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The high school track athlete accused of hitting a competing runner in the head with a baton mid-race has broken her silence.
I.C. Norcom High School senior Alaila Everett spoke to WAVY News in an attempt to defend herself.
Everett says Kaelen Tucker was “so close” and the two runners nearly collided on the track while rounding a curve.
Saying she “knows her intentions,” Everett asserted that she’d “never hit someone on purpose” and the angle of the video that went viral doesn’t show the full scope of what happened.
However, she also acknowledges that the video that everyone has seen looks as if the hit was intentional, and…with tears in her eyes…Everett says, “It does look bad, but…she would never hit somebody on purpose.”
Source: WAVY