High school runner emotionally speaks after backlash for hitting girl with baton

Alaila Everett has defended herself against accusations of intentionally hitting Kaelen Tucker with her baton during a relay race, insisting the incident was unavoidable.

Everett, a track star and senior at I.C. Norcom High School, shared new details about the incident at the Class 3 State Indoor Championships.

In the 4×200m relay race, Everett and Tucker, a junior at Brookville High School, were competing when the unfortunate event occurred.

Everett, who was running second, appeared to strike her rival with the baton while attempting to overtake her. However, she revealed that the situation was more complicated than it seemed.

She explained that after receiving the baton, she attempted to merge lanes, and everything was fine until Tucker came too close to her.

In an interview with Wavy TV 10, Everett said:

Then on the curve, I saw something yellow on my peripheral, which was her uniform, and she was so close to me that my baton kept hitting her, and it was either I keep hitting her or fall into the metal railing.

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She continued:

I lost my balance and when I pumped my arms again, she got hit and she was cutting in when it happened, but she should have waited a little longer. She got so close to me that I would hit her when I was running.

Everett speaks on being judged

Everett emphasised that she never intended to harm her competitor, stating that she couldn't avoid the situation due to Tucker's proximity. She also expressed frustration over being judged quickly based on the video without people hearing her side of the story.

Everett added:

I was raised well, and I would never hit a rival out of jealousy or malice. I know from the video it looks purposeful, but I know my intentions and I know that I would never hit somebody on purpose because of jealousy.

Everett further explained that she tried to reach out to Tucker after the incident but was blocked on Instagram. She also noted how the incident has affected her life, forcing her to miss school while being labelled as the villain.

They are going off of one angle, they don’t have enough information and they just went on the news. I’m just a person by myself, and I know from the video it looks purposeful but I know my intentions, and I know that I would never hit somebody on purpose because of jealousy. I’m not that good on the track, and I applaud her for doing her best. I’m sorry because I did not intentionally hit her.

Despite her apology, some fans remain upset about the incident and have not accepted her explanation.

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Meanwhile, Kaelen Tucker and her mother have expressed their dissatisfaction, demanding an apology from Everett, who has now shared her side of the story.