Triad Knights 2023-2024 athletics season in review

By Anthony Jones

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TROY — The past school year for Triad athletics was defined by a number of record-breaking performances and IHSA postseason hardware.

The season was also the first in school history that saw multiple Knights earn individual state championships.

Earning Triad’s first state title of the year was senior Colby Crouch, who was crowned at the IHSA Wrestling State Finals on Feb. 17. His win in the Class 2A 126 pound division marked his second career state championship, making him the first Knight in school history to win multiple titles across all sports.

Triad’s Will Kelly and Brody Smith also qualified for the IHSA State Finals for wrestling during the winter season.

The Knights’ campaign also featured a share of the Mississippi Valley Conference Championship and a third-place team finish at the Class 2A Civic Memorial Regional.

Triad’s other state champion this past season, Louis Yohannes earned his crown competing at the IHSA State Finals for boys track and field. The junior’s state title came in the 110 meter hurdles, where he clocked in at 14.36 seconds to break his own school record.

Other Knights to earn medals at the season finale meet were Brock O’Toole, Tashon Crockarell, Cory Warren, Zach Van Tieghem, Drew Twyman, Parker Friederich and Zane Meier. Their performances helped fuel the Knights to a program best sixth-place team finish in Class 2A.

Earlier in their postseason, the team earned second-place at the Class 2A Rochester Sectional behind eventual state champions East St. Louis and second-place at the Mississippi Valley Conference Championships behind eventual state runners-up Mascoutah.

In girls track and field, Triad earned the Mississippi Valley Conference Championship. The Lady Knights additionally added a third-place finish from the Class 2A Civic Memorial Sectional.

From the Sectional competition, Triad earned nine state qualifications.

The squad’s top finish at the IHSA State Finals came from the 4×100 meter relay squad of Riley Cissell, Mikayla Niehaus, Makenna Witham and Sophia Schardan, who earned sixth-place. The team clocked in at 49.11 seconds to earn their state medals.

Witham also qualified individually in the long jump, triple jump and high jump. The junior finished in the top twenty of all three events at the IHSA’s season finale.

Kennedy Bowman represented the team in two more events: the 1600 and 3200 meter runs. 

Triad’s highest state-finish for a team belonged to girls soccer, who finished with a second-place trophy. Their state championship game appearance marked their third in four years, with the team winning state titles in 2021 and 2022.

With this year’s championship appearance, seniors Carson Bohnenstiehl and Hannah Sparks became the first athletes in Triad history to be rostered for three state championship games.

Triad ended their season with an overall record of 22-5-1 after starting 1-3. The Lady Knights also boasted an 11-0-1 record on their home turf.

Enroute to a Mississippi Valley Conference Championship, Triad marched through league play with a 10-0 mark. They outscored their conference opponents by a combined score of 45-4 in those victories.

Triad’s boys soccer team also had an impressive season, amassing a 22-2-1 record while outsourcing opponents 118-15.The Knights earned 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.

Triad racked up several achievements in volleyball as well during the fall campaign. 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.

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

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 landed in seventh-place at their regional tournament. At their league championship, they took fourth-place.

During the winter season, Triad’s boys basketball team amassed a 21-11 record. Their postseason included a 43-26 win over Civic Memorial before falling to East St. Louis 58-39 in their regional final.

With a record of 6-4, the Knights finished third in the Mississippi Valley Conference standings.

Junior Drew Winslow netted 468 points across the season, which brought his career total to 1142 points. He became just the sixteenth Knight in program history to eclipse a tally of 1000 points.

Triad’s girls basketball season served as a big step forward. Finishing with an overall record of 16-16, the Lady Knights capped off a stark improvement from their previous 5-23 campaign. Triad’s Mississippi Valley Conference record also saw a dramatic leap forward with a 5-5 finish after going 1-9 the previous season.

An eighth-place state finish from Brylee Proffitt capped off Triad’s girls bowling place. The senior standout also claimed second-place at regional and sectional meets.

Ava Burrelsman, Ru Fuller and Clara Doubet also earned sectional qualifications for the Lady Knights. The team placed fifth as a team at the Triad Regional and came 29 pins short of advancing to the sectional round as a team.

In boys bowling, the Knights finished in seventh-place at the Belleville East Regional. Logan Drabing and Brock Lynch both earned qualifications to the Carterville Sectional.

Triad’s baseball team concluded their spring season with an overall record of 24-13.

With a mark of 7-3 in Mississippi Valley Conference play, Triad finished tied for second in league standings. The conference’s other 7-3 finisher, Highland, went on to finish fourth at the IHSA State Finals tournament.

Triad’s campaign featured wins in three states, as they added victories at Kentucky’s McCracken County and Missouri’s Cape Notre Dame. On their home field, they finished with a 13-6 record.

Triad softball started their campaign but rallied to win 14 of their final 16 games to finish with a 19-12 record.

The Lady Knights opened their postseason with a 20-0 win over East St. Louis. They then fell 6-5 in their regional final against Waterloo, who went on to finish fourth at the IHSA State Finals and did not allow five runs throughout the remainder of their postseason run.

Triad split their regular season meetings with the Bulldogs and the two programs ultimately tied for the Mississippi Valley Conference Championship with 8-2 records.

Their season marked the twenty-first consecutive winning season for the program.

Triad’s boys tennis team added to the state hardware earned this spring.

The Knights’ tennis season wrapped up at the IHSA State Finals, where the doubles team of junior Ethan Stewart and sophomore Joe Cass earned a third-place finish. Their finish is the highest in Triad history among doubles and singles representatives.

Sophomore Tate Moore added another state qualification for Triad and competed in singles action. The Knights finished with 11 team points at the State Finals, tying them for eighth overall in Class 1A.

Earlier in the postseason, Triad finished tied for third at their Sectional meet. Highland, who went on to tie for twelfth at the state tournament, won the event.

The Bulldogs also edged the Knights at the Mississippi Valley Conference Tournament, where they finished just three points ahead of Triad.