Today’s guest on Galesburg In Focus carries one of the, if not THE most recognizable names in Galesburg sports history. But Taylor Thiel didn’t just rest on having a famous last name. Like his grandfather John, father Zack and uncle Mark, Taylor etched his own chapter in Silver Streaks lore.
Taylor Thiel was starter and major contributor on the state runner-up 1997-98 Silver Streaks, widely regarded as one of the best teams in the storied history of Galesburg basketball.
A modest scorer, a deadly 3-point shooter and a team leader on and off the court, his coach Mike Miller says the 98 Streaks would not have been the team they were without Taylor Thiel — a thought echoed by the star of the team, Joey Range.
But Taylor was more than just a basketball player. He was a 3-year letter winner for the Streaks baseball team, and also a member of the 1994 GHS Hall of Fame boys golf team.
He went on to be a Division III All-American catcher at Monmouth College, setting single-season and all-time records for home runs — a career which landed him enshrinement into the Fighting Scots M-Club Hall of Fame.
A Texas resident since 2006,Taylor now resides in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex where he’s a Senior Market Sales Agent at Homeward, a private equity Real Estate company.
Taylor Thiel joins WGIL’s Jay Redfern to visit that magical 1998 season in this episode of Galesburg In Focus. Be sure to check out the rapid fire round where Taylor predicts who would emerge in a game of H-O-R-S-E against John, Zack and Mark Thiel.