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A transgender distance runner who was thrown off her college's track team has spoken out on the ordeal after claiming she has suffered suicidal thoughts and panic attacks amid her legal battle with the school.
Evie Parts, who is a biological male, sued both Swarthmore College and the NCAA back in August after alleging that she was removed from the team illegal because she is transgender.
Her lawsuit said the NCAA's ban on trans athletes in women's sports did not have legal grounds because it's not a governmental organization and therefore does not have jurisdiction over Pennsylvania state law or the Title IX federal statute. She was axed on February 6, the day the NCAA issued its new policy in light of Donald Trump's 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' executive order.
Two months after filing the suit, which alleges that she was in 'such a depressive state' that she experienced suicidal thoughts, depression and panic attacks - the 22-year-old has now spoken out on the ordeal and how it has affected her.
'There’s so much on my mind that nobody else has to think about,' Parts told Teen Vogue. 'This is not fair that I’m having to think about this. Everybody else is thinking about race strategy, and I’m thinking about whether I’ll be able to race.'
Parts' lawsuit seeks damages for emotional distress and civil conspiracy. It comes after Rochester Institute of Technology's Sadie Schreiner, who is also a transgender runner, sued Princeton University after claiming she was removed from a school-hosted track meet illegally.
Trans runner Evie Parts has spoken out after being thrown off her college's track team
The decision came after Donald Trump signed an executive order banning trans athletes from women's sports on February 5
Swarthmore said it was simply complying with federal policy by taking Parts off the team, reportedly stressing in an email that it 'deeply values our transgender community members.'
'We recognize that this is an especially difficult and painful time for members of the transgender community, including student-athletes,' the school's statement read. 'We worked to support this alumna [Parts] in a time of rapidly evolving guidance, while balancing the ability for other members of the women's track team to compete in NCAA events.'
Her teammates have thrown their support behind her, while girlfriend Lauren Lovingood said: 'The team allows her to participate in society in a way that aligns with who she is.'
When the NCAA issued its ban, the lawsuit states, Parts was told by athletics officials Christina Epps-Chiazor and Valerie Gomez that she could compete with the men's team or as an unattached athlete. She would only receive medical treatment, the complaint says, if she competed on the men's team.
Discussing an outdoor 10,000 meter race she took part in after the decision, Parts recalled: 'When I finished, I started crying because I was emotionally and physically exhausted.' She added that she was 'way more anxious than I normally am to race, because I was worried I would get to the line, and they’d be like "sorry, you can’t run."'
Swarthmore men's and women's track coach Peter Carroll, athletic director Brad Koch have also been named in the lawsuit as well as Epps-Chiazor and Gomez.
The college did not respond to a request for comment in August. The NCAA chose not to comment.
A Towson, Maryland native, Parts has made honor role four times at Swathmore and was first in the 10,000 meters at the 2025 Bill Butler Invite.
She joined the Swarthmore track team in the fall 2020 before then taking off the following four winter and spring seasons. She went back to the Division III team in 2023 to compete in the indoor and outdoor track seasons and in cross country.
