A high school track runner from Virginia was struck with a baton by one of her fellow competitors midway through a race, leaving her with serious head injuries.
On Friday, teenage sprinter Kaelen Tucker represented Brookville High School at the Virginia High School League (VHSL) Class 3 State Indoor Championships at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. She ran the second leg for her team during the 4×200 relay race.
Tucker was third on the track as the runners entered turn four. Tucker then made a move to overtake the girl ahead of her, an athlete from IC Norcom High School. But as Tucker sped up, her competitor struck her on the back of the head. You can see the violent act:
NEW: High school track runner gets attacked with a baton in the middle of a relay at the VSHL Class 3 State Indoor Championships.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 9, 2025
Kaelen Tucker was on the second leg of the 4x200m relay at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, when she got smacked in the head.
Tucker suffered a… pic.twitter.com/DXPMwZcaRP
The crowd sounded stunned as Tucker went off the track and crumpled to the ground. Both trainers and her mother immediately rushed to her aid.
Days after the incident and after receiving proper medical care, Tucker opened up about the incident.
“When you go to the other side of the track, you have to cross into lane one, you have to merge in,” Tucker told WSLS 10’s Jason Freund. “As I was coming up on her, she kind of like made me get cut off a little bit, so I backed away. Then, as we got around the curve, she kept bumping me in my arm. Then finally we got off the curve, I like slowly started passing her and then that’s when she just hit me with the baton and I fell off the track.”
Tucker revealed that a doctor later diagnosed her with a concussion and “possible fractured skull.”
The Tucker family has since reached out to the VHSL, who informed them that the league was currently investigating the incident. The runner from I.C. Norcom and her whole team were later disqualified for the act.
