Track Knights finish top five at Mascoutah
By Anthony Jones
TROY — A trip to the Mascoutah Military Classic on Apr. 12 marked the most recent action for Triad’s boys track and field squad.
Twenty two squads, including four Mississippi Valley Conference teams, competed in the event. The Knights went on to take fifth-place in that field, tallying 54.33 points.
Triad’s point tally was the second-highest among Class 2A programs, with the lone exception being the host and meet champion Indians.
Undoubtedly the best event of the meet for the Knights was the pole vault, where they claimed a pair of top two finishes.
Freshman Zane Meier won the high-flying event outright with a height of 3.88 meters. With a height of 3.73 meters, senior Parker Friederich finished in a tie for second-place.
Another highlight for well-performing Knights was Tashon Crockarell’s championship in the 100 meter. The quick-footed senior clocked in at 10.86 seconds, marking a personal best and the thirteenth fastest time recorded throughout Illinois this spring.
Crockarell also contributed his speed to the 4×100 meter relay alongside Isaiah Johnson, Cory Warren and Louis Yohannes. That group cruised to a third-place finish in a 43.23 second showing.
Triad’s best throwing finish of the day came courtesy of Zach Van Tieghem, who topped out at 15.09 meters in the shot put for third-place. The senior tosser also contributed a sixth-place discus showing with a 43.89 meter launch.
Drew Twyman was the only other Knight to score an individual top-five finish. Racing in the 1600 meter, Twyman nabbed fifth with a swift 4:34.48 outing.
Earlier in the meet, Twyman combined efforts with Drew Pace, Dalton Mersinger and Miles Venhaus for fifth in the 4×800 meter relay. The four man unit completed all eight laps in 8:28.40.
The 4×200 meter relay proved to be another strong group effort for the Knights, who finished sixth in a time of 1:35.87. Jacob Odle, Nathan Ratka, Braven Hard and James O’Toole collaborated in that race.
Ratka earned a sixth-place finish of his own later in the 200 meter. There, the freshman clocked in at 23.66 seconds.
