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2022 Fall All-Met: Girls’ cross-country first team, second team, honorable mention

Check out this year’s picks for the Washington D.C. area’s top girls’ cross-country performers

Leah Stephens of Good Counsel is the All-Met Athlete of the Year for girls’ cross-country. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
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All-Met Players of the Year | Football (offense) | Football (defense) | Boys’ soccer | Girls’ soccer | Golf | Field hockey | Boys’ cross-country | Volleyball

The following student-athletes have been selected to The Washington Post’s 2022 All-Met team for girls’ cross-country:

Player of the Year

Leah Stephens, Sr., Good Counsel

Stephens had an immaculate fall in local competitions, earning four of her five wins by a 20-plus-second margin. It didn’t matter if the starting line featured runners from nearby schools, such as in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and Maryland private school state championships, or if they were nationally ranked competition, such as at the Adidas XC Challenge and MileStat.com XC Invitational. Her 16-minute 54-second performance at the latter meet was Maryland’s fastest 5k time since MileStat began tracking in 2000. She was one of three local girls who qualified for the Champs Sports Cross Country National Finals, finishing seventh and qualifying for the all-American second team.

First team

Elena Blodnikar, Jr., Leonardtown

After winning the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference and Maryland 4A East region title, Blodnikar set a personal record of 18:58.7 in her gold medal run at the Class 4A state meet.

Gillian Bushée, Sr., Herndon

Virginia’s fastest distance runner went undefeated in local races, collecting first-place hardware at multiple large invitationals and winning the Class 6 state meet by a near-30-second margin.

Grace Finnegan, Jr., Richard Montgomery

She placed no lower than sixth all season and when she won, she won big, outpacing all other runners at the Maryland XC Invitational and Bull Run Invitational.

Avery Graham, So., Sherwood

She built on an impressive freshman year with an even stronger sophomore season as she cruised to a Maryland 4A North region championship in November.

Varri Higgins, Jr., Bethesda-Chevy Chase

The Montgomery County and Maryland 4A West champion finished on the podium in every local race that she ran.

Aidan MacGrath, Jr., West Springfield

She was the fastest runner on Virginia’s top team, with a career-defining individual win in 17:40 at the Occoquan Region championship.

Thaïs Rolly, Sr., McLean

Rolly joined Bushée and Stephens as the class of the area this season and earned second-place finishes at the Northern Region cross-country championship and Virginia Class 6 state meet.

Coach of the Year

Kellie Redmond, Wootton

Wootton’s girls’ team went undefeated in local races until the state championship meet where, with a top runner dropping out, it still finished on the podium. The Patriots’ impressive three-month stretch included wins over D.C., Maryland and Virginia powers, including two victories of 60-plus points over eventual Class 4A champion Severna Park.

Second team

Keira Arenholz, Fr., W.T. Woodson

Daisy Dastrup, Jr., Poolesville

Kenza Elakari, Sr., West Springfield

Katie Greenwald, So., Whitman

Elizabeth Gregory, Jr., Forest Park

Lila Waters, Sr., Langley

Molly Weithman, Jr., Bishop O’Connell

Honorable mention

Alexa Avila, Sr., Blair

Scarlet Fetterolf, Sr., Loudoun Valley

Cami Glebocki, Sr., Severna Park

Maya Gottesman, Sr., Wootton

Meredith Gotzman, Sr., St. John’s

Colleen Kelly, Jr., Battlefield

Vivian Kelly, So., Georgetown Visitation

Tori Ketzler, Jr., Wootton

Sitota Mesfin, Sr., Oakton

Evelyn Rogers, Jr., Elizabeth Seton

Madeleine Simmons, So., Walter Johnson

Haley Spoden, Sr., Marshall

Christina Elliott, Sr., Fairfax

Hannah Floyd, So., St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes

Taylor Gibson, Jr., Lightridge

Haley Heironimus, Jr., Falls Church

Kiley Mann, Jr., Howard

Lydia Mikhin, So., Madison

Ella Moore, Jr., Holton-Arms

Frankie Moore, Jr., Oakland Mills

Ela Muniz, Fr., Reservoir

Kate Tuttle, Jr., Potomac School

Hannah Weber, Sr., Battlefield

Michaela Workman, Sr., Tuscarora

Cecilia Wright, Fr., National Cathedral

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