The Top 10 DeKalb County sports stories of 2019

New starts, false starts and surprise finishes, 2019 had it all. Here's a look at the Top 10 local sports stories of the year as voted on by the Daily Chronicle staff and freelance writers.

No. 1: Sycamore softball wins a state championship

Last year, the Spartans were No. 10 on the list, having won their first conference title in 16 years. Turns out, their sites were set much higher in 2019.

The Spartans beat St. Francis 3-0 on June 8 in East Peoria to claim the Class 3A title. They had their hic-cups throughout the year with six losses and a tie, but after a three-game losing streak they closed the year winning 13 straight and the school's first title in a bracketed sport.

“It’s unbelievable,” center fielder Amanda Swedberg said after the win. “We literally played so hard all season, all postseason, we earned it. We played the hardest we could every single game, not giving up, coming back.”

The Spartans needed a minor miracle just to make the final, coming from seven runs down against Mount Zion in the semifinals for a 12-11 win in nine innings.

The party lasted awhile for the Spartans as well. They were named the grand marshals of the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival Parade in October. The season is set to start at home March 21 with a home doubleheader against Rosary.

No. 2: Rod Carey leaves NIU, Thomas Hammock hired as his replacement

Manny Diaz bailing on Temple after 18 days for the University of Miami head coaching gig hardly seems like it would impact NIU.

But after Temple replaced Diaz with Carey, it became all about the Huskies.

Carey coached six full seasons with the Huskies, reaching five bowl games and losing all them. He won the MAC West four times and the MAC Championship twice, going 52-30.

On January 10, he was announced as coach at Temple. On January 18, former NIU running back Thomas Hammock was in as the Huskies' new coach.

“This has always been my dream," he said at his introductory press conference. "I know you’re looking at me and saying, ‘Well, maybe not.’ It was. When I was a [graduate assistant] at Wisconsin, I knew I wanted to be the head coach at Northern Illinois University."

The Huskies went 5-7 under Hammock.

No. 3: Sycamore football beats Montini

Six times Sycamore and Montini played in the postseason. Six times the Broncos ended the Spartans' season – including in 2018 in a game the Spartans led for a good chunk.

On the seventh try, the Spartans had their breakthrough.

The Spartans won the 5A quarterfinal on their home turf, beating the Broncos, 16-13, in overtime when Grant McConkey made a 21-yard field goal.

"We never beat them before, so it feels amazing," said McConkey, also the starting quarterback for Sycamore in both 2018 and 2019. "It feels really good because of what happened last year obviously. It was redemption, basically."

The Spartans seemed poised to carry that momentum into the quarterfinals, running the final 35 plays against Boylan. But they had two fumbles returned for scores in the fourth quarter in a 19-16 loss to Boylan.

No. 4: Snyder named DeKalb football coach, guides team to playoffs for seventh straight year

Getting to the playoffs in consecutive years is rare enough in DeKalb football history, getting there in six straight years was unheard of.

But after Matt Weckler guided the Barbs to the postseason in each of his first six years, he announced his resignation from the program to spend more time with his family. In early March, defensive coordinator Keith Snyder was promoted.

“I think right now to keep consistency in the program, that was really important,” Snyder said. “I know the administration really wanted to see consistency, keeping coordinators in the same positions.”

And Snyder found that consistency, guiding the Barbs into the postseason for the seventh straight year, despite playing in the DuPage Valley Conference against significantly larger schools.

No. 5: DeKalb boys basketball wins fifth straight title in the final season of the Northern Illinois Big 12, then coach Al Biancalana announces his resignation

Al Biancalana won the Northern Illinois Big 12 East every year he coached the Barbs. But after the league went away, so did the coach.

Biancalana stepped down to in early May to take over as dean of students at Glenbard East, stepping away from coaching for at least year.

“But it’s with a heavy heart that I leave DeKalb,” Biancalana said of his five years with the Barbs. “This place has been great. I love being here. I made a lot of friends, made a lot of memories with a lot of great people. It was a very difficult decision.”

Under new coach Mike Reynolds, the Barbs are undefeated in their new conference at 2-0 early in the season.

No. 6: Kaneland boys cross country wins first state championship since 1987

Kaneland relatively handily cruised to to a state title behind four all-state finishers.

“I really can’t describe the feeling,” Kaneland's Daniel Occhipinti said. “(Last season) definitely put a chip on our shoulder. The seniors that graduated, we wanted to do this for them as much as for us. No one got down because we raced phenomenally last year but this year we really wanted that trophy.”

Seniors Austin Adams (8th, 16:10.64 for 3.0 miles), Occhipinti (18th, 15:23.68) and Ethan Walker (21st, 15:26.95) and junior Isaiah Dallal (24th, 15:27.83) were all-state, followed by seniors Ethan Neal (51st, 15:51.89), Ben Durbala (59th, 15:56.82) and junior Parker Malone (88th, 16:12.99).

Last year, Kaneland was one point from the third-place trophy and Adams 26th, one place from all-state.

No. 7: Hiawatha wins first playoff game since 1987 one week, plays last 11-man football game the next

For decades upon decades, there are plenty of losing season in Hiawatha's history, including a 30-year playoff drought.

But when that drought ended in 2016, another one continue – the Hawks couldn't get over the hump and win a playoff game. That ended in November when Hiawatha beat Abingdon in a 1A playoff game, barely after a month the school decided to stop playing 11-man football next year.

“We’ve been working four years for this, and to do it in this fashion after the playoff losses we’ve had before, it’s incredible,” coach Jason Keneway said. “Every loss, every win we’ve had has made us better for this moment. And we’re celebrating it now.”

The Hawks final 11-man season came to a close the next week against Morrison.

No. 8: NIU men beat ranked Buffalo in DeKalb

Trendon Hankerson made the pass, Noah McCarty made the shot and the NIU men's basketball team made history with their 77-75 win at the Convocation Center in DeKalb in late January.

In knocking off the Bulls, the Huskies picked up their first win against a ranked opponent since beating No. 19 Oral Roberts in 1973.

"It was actually Trendon that made the play," McCarty said. " ... I had a wide open layup and Trendon made a good read."

The Huskies fans at the game stormed the court after the win.

No. 9: DeKalb wrestling places at team state for first time since 1989

The Barbs were fourth at the Class 3A dual state tournament, their first medal in 30 years. And afterwards they were already thinking about the next leap.

“Me and Blah [Dahnweih] went from being the only two state qualifiers my freshman, Blah’s sophomore year, and now the whole team, we got 10 state qualifiers, and we get fourth at state,” now-senior Fabian Lopez said. “We’ve definitely taken that big leap, and we’re just going to keep taking those big leaps.”

The Barbs are currently ranked third in the state in dual meets as they look to build off the 2018-2019 performance.

No. 10: District system overturned before it can be implemented

What the IHSA member schools giveth, they quickly taketh away.

After passing a resolution to scrap the current conference for IHSA selected districts in 2018, a year later the schools passed a measure repealing the original one. It will keep the status quo going forward.

"I'm disappointed we're not going to fix the system and go back to what we had," Sycamore athletic director Chauncey Carrick said. "I think – what's the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results? But I don't know if districts is the answer or not. I don't know if expanding the playoffs to 48 is the answer. But I do know there are schools struggling around the state in the current system and we continue to do nothing. We're allowing schools to continue to struggle to one, find games, and two, keep conferences together."