Triad athletics 2023 year-in-review

By Anthony Jones

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TROY — Over the course of 2023, Triad High School has racked up a lengthy list of athletic achievements.

One of the highlights of the year was a 22-2-1 record from the boys soccer team, who outscored their opponents by a combined score of 118-15. The Knights would finish with regional and sectional championships before falling 1-0 in the super-sectional round.

The soccer squad also compiled a 10-0 league record to win the Mississippi Valley Conference outright. Their conference championship marked their fourth consecutive outright title.

Another high-point of the fall was first-year head coach Calvin Potthast leading the football Knights to a 7-4 record. Triad advanced to the second round of the postseason before losing to eventual state finalist Joliet Catholic Academy.

The gridiron Knights, who finished second in the conference standings, also broke several program passing records. Quarterback Isaac Ackerman became the first ever to pass for 2,000 yards in a season and receiver Tashon Crockarell set career records with 1135 receiving yards and 61 receptions.

Another school record fell during the fall season: Triad’s boys cross country quickest race time. Junior Drew Twyman broke the previous record, set by Jeff Schirmer in 2005, with a time of 14:44.0.

Twyman would go on to finish seventy-second at the IHSA State Finals. The rest of the cross country Knights found postseason success as well, as they qualified for the sectional round after taking third overall at their regional meet. 

On the girls side of distance running, the Lady Knights also reached the sectional round. Their top finish there came from Kennedy Bowman, who claimed forty-fourth place.

In volleyball, Triad racked up several achievements as well. The Lady Knights finished with an 18-18 overall record.

After the Mississippi Valley Conference race ended, Triad found themselves in third-place. Their 6-4 league record was their best since 2017.

With a fourth-place finish at the IHSA State Finals for girls golf, Emma Hill earned one of the school’s top individual performances of the year. Her finish was also the best in program history.

Hill also led the Lady Knights to a conference championship earlier in the season. Triad would also finish third at their regional meet to reach the sectional round.

Triad’s boys golf team would land in seventh place at their regional tournament. At their league championship, they took fourth-place.

Also featured in the fall season was a strong campaign from girls tennis. The Lady Knight finished third overall at the league tournament.

In postseason action, Triad finished in second at their IHSA Sectional. There, Andie Green won the singles division to state qualify and the duo of Anna D’Aunoy and Katie Watts did the same with a fourth-place finish.

Going back to the spring, Triad saw several more impressive campaigns.

Among them was the baseball Knights, who dispatched Taylorville and Highland for a third consecutive regional crown. The Knights also won their third consecutive Mississippi Valley title with a 9-1 mark.

The diamondmen finished 26-12 overall and 16-3 at home. Their three home losses came against state champions Edwardsville, third-place finishers Jackson and sectional finalist Mt. Vernon.

Lady Knight soccer also made a lengthy playoff run, claiming a regional and sectional title. They fell to Glenwood in the super-sectional round on the Titans’ home field. Glenwood went on to win the state championship.

Triad finished 15-8-3 overall after a 3-5 start. Three of those losses came against eventual state champions: Glenwood, O’Fallon and Fort Zumwalt South.

The Lady Knights also won an outright conference title with a 9-1 record.

Triad softball also caught momentum after a slow start, finishing 15-12 overall and winning 11 of their final 15 games. The Lady Knights tied Jersey for second place in the Mississippi Valley standings with a 5-5 mark.

Their postseason ended in a 5-3 regional semifinal loss to Civic Memorial. That contest was hosted by the Eagles in Bethalto.

Boys track and field also finished second place in the conference in their spring campaign.

The Knights also finished tied for eighteenth place at the IHSA State Finals after tallying seven total state qualifications in shot put, 800, 1600, pole vault, high jump, 4×100, and 4×200. They reached finals day in the latter four events.

Parker Friederich’s state qualification in the pole vault marked the tenth consecutive season Triad sent at least one boy or girl to state in the event. The junior finished twelfth overall in his debut at the season finale meet.

The team’s best finish at the state meet was second place from the 4×200 meter relay squad of Tristan Darby, Tashon Crockarell, Cory Warren and Louis Yohannes with a time of 1:28.09. The same lineup took fourth place in the 4×100 meter relay with a 42.28 second performance.

Crockarell also finished in tenth place in the high jump at the state meet.

The high jump was also a top event for Triad’s girls track and field squad.

In the bar jumping event, sophomore Makenna Witham finished tied for second at the IHSA State Finals. The Lady Knight scored the team’s best finish at the statewide meet with a height of 1.66 meters.

Triad qualified for the state meet in three other events. Sophomore Kennedy Bowman did so in the 3200 meter and alongside Chloe Gough, Mikayla Niehaus and Abigail James in the 4×800 meter relay. Abby Kesterson also qualified for the Charleston-based meet in the shot put.

Earlier in the season, the Lady Knights took second place overall at the Mississippi Valley Championships. Triad also finished fourth as a team at the Civic Memorial Sectional.

Boys’ tennis also contributed to a successful spring for Triad, finishing seventh overall at the IHSA State Finals. Their finish marked the highest in program history and their total of 15 points was only three off tying for a third-place trophy.

Marc Froidcoeur and Dillon Henderson finished sixth overall in doubles play, the highest finish in Knight history for either single or doubles play. They also scored the first medal in program history.

Taking thirteenth overall, Jake Stewart tied Triad’s best singles finish ever at state. Andrew Carter and Ethan Stewart added points for the Knights in doubles action and Joe Cass also competed at the state meet.

Winter sports have competed in two seasons over the course of 2023.

In boys basketball, Triad closed out their 2022-2023 season with their first regional title in twenty years. They went on to advance to the sectional championship, where they would lose to eventual third-place finisher East St. Louis.

At the start of this winter’s season, the Knights are off to a 6-4 start.

In the early months of 2023, girls basketball finished their campaign with a 5-23 record. The Lady Knights also finished 1-9 in league play.

Through just 12 games of their more recent season, Triad has already amassed eight wins. They’ve also started 3-2 in Mississippi Valley Conference play.

In wrestling, a tally of 11 Knights reached their 2023 sectional meet. Colby Crouch, Koen Rodebush and Aidan Postma all advanced from there to the state tournament.

Crouch would go on to reach the state championship bout but was medically forfeited the match after two rounds. The then-junior never trailed in the match.

This winter, the Knights are off to a 5-4 start to their season.

Both boys and girls bowling had successful postseasons at the start of 2023.

In boys’ action, the Knights finished fifth overall at the Salem Regional to finish one spot away from sectionals. Senior Andrew Neumann did qualify for sectionals as an individual after finishing sixteenth at the meet.

Lady Knight bowling finished third as a team at the regional, which qualified their entire team for the sectional round. Triad finished eleventh as a unit at the Belleville East Sectional.

At the IHSA’s 2023 cheerleading state championships, Triad took home fourth place honors in the medium division after taking third at their sectional meet. The Lady Knight cheer team also took third place overall at ICCA State.

Triad dance secured another top finish after taking ninth in IHSA Class 1A at state. The Lady Knights entered the finals having taken twelfth in the preliminary round and fifth in their sectional.

They also took home fourth place honors at the IDTA State competition. Their top-four finish came in the 2A jazz division.