A trans-identified male student has won gold in both girls shot put and discus at a New York high school sectional championship, defeating his female rivals by significant margins.
Jeff “Julia” Arnold, a trans-identified grade 12 athlete from Cicero-North Syracuse High School, claimed first place in both of the competitions he participated in in the Section III Class A-1 Championships hosted at his school on Wednesday.
In the shot put competition, Arnold claimed a personal best throw of 42 feet 5.5 inches, significantly ahead of second-place Keyonna Mitchell of Rome Free Academy with 38 feet 0.5 inches. Despite Mitchell herself earning a personal best, she still ended up still well behind Arnold’s mark.
In the discus competition, the results were even more stark. Arnold took first place with a throw of 132 feet, with Mitchell once again relegated to second place with a throw of 120 feet and 5 inches. However, below Mitchell, the third place competitor only managed a result of 93 feet and 10 inches, with Arnold out-throwing her by a staggering 39 feet.
This spring season, Arnold entered eight discus and shot put competitions, and came first in seven of them. The elite track and field Glenn D. Loucks Memorial Games, held in White Plains, New York each May, saw Arnold’s only non-first place finishes, when he came 3rd in the shot put and 2nd in the discus.
In social media posts, CNS Athletics celebrated Arnold’s success at the Section III Championships. One commenter said that Arnold’s numbers in the discus and shot put were “impressive,” with another correctly pointing out that the only reason why they were is because Arnold is “a male competing against females.”
With his performance at the Section III Championships, Arnold is expected to compete at the NYSPHSAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which is scheduled to be held on June 13 and June 14 at Webster Schroeder High School in Webster, New York.
Arnold is currently ranked #1 in girls 4KG shot put according to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, making him the highest performing “female” in the state in that category. He is also ranked #1 in his region and #2 in the state in girls 1KG discus.
In addition to participating in girls shot put and discus, Arnold has competed in on his school’s chess team. At the 2026 Upstate New York Scholastic Chess Championship, where Cicero-North Syracuse High School took first place, he was the only “girl” on his school’s team.
On his Hudl profile, Arnold features a Vatican City flag alongside the trans pride flag.
In January of 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14201, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which directed federal agencies to interpret protections in Title IX on the basis of biological sex, not gender. The order stated that any federally funded educational institutions, such as schools or universities, who allow men to compete in women’s sports would lose their funding. However, New York is one of the states that has permitted students to compete in athletics not based on their biological sex, but the gender identity that they claim to be.
Responding to the executive order at the time, New York State Education Department officials issued joint guidance with the state Attorney General reaffirming that any students who were trans-identified could continue to play in their sports, with the guidance also stating that New York has “robust protections” for trans-identified students, and that schools were not allowed to ask students what their biological sex was before they could participate in sports.
A spokesperson from HeCheated, an independent platform that tracks male participation in female sports, noted that Arnold’s performance in girls athletics is particularly damning, and that he outperforms even other trans-identified male athletes currently known to be participating in girls shot put in the US.
“There is a huge sex-based performance difference in throwing, which is why the boys’ shot put is over three pounds heavier than the girls’. It is no longer possible to pretend these boys do not have any sort of advantage over girls and that their participation is fair. The athletic authorities in charge can’t possibly justify this while claiming to support female athletics. It’s just plain wrong.”
Marshi Smith of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) echoed HeCheated’s concerns, and called upon the Department of Education and the Department of Justice to clamp down on schools refusing to protect the female athletic categories.
“The perception that the travesty of boys competing in girls’ sports is over and resolved simply isn’t true. Particularly in blue states across the country, schools, districts, and sports associations continue their flagrant defiance of federal law and openly challenge the current administration by refusing to comply with its clear ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ Executive Order,” Smith said.
“Until there is accountability and painful punishment for schools, districts, and states that violate the rights of girls, there will continue to be no deterrent to undermining the accomplishments and dreams of female athletes nationwide,” she continued.
“Parents, coaches, and community members must speak out loudly against these injustices and be willing to challenge these violations in court. The Department of Education and the Department of Justice should use every available lever to make an example of those who violate the law. Inaction only emboldens those determined to erode the protections that generations of female athletes have fought to achieve.”
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