A high school track star from Virginia reportedly suffered a concussion and potential skull fracture when another sprinter allegedly whacked her in the back of the head with the baton on the second-leg of a relay, according to video of the March 7 incident.
The runner from Portsmouth who stands accused has now come forward, stating that the incident was not intentional, and claims that she is being misrepresented in the media, insisting that what happened was simply an accident.
“Nobody’s gonna believe me, because I can admit I know it looks purposeful,” Alaila Everett said in an interview with WAVY 10, tears streaming down her face. “I know my intentions and I would never hit someone on purpose,” she said.
However, she stopped short of issuing an apology to Brookville High School junior Kaelen Tucker, the runner who was injured by Everett’s actions. The shocking incident led to the immediate disqualification of Everett’s team amid intense competition at the VHSL Class 3 State Indoor Championships at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Everett maintains that although the video gives the impression that she intentionally struck Tucker, she claims the incident was caused by her competitor cutting in front of her as she was finishing her stride.
Everett’s parents stand behind her version of events, even expressing outrage over the public backlash, insisting that the public has the story all wrong.
“I didn’t have to see a first video, second video or tenth video. I know 100 percent that she would never do that to nobody,” said Everett’s mother Zeketa Cost.
Vincent Pugh, former citywide athletics director at Portsmouth Public Schools, also found the situation questionable, noting that the play-by-play showed Turner running too closely to Everett during the incident.
“If a person comes up on the outside, they got to be a full stride ahead of me before they can cut in front of me,” Pugh said.
The controversy erupted during the 4×200 meter relay, when Brookville High School junior Kaelen Tucker was rounding the turn on the second leg when she was suddenly struck from behind by the blunt end of a baton.
This happened as she passed Everett, the runner from IC Norcom High School, who was in the next lane.
The blow was so forceful that it sent Tucker stumbling off the track.
Everet kept running, and within seconds, handed off her baton to the third leg runner, but by that point, Tucker was on the ground and out of the race.
Her team lost by disqualification. Everett’s team was also disqualified.
Heritage High School, of Lynchburg, which was leading the race at the time of the suspected attack, ultimately won the third heat with a time of 1:47.98, securing a fifth-place finish overall.
However, in light of the incident, the winner of the contest seemed of secondary importance.
The swift disqualification of IC Norcom fell short for Tucker and her family, who claimed that neither the team’s coach nor Everett or her family offered an apology for the incident — as if it never happened.
During the race, Tucker had been locked in a fierce battle for second place as she rounded the fourth turn near the front of the pack. As the runners began merging to one lane, Tucker turned on the burners and began to overtake Everett, who was steaming next to her.
“When we get onto the other side of the track we have to cross to lane one, you have to merge in, and as I was coming up on her she kind of made me get cut off a little bit so I backed away,” Tucker told WSLS.
Instead of blocking her path, Everett appeared to slow down as Tucker went by. Quickly regaining stride, Everett appeared as if she wound up and swung the baton overhand, where it glanced off the back of Tucker’s head.
“When we got to the curve she kept bumping me in my arm and when we got off the curve I finally passed her and that was when she hit me with the baton,” Tucker said.
But Everett insists that the video doesn’t tell the full story.
“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.
Everett said her world had been flipped upside down since reports of the incident went viral.
“Everybody has feelings, so you’re physically hurt, but you’re not thinking of my mental,” Everett said, complaining about the backlash on social media. “They are assuming my character, calling me ghetto and racial slurs, death threats… all of this off of a nine second video,” she said.
Whether it came on purpose or not, the blow in the race struck like a bolt of lightning.
Tucker said she never saw it coming. An audible gasp rippled through the complex as Tucker veered off the track, clutching her head before collapsing hard to the turf.
Tucker’s mother bolted from the stands as team trainers hurried to aid the injured athlete, who had earned silver in the girl’s 55m dash earlier in the meet.
“I could feel a headache coming up, so I just stood out,” Tucker said afterward, explaining why she halted mid-race, pulling her team out of the competition. A doctor later diagnosed her with a concussion and a possible fractured skull.
Tucker and her mother, Tamarro, said Everett and her teammates remained stoic throughout the ordeal and never attempted to address the incident or offer an apology.
“They were beside us at the event. They were watching the video at the event, but no one apologized or came to check on her,” the Tucker parents told the outlet. “Even if it was a fluke or freak accident, you still would check on her.”
Everett mentioned that she has tried reaching out to Tucker but has been blocked by her social media. Additionally, the Everett family was served with court papers, as the Tuckers are seeking a protective order.
Tucker’s mother has reached out to high school athletics officials regarding the incident, and she confirmed that the governing body was planning to investigate the apparent assault.
An official with the Virginia High School League said he could not comment on disciplinary actions.
