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Washington Post
a day ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Spring 2025 All-Met Players of the Year
The Washington Post has been recognizing the top high school athletes in the D.C. area for more than 100 years. These are the best of the best from the Spring 2025 season. See all of our Player of the Year selections, as well as links to complete teams, below: Ren Devereux, utility, Sr., St. John's | Starring for the area's most dominant team, Devereux helped lead the Cadets to a third straight Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title and ninth in 10 seasons. He allowed only four runs in 42 innings, good for an ERA of 0.67 with 67 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .119. Devereux went 8-0 despite pitching through a schedule that featured numerous nationally ranked opponents, earning WCAC player of the year and D.C. Gatorade player of the year honors. Also a middle-of-the-order bat frequently playing first base, he hit .360 with a team-best 38 RBI. He signed with Penn State. Baseball first team, second team, honorable mention Claire Radford, P, Sr., Leonardtown | For Leonardtown to defend its Maryland Class 4A title, the Raiders needed a stellar season from their ace. Radford delivered, collecting 252 strikeouts and posting a 0.59 ERA in her final season to lead her team to a second consecutive state championship. The South Carolina Aiken commit shined when it mattered most, fanning 16 batters to clinch a 5-0 win over Churchill in the state final. In a season in which three teams from the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference won championships, Radford led her team to its first SMAC title with an 11-strikeout performance against eventual Class 3A champion Chopticon and was later named conference player of the year. Softball first team, second team, honorable mention Owen James, D, Sr., The Heights | At the beginning of this season, James wasn't necessarily interested in playing college lacrosse. But after a dominant senior season, the Division I offers became hard to ignore. James, who is committed to Navy, scored 28 goals with a long stick and totaled 132 groundballs and 67 forced turnovers. When he was asked to take faceoffs, he won 52 percent of them. James was named the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference player of the year for posting those stats at his position and leading The Heights to a five-win improvement over 2024 and a winning record overall. Boys' lacrosse first team, second team, honorable mention Sophia Stoltz, A, Sr., Stone Ridge | Stoltz earned first-team All-Met honors last season, but the senior upped her game this spring. A four-year varsity starter and four-time all-conference selection, Stoltz led the Gators to a third straight Independent School League championship by scoring 80 goals in 23 games. The North Carolina signee also had 18 assists to finish her senior year with nearly 100 points. She tallied three goals in the ISL championship win against St. Stephen's/St. Agnes. Girls' lacrosse first team, second team, honorable mention Quincy Wilson, Jr., Bullis | Wilson continued shattering records en route to his fourth consecutive Athlete of the Year award between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Wilson won the 400 meters again at New Balance Nationals Outdoor and anchored the Bulldogs' 4x400 relay team to another victory. In April, he ran the fastest 400 split in Penn Relays history (43.99 seconds) and anchored the lineup that broke a 40-year-old national 4x400 record. The gold medalist's best open 400 time was 45.27 seconds, the second fastest in the country during the outdoor season. Boys' track and field first team, relays, honorable mention Sydney Sutton, Sr., Bullis | A repeat Athlete of the Year selection from the indoor season, Sutton dominated the track once more to cap an illustrious Bulldogs career. Her 200-meter time of 22.70 seconds was the third fastest in the country this season. At New Balance Nationals Outdoor, she placed second in the 400 (51.23) and 400 hurdles (56.04), with both times beating the previous meet record. Sutton was also a member of Bullis's 4x400 relay, which was the fastest in the country, and the best local 4x100 and 4x200 relays. Bullis won all three relays at New Balance. She will run at Florida. Girls' track and field first team, relays, honorable mention John Balkey, MF, Sr., Riverside | The engine of a team that sat on top of The Washington Post's local rankings for nearly the entire spring, Balkey scored 13 goals and added 12 assists while helping the Rams hold opponents to just six goals all season. Behind his leadership, the Rams marched to another state tournament before falling in a Class 5 semifinal. After years spent as a linchpin for one of the area's top public programs, he will take his talents to George Mason. Boys' soccer first team, second team, honorable mention Lilli Lubic, MF, Sr., Independence | Lubic did it all in her senior year for the Tigers, racking up 32 goals and 20 assists to lift Independence to its second Virginia Class 5 title in three seasons. The Delaware signee scored two goals in the state final and totaled a whopping 75 goals and 55 assists in her four years at Independence. Girls' soccer first team, second team, honorable mention Cyrus Zia, Sr., St. Albans | After four years spent dominating local competition, Zia leaves the Bulldogs' program with a sterling legacy. He closed out his high school career in style this spring, earning a fourth straight D.C. State Athletic Association singles title. The Georgetown commit finished with a 17-1 record, including several massive wins over the Interstate Athletic Conference's best, cementing himself as one of the most decorated high school tennis players the area has seen in years. Boys' tennis first team, honorable mention Ruhika Bhat, Sr., Poolesville | Bhat was undeterred in her quest for a Maryland Class 2A singles title. The Falcons' top singles player didn't yield more than one game in any set this season, posting a 20-0 record en route to county, region and state titles. Her dominance helped Poolesville earn its fourth straight state title, extending the Montgomery County program's reign over its classification. She is committed to Georgetown. Girls' tennis first team, honorable mention Madi Bell, Sr., Lake Braddock | Bell dominated competition throughout her high school career, earning this award for the third time. The Pittsburgh signee won the all-around competition at the district, regional and state meets. She also finished first on beam (9.750) and bars (9.925) at states, leading Lake Braddock to a fourth straight Virginia Class 6 championship. In the state all-around competition, the 0.7 difference in score between Bell and the second-place finisher was bigger than any other gap among the top 20. Gymnastics first team, second team, honorable mention Logan Reilly, Sr., Bishop O'Connell | Reilly proved himself one of the best golfers in the area this year — both in the high school ranks and beyond. The senior excelled in every match he played, including his 1-under-par 36-hole round at Woodmont Country Club this month that left him just two strokes short of qualifying for the U.S. Open. For O'Connell, Reilly averaged a staggering 33 shots per nine holes, went undefeated in match play and was the low individual scorer at the Washington Metro tournament. He is committed to Auburn. Golf first team, second team, honorable mention Boys' rowing first team, best boats, honorable mention Girls' rowing first team, best boats, honorable mention
Washington Post
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Claire Radford, Leonardtown defend their Maryland Class 4A softball title
Claire Radford barely had time to rip off her face mask before it started to sink in. Leonardtown's senior ace had just thrown the title-clinching strike in Saturday's Maryland Class 4A softball championship, securing a 5-0 win over Churchill and a second straight state crown. The strikeout put a bow on a dominant season for the Southern Maryland powerhouse, who ceded just one run in a torrid five-game playoff stretch.
Washington Post
10-04-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Huntingtown topples No. 3 Leonardtown in a battle of SMAC softball powers
Mike Johnson has seen plenty iterations of a Huntingtown softball team over his 22-year tenure leading the southern Maryland program. The Hurricanes are perennial contenders, with five state championships in the last two decades. A trip to Bachman Sports Complex for the Maryland state semifinals has become an annual tradition for the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference powerhouse. Despite the program's winning history, Johnson feels something different about this year's group — something he hasn't felt in years. He heard it in the dugout Wednesday, when senior shortstop Kayla Ripple whipped a ball to first base for a pivotal out against Leonardtown and the Hurricanes erupted into cheers. He saw it in the smiling faces of his players as they circled together in left field after a 2-1 win over the No. 3 Raiders, defending Maryland Class 4A champions. 'This group, they're together,' Johnson said. 'They enjoy being together, they've got each other's back, they're pulling for each other…I haven't seen this in a while, it is a special group.' The Hurricanes (7-1), one season removed from a 4-2 loss to Rising Sun in the Maryland Class 2A title game, feel like they're closer than ever in their quest to return to College Park to compete for another state title. Maybe it's the collective desire to win that final game for the first time since 2019, Johnson said. Senior Jordyn Greever thinks it might be the bonds they've forged playing softball together over several seasons. Whatever it is, it's working. 'We're all working together as a team,' Greever said. 'I felt like, in past years we were this little group and this little group, but we're all a team…It's just better when you're a full team and we all get along [and] know how to work together.' With Huntingtown's one-run win over the Raiders Wednesday, Johnson's group is back atop the SMAC standings and primed for another run. The Hurricanes are undefeated in conference play and have scored double-digit runs in six of their seven wins. Their lone defeat came against No. 8 St. Mary's Ryken last week, 2-0. Much of that success has come from the arm and bat of Greever, an All-Met honorable mention last season. With Greever in the pitching circle, Huntingtown has ceded just five runs. Against Leonardtown (7-1), the Hurricanes' toughest conference test yet, Huntingtown needed another strong performance from Greever to pull out a statement win. The senior allowed just three Raiders hits on the afternoon as Johnson's team pulled themselves out of a late hole with a two-run sixth inning. 'This is what state caliber softball is all about, and I think we saw it in a regular season game,' Johnson said. 'This is sweet.' In the bottom of the sixth inning, after senior Morgan Cranford laid down a deftly placed bunt to reach base, Greever roped a single into center field to tie the game with two outs in the frame. Senior Olivia Kendrick drove in the eventual game-winning run on the next at-bat and the Hurricanes held on despite a 14-strikeout afternoon from Leonardtown senior Claire Radford. 'I feel like the team energy was really good, and even though we had some bad at-bats, we were still able to pick it up,' Ripple said. Greever collected the final out of the afternoon, flipping a ground ball to first base to clinch the victory. The Hurricanes' celebration was spirited but short. With postseason vengeance on their minds, Greever and her teammates quickly turned their attention to the road ahead. 'We definitely want to go back and win [the state title],' Greever said. 'That [loss] made us a little mad…we want to go get it.'
