WEST VIRGINIA — Becky Pepper-Jackson won the West Virginia Class AAA girls’ state track and field championship in May 2026, competing for Bridgeport High School with a personal best long jump of 38 feet, 11.75 inches. Paislee Babiczuk of John Marshall High School placed second with a distance of 36 feet, 11 inches.

Pepper-Jackson’s victory occurred while her legal challenge to West Virginia’s 2021 law banning biological males from participating in girls’ school sports remains pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. The court agreed to hear the case, and ACLU attorneys delivered oral arguments on January 13, 2026. A ruling is not expected until June 2026.

ACLU attorney Joshua Block argued during oral arguments that exclusion is unwarranted if no relevant physiological differences exist between Pepper-Jackson and other female competitors. “However the court resolves this case, I really urge the court not to do it on the definition of sex argument,” Block said. He added, “I don’t think the purpose of Title IX is to have an accurate definition of sex. I think the purpose is to make sure that sex isn’t being used to discriminate by denying opportunities. I wouldn’t look to whether or not to classify B.P.J. as male or female. I think the question is, ‘is she being denied an opportunity because of that classification?’”

West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey sent a letter to the Supreme Court highlighting Pepper-Jackson’s performance, writing, “As a high school sophomore, Pepper-Jackson is not finishing ‘near the back of the pack’ but is instead defeating every—or nearly every—female in the state in these events. I would appreciate it if you could circulate this message to the members of the court.” ADF attorney Suzanne Beecher criticized Pepper-Jackson’s participation, stating, “The developments from the state meet from this past weekend just underscore the fact that no amount of testosterone suppression or intervention can undo the very real differences that males have over women.” Beecher added, “What has already happened by putting West Virginia’s law on hold as it applies to West Virginia in the B.P.J case is that girls have already been harmed. When you ignore differences between boys and girls, and between males and females, a lot of the harm falls on girls.”