Area Sports

By Mark Jurgena COLLINSVILLE — The Collinsville boys track & field team traveled to Champaign on March 2 for the First to the Finish Charger Invite at the University of Illinois Armory. Collinsville brought back one first place finish in both the A and B Flights and set two indoor school records in other events.…

By Mark Jurgena The IHSA crowned four state champions in girls basketball over the weekend at CEFCU Arena in Normal on the campus of Illinois State University. There was plenty of southern and Central Illinois representation at the event.  Class 1A Okawville repeated as Class 1A state champions, thanks to all-stater Alaina Kraus’ 33 points…

By Mark Jurgena COLLINSVILLE — Belleville West had beaten Belleville East in the regional semifinals on a buzzer-beater Feb. 21. Apparently, they gained confidence from that. West hit three, yes three, last-second shots to beat Collinsville in double overtime to win the championship two nights later. The Maroons tied the game at 50-all by hitting…

By Anthony Jones [email protected] TROY — Triad boys track and field opened their spring campaign in exciting fashion on Feb. 23. The Knights kicked off the year by hosting the tenth annual Triad Knight Indoor Invite at Principia College. With a field of 34 teams, the most recent edition proved to be the largest in…

By Anthony Jones [email protected] TROY — A trip to Marion’s Joe Elliot Early Indoor Meet served as the first official action of Triad’s girls track and field season. The Lady Knights opened with an impressive showing, taking third-place out of 20 teams. Triad tallied their 65 point total without an event champion, making them the…

By Anthony Jones [email protected] TROY — Fontbonne baseball recently added a Triad Knight to their list of commits. Hunter Winkles, a Triad senior, spoke on his decision to join the Griffins, “The coaches really showed they believed in me and wanted me there.” Fontbonne University, which competes at the Division III level of the NCAA,…

By Anthony Jones [email protected] TROY — For the fourth consecutive postseason, Triad boys basketball has been eliminated by East St. Louis. Their most recent tiff with the Flyers came on Feb. 23 in the Class 3A Jersey Regional Final. The postseason matchup was primarily a defensive struggle in the early going, with a Drew Winslow…

By Mark Jurgena COLLINSVILLE — Taylor Dawson became the most decorated wrestler in Collinsville High School history over the weekend by taking a second place finish in the 130-pound class at the IHSA girls wrestling state finals at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington. She was beaten by Claudia Heeney of Lockport 4-2 in the finals.…

by Mark Jurgena The winter sports season in Illinois is quickly fading as the IHSA conducted its third of five championship weekends at the end of February. Boys Wrestling In dual team boys wrestling at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington, former South Central Conference rivals Vandalia and Roxana battled it out for third place in…

By Mark Jurgena COLLINSVILLE — The Collinsville High School Boys Track Team got their season underway on Feb. 23 at the Knight Boys Indoor Invitational at the Coach Crafton Athletic Center on the campus of Principia College in Elsah. Triad hosted the meet.  Collinsville athletes took five top four finishes on the afternoon in the…