Testosterone Youth: 34 Local Athletes Grab All-Met Honors

Photo by FLICKR/mikewald/1459103038/ In wrapping up the high school football season, 34 student-athletes garnered All-League recognition (as voted on by the coaches), or All-Met recognition (as selected by the Washington Post).

ALEXANDRIA, VA. - With the exception of  Episcopal High School, virtually all of the other local high school basketball teams will be in action to one degree or another over the next few days.

The lion's share of those schools will be involved in an assortment of holiday tournaments and the subsequent edition of Local Kicks will focus on that action next week, January 5.

In the meantime, in wrapping up the high school football season, 34 student-athletes garnered All-League recognition (as voted on by the coaches), or All-Met recognition (as selected by the Washington Post).

PATRIOT DISTRICT HONOREES

T.C. Williams: Offensive lineman Jay Whitmire, linebacker Damien Benton and kick returner Cortez Taylor;

Annandale: Wide receiver Melvin Robinson and punter Donnie McQueen. No one from West Potomac garnered honors.

In addition, the Titans Jay Whitmire was also selected First-Team All-Met as an offensive lineman by the Post. Furthermore, the Atoms' Melvin Robinson was also selected First-Team All-Met as a wide receiver by the Post.

NATIONAL DISTRICT HONOREES

Thomas Edison: Offensive linemen E.J. Rogers and James Sherrill, running back Angus Harper, linebacker Chris Hook, defensive back Jerrell Haywood and punter Billy Arnez. Sherrill  received recognition on the defensive line as well.

Hayfield: Offensive linemen Tae Choi and Alex Merino, running back/kick returner Rayshawn Rigans, quarterback/offensive player of the year/defensive back Anton McCallum and defensive lineman Timmy Kintsevich,  

Mount Vernon: Place kicker Colin Amereau.

Wakefield: Wide receiver Aaron Hunt and defensive lineman Patrick Beckley.

Washington-Lee: Defensive lineman Moussa Diallo and linebacker Rock Battle.

Yorktown: Wide receivers Mike Veith and C.J. Bartholomew, defensive lineman Anibal Suazo, linebacker Henry Dixon and also defensive back/defensive player of the year, the aforementioned C.J. Bartholomew.

In addition, the Hawks Anton McCallum was also selected Honorable-Mention All-Met as a defensive back by the Post.

LIBERTY DISTRICT HONOREES:  No one from Thomas Jefferson was selected this year.

INTERSTATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE HONOREES

Episcopal: Running back Hunter de Butts and offensive linemen Mike Jones and Will Stokes.

St. Stephens/St. Agnes: Offensive lineman Matt Dyson, "athlete" David Solomon, defensive lineman Laith Wallschleger and defensive back Alex Edwards.

In addition, the Maroon's Hunter de Butts was also selected Honorable-Mention All-Met as a defensive back by the Post.

WASHINGTON CATHOLIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

O'Connell:  Linebacker Alex Berdahl and defensive back Josh Trimble.

Due to the fact that Ireton plays an independent schedule, the Cardinals were not included in any of the above.

Given that the decade of 2000-2009 is about to come to an end, the Post also featured a "Team of the Decade." The lone Alexandria-area student-athlete to have been selected to that squad was former West Potomac standout offensive lineman Jimmy Bennett.

The 2008 West Potomac grad now plays the offensive line for the Connecticut Huskies after suiting up three varsity seasons for the Wolverines in South Alexandria (fall '05, '06 and '07),  all for former head coach Eric Henderson.

Besides football, 17 other local student-athletes also garnered honors in a variety of fall sports.

ALL-MET RECOGNITION for BOYS CROSS COUNTRY:

The lone selectee was Ireton's Michael Anderson, honored by the Washington Post as an Honorable-Mention All-Met.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY: Edison's Myah Hicks, selected by the Post as a Second-Team All-Met. Both West Potomac's Julianne Bigler and O'Connell's Emily Blagg were selected by the Post as Honorable-Mention All-Mets.

FIELD HOCKEY: Both St. Stephens/St. Agnes's Kelsey Horton (midfielder) and Jefferson's Hope Smith (defender) were selected by the Post as Second-Team All-Mets. St. Stephens/St. Agnes's Reilly Woodman (midfielder) was selected by the Post as Honorable-Mention All-Met.

BOYS SOCCER: Episcopal's Alex Smith (midfielder) was selected by the Post as First-Team All-Met. Episcopal's Bennett Jones (goalkeeper) was selected as Second-Team All-Met. Episcopal's David Kagulu-Kalema (defender) was selected as an Honorable-Mention All-Met, as were St. Stephens/St. Agnes' Ryan Harmouche (midfielder) and John Quarles (forward).

In addition, veteran Episcopal head coach Rick Wilcox had the honor of being selected by as "Coach of the Year" for the entire metro area.

GIRLS SOCCER: O'Connell's Jackie Moriarty (defender) was selected as First-Team All-Met. O'Connell's Lisa Gonzalez (defender) was selected as Second-Team All-Met. Both O'Connell's Morgan Reuther (forward) and Kim Anderson (goalkeeper) were selected by the Post as Honorable-Mention All-Mets.

VOLLEYBALL: The lone selectee was Yorktown's Elyse Bush (hitter),  honored by the Post as an Honorable-Mention All-Met.
Nine new inductees were recently added to the Episcopal High School Hall of Fame. This brings the total to 51 honorees in the prestigious private schools Hall of Fame.

The new inductees include John Hill Cronly (1912 - awarded posthumously); Charles William Kent Gamble ('50); Reginald E. Rutledge, Jr. ('51), Henry Plant Osborne III ('73), Joseph Elna Spruill III ('79), Richard Leigh Beaver ('86), Danielle Jeanetta O'Banion ('97) as well as the '47 football team and the '61 football team.

Contact the writer at dgsusa@juno.com.