McGarity & Latham Named Powerade All-Metro Runners of the Year

ATLANTA - NOVEMBER 17, 2022 - A junior from Harrison High School and a Marist School sophomore were named Runners of the Year at the Powerade All-Metro Cross Country awards Thursday evening. Samantha McGarity of Harrison, the GHSA 7A state champion and Tommy Latham, the GHSA 6A state champion received the year's top honors among the 42 high school runners named to the first, second and third teams at the annual banquet.

McGarity turned in a dominant performance at the state meet in Carrollton earlier this month where she won by 40 seconds and posted the fastest time of any girls' runner across the state's nine classifications. McGarity, whose award was announced via video by 2021 NCAA Cross Country Champion Whittni Morgan, also won her regional title as well as the Cobb County Championship this season.

"My coach prepares us really well. We train a lot for hills," said McGarity of her back to back titles at the Carrollton state meet course. "I'm really lucky to be in an area of Georgia that has hills that are available to us."

McGarity's state meet race was also named the 2022 Performance of the Year. It was one of five performances posted on 11Alive.com and open to a public vote.

Also named to the girls' first team were Palmer Walstad (Westminster), Hannah Schemmel (St. Pius X), Ruby Little (Marist), Maddie Jones (Marietta), Carmel Yonas (South Forsyth) and Claire Shelton (Dunwoody).

Latham, the boys runner of the year, also capped off his year with a thrilling performance at the state meet where he was the only underclassman in the top 5, winning by 24 seconds. Latham also won the regional title this year and his second place finishing time of 14:56.81 at the Coach Wood Invitational last month was the second fastest time by any Georgia runner in 2022. His award was announced via video by 2021 NCAA Cross Country Champion Conner Mantz on Thursday night.

"The most important thing about Marist team culture is there is a group of 30 of us. It's not just seven or five, whatever it takes to get a team on the results," said Latham. "We all know what it means to have success and if any one of us has success it's a celebration."

The six other boys named to the first team were Joe Sapone (Holy Innocents' Episcopal School), Alex Arrambide (East Forsyth), Taylor Wade (Whitefield), Diego Santiago (Chattahoochee Hills), Jared Fortenberry (Marietta) and Dru Moore (Etowah).

Full first, second and third team lists are below. First teams are ranked as a traditional cross country team by performance while the second and third teams are ranked alphabetically.

Held annually since 1964, the Powerade All-Metro Cross Country and Track & Field banquets are Atlanta Track Club's longest standing tradition. Athletes are selected by their performance at the state meet, season overview and performances in major meets against other All-Metro contenders. This year's group of 21 boys and 21 girls includes runners from 26 different schools and eight counties. It also boasts eight runners who won state titles at the GHSA State Championship Meet.

Girls 1^st Team

Samantha McGarity	Harrison High School	11
Palmer Walstad	Westminster School	12
Hannah Schemmel	St. Pius X	12
Ruby Little	Marist School	11
Maddie Jones	Marietta High School	10
Carmel Yonas	South Forsyth High School	12
Claire Shelton	Dunwoody High School	12

Boys 1^st Team

Tommy Latham	Marist School	10
Joe Sapone	Holy Innocents' Episcopal School	12
Alex Arrambide	East Forsyth High School	12
Taylor Wade	Whitefield Academy	12
Diego Santiago	Chattahoochee High School	12
Jared Fortenberry	Marietta High School	12
Dru Moore	Etowah High School	12

Girls 2^nd Team

Shari Brown	Landmark Christian School	10
Bella Cammarota	Lambert High School	12
Katelynn Dollar	Creekview High School	11
Caroline Hood	Pace Academy	11
Gabriella Malerba	Decatur High School	12
Mary Nesmith	Marietta High School	9
London Ray	Blessed Trinity High School	10

Boys 2^nd Team

Andrew Balogh	Etowah High School	12
Gabriel Best	Whitewater High School	12
Cory Chambers	Milton High School	12
Esfan Daya	Westminster School	11
Joseph Jacquot	Westminster School	11
Will Jennings	Carrollton High School	12
Sumner Kirsch	North Atlanta High School	12
Jake Westing	Decatur High School	12

Girls 3^rd Team

Zahara Bernal	Pace Academy	10
Lottie Chappell	North Springs High School	12
Grace Danser	Maynard H. Jackson High School	9
Isabelle Gaharan	Lambert High School	12
Nora Hart	Marietta High School	11
Clara Heppner	Johnson Ferry Christian Academy	12
Kristal McQueen	Marietta High School	12

Boys 3^rd Team

William Carlton	Decatur High School	12
Gabriel Best	Whitewater High School	12
Diego Fernandes	West Forsyth High School	11
Jackson Hogsed	Lambert High School	10
Luke Kalarickal	Mill Creek High School	12
Marc Petrucci	Collins Hill High School	12
Truman Thompson	North Atlanta High School	12