Track runner concussed by baton strike cleared to run in national championships, father says
The high school track runner who suffered a concussion after being struck from behind with a baton looks like she will be back on the track this weekend.
Kaelen Tucker’s father told TMZ Sports that his daughter has been cleared to compete at the Adidas Track Nationals this weekend in Virginia Beach; she’s currently slated to participate in three events.
I.C. Norcom High School senior Alaila Everett gave the Brookville junior a concussion and possible skull fracture when she beat her head with the baton at an event earlier this month.
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A baton is handed off in a 4×100 meter relay race. (MaCabe Brown / Courier & Press / USA Today Network)
Everett claims the attack occurred because she lost her balance and her baton got “stuck” behind her opponent’s back. Everett and her whole team were disqualified.
“After a couple times of hitting her, my baton got stuck behind her back like this, and it rolled up her back. I lost my balance when I pumped my arms again. She got hit,” Everett said in an interview with WAVY. “I know my intentions, and I would never hit someone on purpose.”
Everett held a rally of supporters days after the attack, shortly after she was served with a misdemeanor battery and assault charge.
Virginia high school athlete Alaila Everett cries during an interview with WAVY (Courtesy of WAVY)
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Everett delivered a tearful speech, where she thanked her supporters while sobbing.
“Thank y’all for supporting me,” Everett said to the supporters, as seen in footage by local Virginia news station WAVY. “There’s no one else that wanted to hear my story, except the people that know me and people that know I would never do anything like that, I would never harm anybody. I’m not a fighter, I’m not even confrontational, I wouldn’t even do that on purpose, and I thank y’all for believing in me. I love y’all.”
According to MileStat, Tucker is competing in the girls’ 60-meter dash, the 200-meter, and the 4×200-meter relay, the same race where she suffered the injury.
A baton held by Kiersten Duncan of LSU in the starting blocks of the women’s sprint medley relay in the 87th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium. (Kirby Lee-USA Today Sports)
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Everett is not competing. In fact, just one student from her school, Dontae Riddick, will compete in the boys’ 60-meter dash.
Fox News’ Scott Thompson and Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
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