Male Runner Wins NCAA Conference's 'Female Athlete of the Week'

Earlier this week, the Big Sky Conference named a male runner as the female cross-country athlete of the week.

Jonathan Eastwood (yes, I’m deadnaming, sue me) previously competed on the men’s team but joined the women’s cross-country team at the University of Montana this fall. By joining the women’s team and competing under the name June Eastwood, he became the first “transgender” athlete to compete on an NCAA Division I women’s running team—which is likely the only reason he was given the honor.

S/O to @MontanaGrizTF's June Eastwood the #BigSkyXC Female Athlete of the Week pic.twitter.com/tWzzWOj4Xk

— Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) October 22, 2019

According to Western Journal, “Eastwood has not finished below seventh in any of the University of Montana’s races this fall.”

Eastwood won the Montana Invitational in early October and finished third at the Montana State Classic last month, according to the Missoulian.

Eastwood, who had been a competitive runner on the men’s squad for three years, stopped competing for about a year and half before emerging this fall for what, in a YouTube interview, Eastwood called “the storm.”

Eastwood is aware of criticism that surrounds the issue of transgender athletes on women’s teams, but said, “I didn’t want to give up doing what I love just because of who I am.”

According to an August post on the blog Let’s Run, Eastwood had an advantage over actual girls in the entire division before he even ran his first race:

When June Eastwood steps onto the start line for the Clash of the Inland Northwest cross country meet on Saturday morning in Cheney, Wash., she [sic] will make history. Eastwood, a senior at the University of Montana, will become the fastest distance runner to ever compete in an NCAA Division I women’s race. In fact, it won’t even be close.

Eastwood’s personal best in the 800 meters is 1:55.23. That’s almost four seconds faster than the collegiate record of 1:59.10 set by Raevyn Rogers in 2017.

Her [sic] personal best in the 1500 is 3:50.19. Jenny Simpson’s collegiate record, unchallenged for a decade, is almost 10 seconds slower (3:59.90).

Eastwood has run 14:38.80 in the 5,000, far ahead of Simpson’s collegiate record of 15:01.70.

Despite the fact that Eastwood being biologically male gives him an unfair advantage over the girls he competes against, he’s been celebrated for his “story.” Just look at this absurdly glowing profile:

He’s also been the subject of many other write-ups by the media and publications like Runner’s World.

When biological boys play on girls’ sports teams, they have an immediate advantage over their female teammates and competitors due to the indisputable biological differences between males and females. Earlier this year, I reported on a similar problem involving the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), where female high school track athletes were dominated by biological males who competed against them—robbing girls of opportunities to qualify for more races and to be scouted by college coaches.

Jonathan Eastwood has no business competing on the girls’ team.