TUSCOLA — Sawyer and Hunter Woodard have been going back and forth for a few years now.
Rather, Sawyer has been catching up with — and even surpassing in some areas — his older brother, giving him more ammo to debate on who had the better high school career.
Hunter graduated from Tuscola in 2018. He helped lead the Warriors’ football team to a Class 1A runner-up season and won a state shot put title as a senior before going on to have a successful college football career as an offensive lineman at Oklahoma State University.
Sawyer ended his time at Tuscola this past spring by leading the Warriors’ track and field team to a second consecutive 1A state runner-up trophy with the now Tuscola graduate producing a pair of third-place finishes in the discus and shot put. That came after helping the boys’ basketball team to a 29-win season and a fourth straight regional plaque as a senior.
“Seeing how good he was in track and football made me want to accomplish the same things in my sports and pushed me to be the best I could be,” Sawyer said of his brother.
It almost feels like a coin flip at first glance. Maybe you give the edge to Hunter because of the state championship, something Sawyer never accomplished. That said, Sawyer got another leg up on his brother last week, and they happened to be right next to each other when he heard the news.
Sawyer Woodard is The News-Gazette’s 2025 All-Area boys’ track and field Athlete of the Year, a title Hunter never held.
“When I got that text, I was with my brother, and I was surprised,” Sawyer said. “I told my brother, he high-fived me and we celebrated. It was just a really exciting moment. I’m never going to let him live this down.”
Hunter couldn’t help but put the sibling rivalry aside and smile.
“I’m extremely proud of him,” Hunter said. “I’ve watched how hard he’s worked and progressed over the last several years, and I know he deserves this award. There are a lot of deserving athletes in the area, but I’m glad to see Sawyer’s hard work has been recognized. He’s always been a great athlete and has developed himself well.”
Sawyer Woodard believed he had the potential to become one of the best throwers in the state when he walked in the door as a freshman, but it came across as more cockiness than confidence. Tuscola athletic director and boys’ track and field coach Ryan Hornaday has known Woodard from a young age, with his son, David, being good friends with him. He said he’s seen “incredible growth” in Woodard over the years.
“His physical attributes speak for themselves, but what the average person doesn’t see is his growth in maturity,” Hornaday said. “As a freshman, he thought he had a lot of stuff figured out, but he decided to listen to some people who knew some things as he came along, and the distances improved from pretty good to outstanding.”
Woodard laughed when he heard that story, but he couldn’t disagree. He swallowed his pride, got himself in better shape and became one of the best teammates and leaders you could ask for in high school sports.
That led him from believing to knowing he could be one of the state’s top throwers.
After the Warriors’ postseason basketball run, Woodard only had two chances to qualify for the indoor state meet. He was able to do that and went on to place sixth in the shot put. He knew he had more in the tank, and he knew discus was his primary event, so he set his sights on a pair of outdoor championships. While he ultimately finished third in both events, he was plenty pleased with his performance.
“I’m definitely not one of those super outgoing leaders, but I push people to be their best,” Woodard said. “Every team needs a leader, and I definitely felt responsible for taking that position this year. Last year, we all relied on Josiah (Hortin) and the distance runners. This year, I knew I had to step up and carry the team with the amount of points I could get, and that ultimately led to us getting second in state.”
Tuscola’s runner-up team finish a year ago was the highest state placement in program history, a foregone conclusion by most accounts with the dream team the Warriors had. Matching that result this year came as a bit of a surprise, and it couldn’t have happened without Woodard’s contributions.
“He’s a big piece of the puzzle to what we do, and he had a lot to do with us winning the sectional and coming home with a state trophy,” Hornaday said. “Not for a second did it cross any of our minds that he’d somehow have a letdown. He’s been so steady. He was always ready to compete with the best in the area, which prepared him to compete with the best in the state.”
Woodard’s state performance in late May at Eastern Illinois University’s O’Brien Field, which will be his next home after committing to EIU earlier that month, also solidified him as the next great Tuscola thrower.
The Warriors have had numerous state medalist throwers in their history, producing at least one seemingly every year. Aiden Weaver joined Woodard on the podium last year, and Chris Boyd was before them. Hunter Woodard carried the torch prior to that, and the list keeps going from Stephen Gibson in the mid 2010s to Jeff Hettinger in the early 1990s all the way back to Earl Parker in 1908 and so many more in between.
“We have a long line of throwers who have been state medalists, and Sawyer is the next big name on that long list,” Hornaday said. “We’ve had a conference track meet for 12-15 years, and the shot put record-holder is Hunter Woodard, and the discus record-holder is Sawyer Woodard. It’s pretty cool that we have both throwing records, but it’s especially unique that they’re brothers. Sawyer’s been great, and he’s right there in the thick of the long list of great throwers we’ve had at Tuscola.”
And get ready to learn the name Brayden Weaver, who finished 16th and 28th in the 1A shot put and discus, respectively, as a freshman. Woodard said Weaver is “going to be amazing.”
Until then, the spotlight will be on Woodard, and he couldn’t have asked for a better way to end his high school career.
“It feels awesome,” Woodard said. “I watched Hunter before being with Chris. I’ve been with great throwers for a while, and seeing what they did, I wanted to accomplish the exact same things. I’d say I have, and that feels great. I’m sure we’re going to have a lot more amazing throwers in the future.”
