In the months after the fall sports season comes to a close, many high school athletes are recognized for their exceptional performances throughout the season. There are two ways to be recognized: by the Washington Post receiving All-Met honors, or by the coaches of each MCPS sport by being named to an All-County or All-Division list.

Two RHS athletes received Washington Post 2018 Fall All-Met recognition. Junior Kaelyn Mashburn was named an honorable mention for her performance throughout the field hockey season and senior Chris Rindov was named an honorable mention for his performance during soccer season.  

Mashburn, a midfielder, had six goals, 10 assists and 18 tackles [defensive stops] in her second year on the varsity field hockey team. Rindov, a center back, who only began playing soccer for RHS this year because of the demanding schedule of his club team, the Olney Boys and Girls Club (OBGC) Rangers, played a big role on defense and still managed to score four goals.

All-Met is selected by sportswriters for the Washington Post who, at the end of each season, name an athlete and coach of the year for each sport, along with a list of first team, second team and honorable mention athletes from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.  The lists for each sport are published in the paper and online and consist of athletes from both private and public schools based on their performances throughout the season.

“It’s really special to know that people from the Washington Post were impressed with my performance this year,” Rindov said. “But it makes me wish I would’ve started playing for Rockville earlier because then maybe I could’ve gotten first team or we could’ve gone to states.”

Even if athletes are not selected by the Washington Post, they still have the opportunity to be recognized by MCPS coaches by receiving All-County or All-Division Honors. Though there is no central organization that recognizes athletes for such awards, the coaches of each sport will usually meet or email each other at the end of the season to discuss which athletes deserve to be recognized.

“At the end of the year coach’s meeting, all the 3A/2A coaches will go to a table and we come up with a list of guys with stats and other attributes that we feel would garner them being labeled as all-division,” head football coach Jason Lomax said.

Senior Andrew Pace was named a 3A/2A First Team All-County wide receiver; Senior Antonio Villatoro was named a 3A/2A First Team All-County linebacker and senior Jaylon Harry was named a 3A/2A First Team All-County defensive lineman. Junior Dylan Monday was named a 3A/2A First Team All-County athlete.

Seniors Jaylen Lawrence (wide receiver), Colin Gabele (punter) and Greg Blackwell (offensive lineman) as well as sophomore Conner Pace (linebacker) were all named 3A/2A All-County Honorable Mentions for their respective positions.

Sophomore Paige Krawczel was named All-County Honorable Mention for volleyball.

Junior Kaelyn Mashburn and senior Emily Nagy were named First Team All-Division by the MCPS field hockey coaches. Senior Zoe Moser was named Second Team All-Division and junior Kate Holland was named All-Division Honorable Mention.

Senior Teddy Bilodeau was named First Team All-Division by the MCPS golf coaches, which is determined based on the golfers with the lowest stroke averages.

Though the MCPS cross country coaches did not recognize any specific athletes for their performances throughout the season, seniors Howard Kirk and Ashley Tyler both qualified for the 3A state cross country championships. Kirk finished 17th in the boys race and Tyler finished 13th in the girls race.

Seniors Chris Rindov and Colin Carroll were named First Team All-Division by the 3A/2A soccer coaches.

Though these RHS athletes were glad to receive recognition at the end of this season, they said that they must continue to work hard and prove themselves when next season comes around.

“It’s an honor to receive an award like that, but at the end of the day all that really matters is next season,” junior Dylan Monday said. “And I gotta keep putting in work in the weight room and on the field to make next season a movie.”

Teddy Bilodeau is a Staff Writer and Emily Nagy and Zoe Moser are Editors-in-Chief for the Rampage.