Wisconsin high school runner beats ban based on technicality, wins state titles

CAMPBELLSPORT, Wis. (CBS) — A Wisconsin high school track star had ruled ineligible to compete because of a technicality— but the ban was reversed, and over the weekend, he won two state titles.

Josh Onwunili of Campbellsport, Wisconsin—in Fond du Lac County about an hour north of Milwaukee—had been forbidden from running for Campbellsport High School because his parents weren’t living in the state.

They were in Ghana, in West Africa, working as missionaries.

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association rulebook says: “A full-time student… is ineligible for varsity interscholastic competition only at the school within whose attendance boundaries his/her parents reside.”

But the high school sports governing body reversed its decision, and Onwunili was allowed to compete with a special waiver.

He went on to sweep the 100m and 200m state championships this past weekend.

“I made it, I persevered,” Onwunili said. “It wouldn’t have been possible without everybody. Everybody helped along the way, and it’s been amazing.”

Wisconsin state Rep. Jerry O’Connor (R-Fond du Lac) had been working with the WIAA to get the waiver granted so Onwunili could compete.

“All WIAA was ever asked was to ‘LET JOSH RUN!’ And, wow, did he run,” O’Connor said in the statement. “Congratulations Josh!”