Aidan Wyzard, Dylan Hodges win track titles as Sycamore wins team crown

Sycamore senior sprinter Aidan Wyzard made an improbable journey to the top of the Class 2A state track and field meet 200-meter dash podium.

Wyzard captivated the crowd with a thrilling finish in the 200, clocking a personal record time of 21.36 seconds to win the state championship on Saturday. A year ago, he suffered a hamstring injury after recording the top long jump in the prelims, causing him to miss the finals and set in motion a long rehab.

“If you would’ve told me at the start of the year that I would be a 200-meter state champion, I wouldn’t believe you,” Wyzard said. “We were so focused this year. My main goal was to long jump, but things turned. I ended up running the 200 in the middle of the year. I had never run it before, only a few times. My time I ran was competing for state medals. I knew we had to do then whatever we could to get points at state. My times started dropping and ever since then, I’ve pushed myself.”

All afternoon, the Spartans were among the top storylines at the three-class state meet held at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Stadium. Over two decades ago, the Spartans’ program slowly started making a name at the state meet, mainly in the 4x800 relay but they started adding top-three individual medals.

On Saturday, the Spartans were the top team in the state meet in 2A.

In a way, Wyzard’s state teammates also took an odd route to the Class 2A state team title on Saturday afternoon. The Spartans won their first team title in program history, collecting 71 points to edge out East St. Louis (62 points).

Sycamore’s 4x400 relay of Crewe Bartelt, Devin Karda, John Lochbaum and Dylan Hodges, an Illinois Wesleyan football and track recruit, closed out a memorable day with a third-place time of 3:19.26 to add seven points.

Hodges also won the 400 in a time of 49.18 for 10 points.

Hodges, wearing pink shoes, found a plot of turf and lay on his stomach relaxing for over 10 minutes followng his individual victory, just 10 yards away from the finish line.

“I knew I had to get out faster than yesterday and came out and planned the race in my head,” Hodges said. “I just hung on for dear life at the end, especially pushing the last 100 meters. I knew I was ranked fourth coming in and had to do well for our team. I just trusted the process and had a good result.”

Wyzard said the team realized its potential, thus it was a matter of execution. Wyzard, who announced that he decommitted from Northern Illinois football to pursue track and field in college on May 15, showed he might be making the right decision on Saturday. He clocked a second-place time of 10.5 seconds in the 100. He recorded a personal record in the event, just falling shy of the state title won by Murphysboro’s Tyjaire Kellum (10.47).

Sycamore junior Will Rosenow added a second-place medal in the shot put (16.97) and took ninth in discus (47.56). Senior Dylan Weides took seventh in the discus (48.85).

Sycamore’s 4x100 relay team of Vasilios Arhos, Hodges, Preston Picolotti and Wyzard were instrumental in building momentum with a third-place time of 41.91.

“It felt good to get out to a good start, especially against East St. Louis,” Arhos said.

Hodges said he was pumped for his leg.

“The wind was coming at my face and I was very excited and thought we all ran a pretty good race,” Hodges.

Picolotti, a senior, smoked his leg to put the Spartans in a good position after he was injured last year.

“I felt I could’ve done better, but we got third where we were projected,” he said.

Wyzard, who was also injured and unable to run last year at the state finals, said he was happy to score points for the Spartans.

“It feels good to be back and we put in a lot of work and I was glad to run with this group specifically,” Wyzard said. “I just tried to do the best I could and bring it down and glad where we ended up.”

The Spartans’ 4x800 unit of Devin Karda, Kaiden Von Schnase, Lucas Miller and Corey Goff also took third (7:55) with a personal record.

“The competition was really hard for the first leg, but I wanted to get a good spot for my team,” Karda said.

Von Schnase, also a senior, said his first state experience was memorable.

“I knew in my leg I had to get us farther and made sure to give Lucas a good handoff to perform,” Von Schase said.

Miller said his first state finals race was an eye-opening experience.

“I was prepared for prelims and just found a way to finish (strong) in the last 200 because I had a shaky season and had to leave it all out there,” Miller said.

Goff, a senior, wanted to finish his anchor leg on a good note to avoid missing the podium like last season’s relay.

“Last year we got 13th, so when I was on the line, I knew I had to run hard to get a medal for our team,” Goff said. “We all did a great job.”

In 3A, Kaneland star high jumper Fredrick Hassan earned second place with a high mark of 2.02 meters. DeKalb’s Jacob Barraza took sixth in the 1,600. In 1A, Indian Creek’s Isaac Willis finished fifth (50.49) in the discus.