A simple celebration had serious repercussions for a Texas high school track team.
After serving as the anchor for Columbus High School's victorious 4x100 team during a recent meet, Derrick Hayes celebrated by touching his ear and pointing to the sky. The gesture violated a state scholastic rule which prohibits excessive celebrations, and it cost Hayes and his teammates a spot at the state championship meet.
"I don't think that the situation was technically a terrible scenario as far as his action," Columbus Superintendent Robert O’Connor told KHOU 11, "but the action did violate the context of the rule."
Making the disqualification all the more difficult is the fact that the team had run its fastest time of the season, winning the race by seven yards.
"You cross a finish line and you’ve accomplished a goal and within seconds it's gone," Derrick's father, K.C., told KHOU 11. "To see four kids, you know, what does that tell them about the rest of their lives? You’re going to do what’s right, work extra hard, and have it ripped away from you?"
