LYNCHBURG, Va. — A Portsmouth high school student was charged with one count of misdemeanor assault and battery after a video of a high school track meet went viral.
The video, taken during the Class 3 VHSL Track and Field Championships last week at Liberty University in Lynchburg, showed a Portsmouth runner hit a Lynchburg runner in the head with her baton.
The Portsmouth runner said it was an accident.
However, after reviewing the video, Lynchburg Commonwealth's Attorney Bethany Harrison charged the Portsmouth student.
The Lynchburg student suffered a concussion and a possible skull fracture as a result of the incident.
"She was touching me to the point where I was pumping my arm, and the baton was hitting her arm," the Portsmouth runner said about the incident. "I lose my balance—my whole body turns, and then I pump my arms, so she got hit."
"As we got around the curve, she kept bumping me in my arm," the Lynchburg runner shared. "When we finally got off the curve, I slowly started passing her, and she hit me with the baton."
Virginia Davis, a USA Track and Field official with 16 years of experience as an umpire, described the incident as tragic but emphasized that the individuals involved are high school students.
"I think it’s tragic. They bumped into each other. Whether you think what they did was correct or not, they’re still high school students," Davis told WTKR.
In addition to the charge against the student, her Portsmouth team was disqualified from the event.
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