Outrage!

Prep track star DQ'd over Muslim garb
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - A high school track star has been disqualified from a meet because officials said the custom-made outfit she wears to conform to her Muslim faith violated competition rules.

Juashaunna Kelly, a senior at the District of Columbia's Theodore Roosevelt High School, has the fastest mile and 2-mile times of any girl runner in the city this winter. She was disqualified from Saturday's Montgomery Invitational indoor track and field meet.

Kelly was wearing the same uniform she has worn for three seasons while running for Theodore Roosevelt's cross-country and track teams. The custom-made, one-piece blue and orange unitard covers her head, arms, torso and legs. Over the unitard, she wears the same orange and blue T-shirt and shorts as her teammates. The outfit allows her to compete while adhering to her Muslim faith, which forbids displaying any skin other than her face and hands.

"It's not special," Kelly said. "It doesn't make me perform better."

But meet director Tom Rogers said Kelly's uniform violated rules of the National Federation of State High School Associations, which sanctioned the event. Uniforms are required to be "a
single-solid color and unadorned, except for a single school name or insignia no more than 2 1/4 inches," he said.

Rogers said that he knew Kelly was wearing the uniform for religious reasons and that he offered her several options to conform to the rules while still respecting her faith, including placing a plain T-shirt over her unitard and then wearing her team uniform over it.

Kelly's mother, Sarah, and Roosevelt Coach Tony Bowden disputed that account. They said officials made several demands of her daughter before Rogers made his decision.

"First, they said she had to take her hood off," Sarah Kelly said. "Then, they said she can't have anything with logos displayed. Then, they said she had to turn it inside out. When I told them that there weren't any logos on it, they said she had to put a plain white T-shirt on over it."

Juashaunna Kelly has worn the same uniform for three years without any problems, including at last year's Montgomery Invitational. Rogers said officials must have missed the uniform last
year.

"It wasn't a problem last year, and it's a problem this year? Make me understand why," Bowden said.

Kelly, whose 1,600-meter time of 5 minutes 17.49 seconds and 3,200-meter time of 12:00.81 are the fastest of any D.C. girl, was hoping to run fast enough at the Montgomery Invitational to qualify for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York on Feb. 8-9. Bowden said the team has no other meets scheduled that would allow her to qualify for the event, which attracts dozens of college recruiters.

Link: http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/7685412?MSNHPHMA

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Its just ridiculous that this girl was able to compete with her custom uniform, for three years in a row- without a problem! Chances are that another school felt threatened by this girls extraordinary performance so they wanted to get her rid of the competition, eliminating their most impressive threat. Its sabotage at its ugliest form. If the girl had a medical issue,the competition would have used that reason to get rid of her (their threat). Track is a sport that can be won or loss by .001 of a second. As far as coaches and athletes go, anything goes. Sadly in this instance, the girl's Muslim faith was the true victim.

I'm a former track athlete and I hate hearing stories like this. There has to be rules and regulations in any sport. I am all for following the rules because it make the sport more enjoyable. But when an individual, regardless of their faith, cites a religious reason, than an exception must be granted. Anyone who knows anything about running, know that extra clothing takes away from performance. Why do you think the standard high school track uniform is a short shorts and a flimsy nylon tank top? Less clothes equals faster time. Better yet, by eliminating or changing the rule and having anything (in the school's colors) underneath the standard school uniform, situations like this will be avoided.

In this way, relations between Muslims and Americans are not hurt or strained.