High school runner DQed for covering earrings with tape

When a high school runner is disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct, you assume it's for taunting, arguing or a choreographed finish-line dance, not for a piece of tape covering her earrings. Kansas teen Miranda Clark had just run the 1600-meter race for Russell High when an official asked about her tape-wrapped earlobes. Clark said she was trying to protect her recent piercings, which she knew were forbidden in a meet.

The "Wait, what?" part? If Clark had blatantly displayed her ear studs, she would've just been warned; simply covering them got her DQed from every event. "This is just high school sports," Clark's dad said. "[We should be] encouraging our young people to compete ... not discouraging."