Just saw this today. Pleasant Valley was stripped of the Class 4A girls track title a few days ago due to the participation of an ineligible athlete who was involved in 38 team points at the state meet. The athlete (junior middle distance star Kaley Ciluffo) was discovered to have competed in multiple collegiate invitationals against college athletes, which is illegal for high school athletes in Iowa (she did place first or second in those races, FTR; she's one of the very best middle distance runners in the country). She even allegedly registered at an event under her mother's maiden name, presumably to avoid getting caught.
Urbandale finished second at state and will be retroactively named state champions, and all place-winners in the events Ciluffo competed in will be adjusted accordingly.
Pretty huge deal, and something I've never even heard of being done in Iowa. Definitely feel bad for the girls on the relays she ran on. Several athletes from other schools have expressed similar sentiments and Linn-Mar's Stephanie Jenks, who finished second to Ciluffo in the 800 (Ciluffo ran an all-time best mark in that event at state that will be erased now), said she would have preferred to earn the gold medal rather than get it this way.
Has anyone else ever heard of a situation like this in Iowa? I've known of people who trained with friends after those friends went on to compete collegiately, but never an athlete competing against college athletes in college-sanctioned events. That's just crazy.
Urbandale finished second at state and will be retroactively named state champions, and all place-winners in the events Ciluffo competed in will be adjusted accordingly.
Pretty huge deal, and something I've never even heard of being done in Iowa. Definitely feel bad for the girls on the relays she ran on. Several athletes from other schools have expressed similar sentiments and Linn-Mar's Stephanie Jenks, who finished second to Ciluffo in the 800 (Ciluffo ran an all-time best mark in that event at state that will be erased now), said she would have preferred to earn the gold medal rather than get it this way.
Has anyone else ever heard of a situation like this in Iowa? I've known of people who trained with friends after those friends went on to compete collegiately, but never an athlete competing against college athletes in college-sanctioned events. That's just crazy.