BricksCenter
DaDaDa DaDaDa
September 12, 2021
#21sports1team
Now 20 years later, I am hopeful that each time we recognize the events of that day and honor the lives lost and the courage shown by so many, we also take time to pause and reflect. I believe it's important to consider where we were then ... where we are now ... and why we should be thankful for blessings and take advantage of every opportunity to make each day our masterpiece.
Everyone ready? It's time for BricksCenter!
Cross Country
Girls
On Tuesday, the Lady Brickies took a trip to New Prairie for the Cougar Kick-Off. The course at NP is LEGENDARY and always an adventure with named sections like "The Snake" and "Agony Hill". The course at New Prairie is also the site of the IHSAA Semi-state ... somewhere these girls hope to be running in late October! Sophomore Ella Hornak finished 2nd overall for the 2nd consecutive year in a time of 21:51 and junior teammate Gianna Rodriguez (4th) joined her in the top 5 as the Lady Brickies placed 2nd as a team - just 3 points behind overall champion Buchanan High School from Michigan!! Rounding out the top 7 for Hobart were senior Mikayla Fuentes (6th), senior Olivia Garcia (15th), sophomore Kylee King (20th), and sophomores Ella Freimuth (23rd) and Addy Black (25th).
Saturday @ Lowell High School, Hobart raced in the Bob Thomas Invitational, which has become one of the premier events in NWI. For the 2nd year in a row, the Invite was split into multiple divisions to keep the total number of runners in each race to a minimum. Hobart competed in the Black Division and finished 4th overall as a team behind champion Kankakee Valley. Once again, Hornak paced the Lady Brickies with a 3rd place finish!! Next into the line was Rodriguez in 7th place ... followed by Fuentes (13th), King (26th), and Black (34th). Garcia (35th) and junior Haylie Skripac (36th) completed the scoring spots for Hobart.
These girls can run and even though it's still early, this group of harriers looks like it could be DANGEROUS when the post-season comes around!! RUN BRICKIES RUN!!
Boys
After placing 2nd at the Hobart Invite by just 4 points a week ago, the Brickies were hoping to pick up those points and earn a team victory at the New Prairie Cougar Kick-Off Classic on Tuesday! Senior Joe Meagher led Hobart for the 2nd straight race - finishing 2nd overall in a time of 17:56 - a full minute faster than he ran a year ago on the same course ... WOW! Freshman newcomer Felix Lopez was right behind him in 3rd and Hobart put 3 more runners in the top 15 ... freshman Kolin Gladney (12th), sophomore Owen Stankich (13th) & sophomore Vinnie Gutierrez (15th)! Sophomore Ryan Mattel & senior Jonah Wells rounded out the Hobart top 7. In an EXTREMELY CLOSE finish ... only 5 points separated the top 3 teams as the Brickies placed 3rd with 45 points behind South Bend St. Joe (40) and the host Cougars (43). WHAT A RACE!!
Saturday, the bus headed south and took our boys to Lowell for the prestigious Bob Thomas Invitational that features some of the very best teams from around NWI. The boys WERE AMAZING as they DOMINATED the Black Division en route to a FIRST PLACE VICTORY! Once again it was senior Joe Meagher leading the Brickies with a 2nd place finish overall ... getting edged at the line by just 0.27 seconds! Coach A has got to be pleased seeing the rest of Hobart's top 7 all finish in the top 16 places overall and ALL OF THEM dropping some serious time from Tuesday's race at NP ... Lopez (3rd, - 8 seconds), Stankich (4th, - 40 seconds), Gladney (8th, - 8 seconds), Mattel (9th, - 40 seconds), Gutierrez (11th, - 7 seconds), and sophomore Jayden Ramos (16th, - 35 seconds)! HOLY SCHNIKEYS that's IMPRESSIVE!!! WAY TO GO BOYS!!! Sophomore Thomas Martin ran individually in the Red Division in order to make it back to H-town for an 11am soccer game and would've been the Brickies' #7 on the day - crazy!
Our boys are showing some SERIOUS POTENTIAL and DEPTH ... can't wait to see how they continue to improve over the next few weeks!!
Next weekend the Brickie harriers (girls & boys) will head back to New Prairie for THE LARGEST INVITATIONAL in Northern Indiana! The best of the best will be there so we'll get a potential preview of how the Brickies stack up against semi-state caliber competition! GOOD LUCK!
#PRIDEANDTRADITION
Soccer
Girls
The Lady Brickies were scheduled for 3 games this past week, but Mother Nature had other plans. Heavy storms moving through Da Region caused a postponement on Tuesday, so Hobart only ended up with TWWWOOOOOOOOOOO contests.
*Sorry, can't help but throw in a nod to wrestling once in awhile :)
Tuesday night, the Lady Brickies were scheduled to face KV, but for the 2nd year in a row, inclement weather caused the game to be moved to an alternate date. Fortunately, that alternate date ended up being Thursday! Through the first 40 minutes, Hobart was knotted at 0-0 against the Lady Kougars, who came into the contest undefeated in NCC play. Clearly the Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE was WORK WORK WORKing HARD!! After nearly 52 minutes of play, KV finally put one into the net to take a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, they added a 2nd one a few minutes later and eventually went on to win 4-0. Hobart played tough, but just couldn't find much offensive rhythm against the NCC leaders.
On Saturday, Hobart traveled to Victory Christian in Valparaiso for a non-conference match-up. The Lions entered the contest undefeated on the season at 3-0 and presented a formidable challenge as our girls looked to get back on track. In the 1st half, it was the Lady Brickies who struck first when sophomore Ella Freimuth launched one into the net for a GOOOOOOOAAAAAALL and a 1-0 lead! Over the final 40 minutes, Hobart's offense continued to click with accurate passing and crisp ball movement leading to a 2-1 VICTORY!! Freimuth scored both goals for the Lady Brickies as our girls bounced back to pick up their 3rd "W" of the season!
The Lady Brickies are 3-4 overall as we approach the mid-season point. This is an important week for Hobart with 3 more scheduled contests ... STAY THE COURSE GIRLS - KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON!!
Boys
On Wednesday, our boys "futbol" players headed South to Kankakee Valley for some NCC action. In a close contest, the Brickies were more INTENSE, more ANIMATED and more TOGETHER than the Kougars! Those attributes added together to equal a THRILLING 2-0 WIN for the Brickies to stay UNDEFEATED in conference play! Sophomore Liam Deel scored BOTH GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLS for the Brickies and classmate Carlos Gayton recorded BOTH assists!! Junior goalkeeper Ryan Pimentel had a clean sheet protecting the net as Hobart posted their 2nd straight SHUTOUT!!
Saturday featured a rematch of one of Hobart's jamboree opponents ... Portage ... who is also a potential sectional foe. Portage got the best of our boys in the Jamboree. Could the Brickies flip the script this time? This one was INTENSE in terms of how HARD the two teams played and how truly AGGRESSIVE the players were attacking the net! Portage got the scoring started with a 1st half goal and took a 1-0 lead into the break. Coming out of the half, the Brickies got GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLS from sophomore teammates Parker Glass (assisted by classmate Carson Bell) and Gayton, but the Indians also added one and the highly competitive contest ended in a 2-2 tie. Pimentel (8 saves) and the Hobart D-D-D-DEFENSE were tough once again in holding Portage in check.
Hobart is 4-0-3 this season and 2-0 in NCC play! The boys will host Lowell in a HUGE NCC match-up on Wednesday where we also celebrate our SENIORS ... and then head to Hanover Central on Thursday before returning home on Saturday to play Rensselaer. I suggest you come watch at least one of these if you can, these kids can play!
#WEAREONE
Check out what the Post Tribune had to say about our boys!!
Volleyball
It was an EXHAUSTING week of WORK WORK WORK for our Lady Brickies on the hardcourt ... 3 consecutive matches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday followed by a tournament @ Chesterton on Saturday meant the our girls would be put to the test. Good news? Hobart showed a great WORK WORK WORK ethic and plenty of collective growth as a team in persevering the challenging 5-day stretch!
On Tuesday, the Lady Brickies faced NCC rival Lowell in a home contest. An improved Lady Red Devils squad combined with our girls 1st game back after a week-long pause added up to a tough 0-3 loss for Hobart.
Wednesday, Hobart hosted the Morton Governors. In a competitive 1st game, the Lady Brickies held on for an EXCITING 25-20 win! After getting that 1st game "W" under their proverbial belts, our girls got their groove back and SERVED NOTICE over the next 2 games that we would be a force to be reckoned with!! Hobart won those 2 by a combined score of 50-18! WOW!!
On Thursday, Hobart traveled to take on Indiana's #9-ranked team and NCC frontrunner Munster. With more college prospects than you could shake a stick at, the Lady Mustangs were simply too much for Hobart playing their 3rd match in 3 days, winning in straight sets, 25-6, 25-15, 25-10.
Saturday, the Chesterton Trojans Volleyball Invitational pitted the Lady Brickies against some unfamiliar foes, but volleyball is volleyball - serve, volley, set, etc ... and our girls seem to be finding their stride! In a busy day of competition, Hobart finished 3rd overall out of 8 teams in attendance after earning a split for the tournament! Rematches against Portage and Marquette Catholic resulted in some hard fought "L's", but the our girls CRUISED past Boone Grove and WON a THRILLER against neighboring rival Wheeler, 25-23, 25-21!! AWESOME!!
The 3rd place finish @ Chesterton is Hobart's BEST in recent memory! GREAT JOB LADIES!!
The Lady Brickies have faced some adversity over the last few weeks, but they are working hard and coming together as a team. Overall, the girls are 6-8 on the year and 0-2 in NCC play. This week is HUGE with matches against Whiting, Illiana Christian, and the Lady 59ers from Andrean, ranked #22 in the state. YOU CAN DO IT LADIES!
#WEBELIEVE
Girls Golf
Anyone remember those words of wisdom from fictitious golf legend Roy "Tin Cup" McAvoy from last week?
"I hit it again because that shot was a defining moment, and when a defining moment comes along, you define the moment... or the moment defines you."
Well, the Lady Brickies were listening intently and it showed out on the course this past week!!
On Tuesday, 18 holes awaited at White Hawk Country Club in Crown Point for the Northwest Crossroads Conference Championship! This was the 2nd consecutive year that the championship was played at a neutral site and the course at White Hawk is a doozy!
Using individual tee-times as opposed to a shotgun start this year, the Lady Brickies literally came out swinging! Led by senior Brooke Blanchard with a 106, Hobart placed 5th overall in the 6-team field! After finishing in the cellar for more than half a decade, the Lady Brickies have placed 4th or 5th for 3 straight years - OUTSTANDING! Blanchard's 106 was the 9th best score of the day, which earned her a 2nd-TEAM ALL CONFERENCE spot! AWESOME!!
CONGRATULATIONS to Coach Roach and the entire Lady Brickies golf team for another great finish at the NCC Championships!
Wednesday, Merrillville was the opponent and our girls SHINED!! The Lady Brickies made the Pirates walk the plank with one of their BEST ... I say their BEST ... performances of the season! Season best scorecards were turned in by seniors Sydney Belk (46), Autumn Turley (55) and Shanena Knight (63) ... along with freshman Hanna Balaszek (58) ... as Hobart shot a scorching 222, their 2nd best total this fall!!
Hobart will celebrate SENIOR NIGHT on Monday with a fun-filled team scramble ... play the final regular season match on Tuesday ... and then head to Forest Park in Valparaiso for IHSAA Sectional play on Friday! GOOD LUCK LADIES!!
#DEFINETHEMOMENT
CONGRATULATIONS to senior BROOKE BLANCHARD for earning 2nd Team ALL-CONFERENCE!!
Football
On the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Brickies came out with commitment, courage, and a competitiveness that overwhelmed the Eagles right from the start! The 1st Hobart drive of the game ended with an INCREDIBLE 28-yard scamper by junior tailback Trey Gibson ... juking & jiving what appeared to be the entire Culver defense on his way into the endzone!!
This would be a regular occurrence throughout the night as the Brickies built a 35-6 lead at the half and won BIG by a final score of 49-6!!
This was the 2nd consecutive 49-point outburst from the Hobart offense that featured a nice balance of the running & passing attack! In total, the Brickies ran the ball 30 times for almost 300 yards as a team ... Gibson accounting for 226 of those yards on 20 carries! Add another 140 yards through the air and 0 punts on the night and the result is a BIG "W" for Hobart!
The Hobart D-D-D-DEFENSE is quickly turning into a BRICK WALL having surrendered less than 7ppg over the last 2 weeks!! The Brickie D put the Eagles in a cage by limiting them to just 155 yards of total offense. Senior Ryan Flores and Dakota Vanderberg shared the team-lead in tackles with 6.
Hobart is now 2-2 overall and should move up from #18 in the state rankings after Friday's THUMPING of the Eagles. Northwest Crossroads Conference play begins THIS WEEK as our boys welcome the Lowell Red Devils to The Friendly City. BRICKIE UP!
#PLAY15
THANK YOU to the INDIANA NATIONAL GUARD for supplying a Blackhawk helicopter to be viewed by fans outside the stadium!!
Boys Tennis
Hobart was scheduled to play 3 matches this past week and a tournament, but wet courts forced a cancellation on Tuesday @ Highland. Still, playing back-to-back on Wednesday & Thursday against some of the best competition we've seen put our boys to the test!
On Wednesday, Hobart hosted Illiana Christian for just the 2nd time in school history. The Vikings were TOUGH and defeated our boys 0-5.
Thursday, the Brickies headed WEST to face #1-ranked Munster in conference play. Always a good experience - particularly for a young team - to face the BEST and see where we measure up a few weeks before sectional play begins. Our boys showed up, BATTLED HARD, and fought for every point against the top-ranked Mustangs. The final score was 0-5, but overall it was a good learning experience for our guys ... one that should help us down the road!
After a 3-year hiatus, Hobart was back at the Highland Doubles Invite on Saturday. The Brickies were defeated by both Highland and Illiana, but showed a GREAT RESILIENCY coming back to claim VICTORY over Griffith and earn a 3rd place finish on the day!!
Hobart is getting BETTER and BETTER EVERY WEEK as our boys gain valuable varsity experience each time out! The next week will challenge the Brickies' endurance with 4 matches in 4 days ... WE GOT THIS FELLAS! LET'S GO!!
#ACES
Pride of Hobart Marching Band
These Brickies performed at Friday night's home football game and then hosted the Dia De Los Muertos competition on Saturday! Eight marching bands from NWI were in attendance on Saturday and the Pride of Hobart earned a silver rating and music achievement award!
CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. Dinkins, Mrs. Tekyl, and the entire Marching Band for such an OUTSTANDING showing in their 1st competition of the year!
#GETTINTHEBANDBACKTOGETHER
Dedication
Coach Howell led Hobart's football program to 4 state championships and 7 other appearances in the finals while amassing 314 career wins over a 33-year career as head coach. Coach Johnston led 4 pole vaulters to individual state championships and countless other track & field athletes to all-state recognition during his 50+ years in education.
The impact these two men had on Brickie athletics is historic. The positive impact they made on the community of Hobart and all those they came in contact with during their time with us is immeasurable. The SCOH was blessed to have had them both for such a long period of time and to be able to honor their lasting legacy with the naming of our facilities is truly amazing!
From now on, it will be DON HOWELL FIELD and JJ TRACK @ THE BRICKYARD!!
Special thanks to the SCOH Board of Trustees - Terry Butler, Rikki Guthrie, Stu Schultz, Karen Robbins, Don Rogers, Sandi Hillan, Frank Porras and former member Mike Rogers ... along with superintendent Dr. Peggy Buffington for making this happen!
#ALLMYLIFE
Sports Schedule This Week
Volleyball vs. Whiting
Boys Tennis vs. Griffith
Girls Golf (SENIOR NIGHT)
Girls Soccer vs. Bishop Noll
Tuesday
Girls Soccer @ Lowell *
Boys Tennis vs. River Forest
Girls Golf @ Portage/Hanover Central
Volleyball @ Andrean *
Wednesday
Boys Soccer vs. Lowell * (SENIOR NIGHT)
Boys Tennis @ Wheeler
Thursday
Volleyball vs. Illiana Christian
Boys Soccer @ Hanover Central
Girls Soccer @ Michigan City
Boys Tennis @ Andrean *
9th Football vs. Lowell *
Friday
Football vs. Lowell *
Girls Golf @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Valparaiso)
Saturday
Girls Cross Country @ New Prairie Invite
Boys Cross Country @ New Prairie Invite
Girls Soccer @ Hammond Central
Boys Soccer vs. Rensselaer
JV Football @ Lowell *
* = NCC Opponent