotFound]

As a former track athlete, I can say with conviction that was 100 percent intentional.

 

[poindexter]

"Accident" come on.
USA 2025 just keep repeating your lie that it was accidental until the story goes away.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Holy ****, it's hilarious that she's even trying to sell that as an accident.

And I've never held a relay baton -- how heavy are those things? I assumed really light aluminum -- that was a pretty good whack, but I'm surprised by the extent of the injuries.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

From my memory, they are very light. Surely not enough to cause a fractured skull, but a whack of that velocity could definitely cause a concussion, I'm betting (not a doctor).

Saw the one runner explained it away by saying the baton got caught behind the other runner's back, and it rolled up her back, then when she pumped her arms, the other runner "got hit."

Not seeing that anywhere in the video.

Feels like a plea of "what you saw on the video isn't who I am."

 

[Slacker]

Yeah, you can try to rationalize your arm movements and balance and all that stuff, but now explain how you reared back your right arm for an extra two counts for the swing that struck the other runner's head.

“And heeeere's the wind-up ... ”

 

[qtlaw]

I ran track, it’s as light as can be and no way that’s an accident.

As they say in the NBA, that's not a natural (running) motion.

 

[swingline]

It looked like she reared back and swung at the girl twice. An accident, my ass.

 

[HanSenSE]

Argue it's not that heavy, as some undoubtedly will, but the athlete holding it is also running, so there's a little extra oomph.

 

[FileNotFound]

The windup is the issue. No way that windup is part of anybody’s natural running motion.

 

[Neutral Corner]

"Who you gonna believe, me or your lyin' eyes?" Plainly obvious windup and blow to the head.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

The baton was made of wood back in the days when the track ran uphill both ways. I think the ones we had came from our shop teacher.

 

[Cosmo]

It's been a weird month on the Virginia preps scene. In a region basketball playoff game in southwest Virginia, a parent casually strolled onto the floor to confront a ref late in the game after his kid's team was called for a third technical foul. They ended up calling the game with about a minute left because of it.

 

[swingline]

The baton was made of wood back in the days when the track ran uphill both ways. I think the ones we had came from our shop teacher.

Did you carve WONDERBOY on the baton? Or at least a lightning bolt?

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Did you carve WONDERBOY on the baton? Or at least a lightning bolt?

This is an outstanding post.

 

[Songbird]

Is this like that fullback on the New Mexico women's soccer team innocently taking out a forward on the hard slide tackle?

 

[SixToe]

I saw another angle today of the pass and whack. The girl with the baton whacked her more at least once in the arm, possibly more, before smackin' her head. The arm shot before the head shot looked pretty strong, too.

I know some teenagers sometimes run like giraffes or with arms akimbo. I also know that most track teams in the state meet are disciplined and performed well to get there. The athletes who run know, usually, the rules about passing, lane changes, pushing-bumping-kicking-etc. and also run tight - arms in, moving with the legs, etc. They're not wildly flailing around like Mr. Windy blowup man at the gas station promo.

Definitely looked intentional. Maybe it wasn't. I hope not. Kids sometimes do stupid stuff, tho.

 

[dixiehack]

How has @Starman not weighed in demanding summary execution yet?

 

[Starman]

I'm amazed the victim's teammates didn't dogpile on the assailant.

 

[garrow]

Did you carve WONDERBOY on the baton? Or at least a lightning bolt?

Twirling Time: Did you ever run track, Max?
Max Mercy: No, never have. But I make it a little more fun to watch.