2023 Fall Sports Recap: A Season of Growth, Grit And New Records

Fall sports at Sullivan High School in 2023 featured three teams that clawed their way to the district championship: football, volleyball and softball. The boys’ soccer team rebounded significantly from their 2022 season to make it to the district semifinals, while the cross country team had two runners who made it to state.

Softball

The Lady Eagles finished at the Class 3 District 2 Championship with a winning 18-16 record, advancing one game farther than the previous year.

A message that head coach Ashley Crump hoped to get out to her group after this season is that “it doesn’t matter if you’re the number one seed or the number six seed. Whoever plays better that day will win.”

She mentioned how her team’s victories came when they connected on the field and strayed away from mistakes. Their most incredible wins came against Pacific, where they won by 10 points, Borgia by 14, and then St. Clair and St. James in back-to-back 15-point shutouts.

Volleyball

Volleyball finished its 2023 season at the Class 3 District 9 Championship with a 10-19 record. They rose to every challenge because head coach Sarah Rochleau pushed them to keep fighting through adversity, stay in games and not let losses get them down.

Sullivan was coming off a district title in 2022 and was hoping to replicate the same success. Yet, seven of the seniors on that team had graduated, so Rochleau understood that it would be a rebuilding season. “We knew we had to be patient this year. We knew it would take some time trying to figure out who belonged and what role,” Rochleau said. “It took us probably until almost the end of the season before we had that nailed down.”

Through all the rotation changes and figuring out their chemistry on the court, the Lady Eagles kept fighting even when opponents outmatched them. Their resilience led them to compete in their second consecutive district championship against St. Clair.

Boys Soccer

Boys soccer finished their season with an 8-16 record, significantly improving from their three-win season in 2022. They were selected as the No. 3 seed in Class 2 District 2 and advanced to the district semifinals.

Head coach Brian Immekus said his team improved the most on defense because of the decreased amount of goals allowed. “We had that number cut in half until the wheels fell off a bit in the final two games, but the overall improvement was undeniable,” he explained.

Immekus is excited to see what his group will accomplish in 2024 with all the trials they have overcome in the past two years. “I’m most excited to see how our young offensive players progress and grow together,” he said. “They have a lot of goals in them and hopefully, they bring the best out of each other and reach their potential.”

Cross Country

Head coach Terry Wood was very impressed with the progress he saw in his cross country team in 2023.

“One of my favorite things about the season was seeing leadership potential develop in each of my runners,” Wood said. “There was never a time when any team member didn’t feel they could lead the team in our warmup drills. All the voices felt heard in those moments.”

Another memorable moment of the season for him was seeing his runners reach their personal bests. “Seeing athletes shine at the right moments is always a highlight... There’s something special about a kid finding their moments of joy and triumph and getting to celebrate those with them,” he explained.

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