Once officials at the Columbus meet determined that Hayes had violated the excessive celebration rules, the entire 4×100 meter squad was disqualified and effectively barred from the state championships. The team will not get another chance to qualify for the meet. “He put his hand by his ear and pointed to the heavens,” Hayes’ father, KC Hayes, told KHOU. “It was a reaction. You’re brought up your whole life that God gives you good things, you’re blessed.”

Of the likely places for a debate over religious free expression to erupt, a Texas high school track and field meet probably wasn’t high on the list.

Remarkably, that’s precisely where one athlete’s reactionary gesture has led to a broader discussion about what is appropriate at public school events, after a Columbus (Texas) High relay team was disqualified for one of their member’s heavenward gesture. The incident occurred in Columbus, where the track and field team was hosting a meet with the goal of qualify athletes for the state championship meet later in May.

As first reported by Houston CBS affiliate KHOU, the school’s 4×100-meter relay squad achieved just that in winning its race decisively. The anchor of that 4×100 squad was junior Derrick Hayes, who ran a particularly blazing split and celebrated the team’s state qualification with a simple finger point to the heavens.

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