The recent Washington Post winter sports All-Met selections included 11 athletes and one coach from the Arlington Diocese.

In boys’ basketball, O'Connell's Freddie Stanback (second team) and O'Connell's Marcus Ginyard (fourth team) were recognized.

In girls’ basketball, Paul VI's Kendra King (fourth team) and Notre Dame Academy's Liz Miller (honorable mention) were honored.

In wrestling, O'Connell's Steve Ratley was named to the first team.

O'Connell sophomore Kate Ziegler (pictured above) was named to the first team in swimming. Ireton's Colleen Sullivan was second team, while O'Connell diver Katie Giarra received honorable mention. O'Connell's 200 freestyle relay team (Kaeley Boyle, Lauren Bryan, Kristin Fimian and Ziegler) earned the distinction as the area’s top relay team. Also, O'Connell head coach Evan Stiles was selected as the Swim/Dive All-Met Coach of the Year.

O’Connell senior point guard Erik Smith participated in the prestigious "Jordan Capital Classic." The game was played at the Comcast Center at the University of Maryland on April 17. During the game, Smith’s "Red Squad," coached by Paul VI's Levi Franklin and Walter Black, defeated the "Blue Squad" 121-94.

Smith, who will play collegiately at Lehigh, knocked down one trey, dished out three assists, recorded one block and one rebound. He also did all of the intangibles that don't show up on the stat sheet.

"It was a great experience. It was a real honor to be recognized as one of the top players in the entire area," said the senior who started for O'Connell head coach Joe Wootten and finished with 102 varsity wins over his career.

"Erik will be very tough for us to replace next season. I'm very proud of him. During his career - he was a coach on the floor. He always wanted the ball in his hands during the tough situations," said Wootten.

This past season, the O'Connell senior class (Smith, Freddie Stanback, Ernie Lomax, Jeremy Trimble and Noah Rogers) finished with a 30-4 record and won both the WCAC regular season and tournament titles. They also won the Alhambra Tournament.