Former Hampden-Sydney lacrosse player goes from defending goal to defending country
HAMPDEN SYDNEY, Va. (BVM) — Bennie Williams III, better known by his nickname Tre, grew up with two overarching worlds: sports and the military. Tre’s parents, his father Bennie Williams Jr. and his mother Christine Knighton, both served as United States Army Colonels. While Bennie Jr. was in charge of the house, keeping it running efficiently with a supervision created through years in the military, Tre was given a lot of freedom to discover his own interests in life and was never pushed by his family to work towards a life in the armed forces.
“It was a lot more disciplined,” Tre said. “My dad is a really hard nosed guy, but he has softened up since he retired. It was a pretty strict household, but also pretty loose. … I definitely got the freedom to do whatever I wanted because I was an only child, but in the house it was very strict, definitely a military lifestyle.”
A two-sport athlete during his time at Lake Braddock Secondary School, Tre played four years on the school’s varsity lacrosse team while also playing two seasons on the school’s varsity football team. While he was able to help Lake Braddock to back-to-back Patriot conference championships on the gridiron, the lacrosse field is where Tre truly shined.
“I made varsity my freshman year so I took it really seriously and I was doing anything to keep my varsity lacrosse spot,” Tre said. “Everyone kind of knew me as a lacrosse guy and I started getting recruited and that’s when I realized lacrosse was my thing.”
During his junior and senior years, Tre was named the team captain for the Bruins and would lead the team to conference runner-up finishes over the two seasons. For his efforts, Williams would earn second team all-conference honors his junior year before improving to first team all-conference his senior year.
With his play, Williams earned an opportunity to play lacrosse at Hampden-Sydney College, a Division III men’s-only college just a couple of hours away from home, with some help from his high school coach who rode motorcycles with former Tigers lacrosse head coach Ray Rostan and invited Tre’s dad to join them. Soon thereafter, Tre visited the campus and was hooked.
“It was kind of a match made in heaven,” Tre said. “I was three hours which was a good difference away from home, the coaches are awesome and it’s a really tight brotherhood down there.”
Over his first two years with the Tigers, Tre learned how to become a leader through the coaching staff though he struggled to get on the field. With a reinvigorated energy, Tre pushed to break into the starting lineup for his final two seasons.
“It was probably the most developing thing I have done in my life,” Tre said. “Lacrosse definitely became a fueling thing and where I had to really find myself for how to get onto the field.”
That extra work and dedication didn’t go unnoticed by Tre’s coach Jason Rostan, who took over the team during Tre’s junior season after being an assistant coach for many years.
“(He) is an absolute worker to the full extent,” Rostan said. “He was just one of those guys who worked harder than anyone else. He was in the weight room every day, he was on the field working on his game every single day, he was running everyday as well. He just committed himself to what he was doing.”
During his junior year, Tre had his best season on the field for the Tigers. Playing in 16 games, twice as many as his first two seasons combined, Tre was able to contribute one goal and one assist as a defensemen while also providing his typical stellar defense causing six turnovers and recording 15 grounded balls. With Tre’s help, the Tigers were able to break the school record in wins with 16 while also winning the school’s fifth Old Dominion Athletics Conference (ODAC) championship en route to the school’s third NCAA Tournament appearance.
“(The year) 2017 was probably the best year of my life,” Tre said. “I kick-started my career. I won an ODAC championship, I got playing time, it was a really good year. Winning the ODAC was definitely a highlight of all my time at Sydney.”
Rostan didn’t hesitate to praise Tre and what he helped bring to the coach’s first championship-winning squad.
“We wouldn’t have won that championship without Tre there’s no question,” Rostan said. “He really gave our team a tremendous spark towards the end of the season and I can’t say enough about what he added to our team from a toughness standpoint and was a leader you could count on in every way.”
Also during his junior year, Tre made a decision that would change the trajectory of his life. Tre, who had struggled trying to find the right career path for himself, found the school’s ROTC program and was intrigued at the idea of using his athletic abilities and being a member of a team in a professional setting. Prior to that year, Tre spent much of his time avoiding the military in any way.
“I was definitely against the military up to junior year,” Tre said. “I wanted to go into college with a civilian mindset, just go in as an ordinary kid.”
Though he was not pushed towards the military by his parents, with his mom actually being upset at the news of him joining, Tre felt the program would set him up for success upon graduating.
“My mom was really not for it, but my dad was because he saw how I could reap the benefits from it,” Tre said. “Ever since I went to my first army camp I have been all for it. … It honestly was inevitable. I literally was thinking of anything else I wanted to do and couldn’t think of it.”
The work in the ROTC program was rigorous, especially for that of a student-athlete with an already formidable schedule. Unlike other programs, the ROTC courses are recorded on the student’s transcript, but do not count as hours toward graduation, nor are grades earned included in a student’s grade point average. This means that while he was working extra time to perfect his craft on the lacrosse field and in the program, Tre would still need to do the typical course work of any other student. While his days would start as early as 6 a.m. and not end until late in the evening, Tre pressed on as he felt the busy schedule helped him to stay motivated.
“Honestly I love being busy,” Tre said. “It was kind of like where I have to be, not like whether I can get up and go do it, it’s where I have to be. Just setting those obligations for me is what I needed. I kind of like a busy schedule, sitting around on my butt kind of hurts me.”
Following an injury that limited his senior season, Tre was able to dive headfirst into the ROTC program. At graduation in May 2018, Tre was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and immediately after began attending Army Ranger school.
“I wanted to join infantry and as an infantry officer you are pretty much obligated to have a ranger tab,” Williams said. “Your perseverance and willingness to go is what your ranger tab shows. I knew as soon as I branched to infantry I would have to go to ranger school, even if I didn’t branch infantry I would still want to go to ranger school.”
This year, Tre completed his work and became an Army Ranger adding another military member to the Williams family.
“I’m proud to get it done,” Tre said. “Ranger school is definitely a challenge. It’s a physical challenge, but definitely more mental. It’s definitely an eye-opening school. It is the 1% of the 1% so 1% of the army has their ranger tab so that’s a cool fraternity to join into. It definitely grew my experience in the army and in the infantry.”
Today, Tre is still doing training at Fort Benning in Georgia. Once his training is completed he hopes to move to Fort Bragg in South Carolina where he would become a platoon leader and eventually deploy. Now that his ranger work is complete, Tre understands the honor of the rank he now holds.
“If our youngest soldiers are being told that I’m the best you’ll ever see because I have this patch on my shoulder it honestly grew my obligation to be better,” Tre said. “If I’m the best you’ll ever see I have to uphold that standard.”
Over the course of a few years, Tre made his way from the lacrosse field to the armed forces. Now as he prepares to complete his next mission, Tre will look to use the lessons he learned from his parents at a young age while making a name for himself as a member of the military. As Tre goes on to serve his country, he will no longer be playing defense for the Tigers protecting their goal, but as a member of the Army protecting the freedom of the United States.
