BricksCenter

In case you missed it this past week, American hurdler & sprinter Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ... the 2020 & 2024 Olympic Gold Medalist and current World Record holder in the 400m hurdles ... shifted to the 400m dash at the World Championships held in Tokyo, Japan. Competing in the event for the first time on the world stage, Sydney raced to another Gold Medal in a World Championship RECORD TIME of 47.78 ... the fastest time recorded in the 400m for a woman since 1983! UNBELIEVABLE!!

One my favorite quotes from her goes something like this ...

"What a person does doesn't change what they believe, but what they believe inevitably changes what they do."

What she's saying here is that belief can have a powerful influence on performance. It can increase motivation & persistence, enhance resiliency, improve decision-making, and help overcome barriers ... not just in sports, but in life. This past week, our Brickies - through a lot of HARD WORK WORK WORK - showed us that belief does indeed have a powerful influence on performance!

You know what? I believe it's time for BricksCenter!

Girls

The Brickies celebrated SENIOR NIGHT on Tuesday with a rivalry game against Andrean. Prior to the start, seniors Mackenzie Svitek & Josie Hunt were recognized with their families for their dedication & commitment to our program over the years. When play began, it took the Brickies a little while to shake off the emotions and focus in on the task at hand ...but when they did, it was AMAZING!! Junior Becky Roediger got the party started with a GOOOOOOOOOOAAAALLL midway through the first half for a 1-0 Hobart lead! In the 2nd stanza, sophomore Val Rodriguez and junior Gabby Robles each sent a shot that found the back of the net to give the Brickies a 3-0 cushion that ended up the final score!! The Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE was STELLAR in protecting the net to earn their 6th shutout of the season!! WOW! WHAT A NIGHT TO BE A BRICKIE!!!

On Saturday morning, Hobart hit the road for another Region H-town ... Hammond ... to play the Hammond Central Wolves. The Lady Bricks were ready to go from the first whistle and CRUISED to an easy 9-0 VICTORY!!

Our girls are now 7-4 overall on the year and 2-2 in NCC play! Two more games dot the landscape this upcoming week ... a road trip to DeMotte to face Kankakee Valley and a home contest against the Wheeler Bearcats Saturday morning. YOU'VE GOT THIS GIRLS!! WE BELIEVE!!!!

Boys

On Monday night, the Brickie futbol team was on the road at former NCC rival Griffith for a non-conference matchup. After falling behind 1-0 at the half, our boys came out firing in the 2nd stanza and capitalized on opportunities with junior Cam Guess scoring two GOOOOOOOOOOAAALLS to match the additional one scored by the hosts to make it 2-2! Ultimately, neither team was able to manufacture a 3rd goal and the game ended in a tie ... Hobart's 2nd of the season. Protecting the net, sophomore Michael Klaich and junior Lincoln Miller combined for 6 saves in the game.

Wednesday night brought a trip to 5959 Broadway to square off with Andrean. In a physical contest, the Brickies brought the INTENSITY to match the host '9ers and scored a GOOOOOOOOOOOOAALL when senior Gabe Rodriguez sent one into the net on a B-E-A-UTIFUL left-footed shot from 20 yards out for a 1-0 Hobart lead!! The Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE was LIGHTS OUT against Andrean ... holding them scoreless for the entirety of the contest and earning a hard fought 1-0 VICTORY!!! Senior Daniel Taiwo picked up the assist on Gabe's goal in the NCC win!

On Saturday, the Bricks faced the Elkhart Lions ... ranked #14 in all of Indiana. The Lions were for real as they posted 3 goals in the first 40 minutes. Over the final 40, our boys went TOE-TO-TOE with one of Indiana's very best teams ... never backing down and playing hard until the clock struck zero. Final score: Elkhart 4, Hobart 0. Klaich finished with 16 saves protecting the net in the loss.

Hobart is now 3-5-2 overall and will play three times this upcoming week ... @ Lowell on Monday ... vs. KV on Wednesday for SENIOR NIGHT ... and @ Kouts at on Saturday morning. GOOD LUCK GUYS!!

#WEAREONE

NEW PRAIRIE ... the largest invitational in the northern part of Indiana. The T-shirts for sale simply say "The Invite". :)

This was a chance for our kids to get a glimpse of how we measure up against some of the very best and the experience gained will be extremely beneficial when the IHSAA Tournament Series begins in a few weeks. The course at New Prairie High School is also the site of the IHSAA REGIONAL, which is exactly where the Brickies hope to be racing again in late October!

Girls

The Lady Brickies finished 10th overall out of 26 schools who were represented in the Class AAA race composed of all of the largest enrollment schools in attendance. This is 4 places better than our girls finished last year ... and it's because THEY SHINED SO BRIGHT!!!!! Senior Cassie Cohen paced Hobart finishing 12th with a time of 19:49!! Classmates Aalliah Otero (60th - 21:49)

Audrey Turley (87th - 23:03) , Millie Massey (93rd - 23:19) & Zaria Gildon (98th - 23:50) as well as sophomore Lilliana Lopez (76th - 22:31) all placed in the top 100!! Senior Alissa Trail (103rd) rounded out the varsity line-up! WHAT A GREAT PERFORMANCE BY OUR GIRLS!!!

In the reserve race, Hobart placed 10th out of 24 schools represented! WOW!!

Boys

The Brickie boyz were spread out over 3 races to give all of our guys the best chance to compete against the top dawgs in Northern Indiana and they rose to the occasion! In the varsity race, seniors Lu Cohen (18:35 - 79th) & Mason Thorpe (19:47 - 114th) both ran well ... and in the reserve race, junior Nolan Shaginaw (19:37 - 13th) and classmates Jerry Theodorakos (20:03 - 21st) & Evan Harness (20:29 - 25th) all placed among the top 25 finishers to help our boys place 6th in the team standings! WOW!!

In two weeks, Hobart will run in the NCC Championship at Kankakee Valley ... and then onto the IHSAA Sectionals. Coach A has trademarked the post season as "OCTOBERFAST" - definitely an exciting time for running!!

#GRATEFULLYDEDICATEDXC

On Friday night at 5959 Broadway, the Class 4A #14-ranked Brickies faced the Class 2A #5-ranked Andrean 59ers at Father Eckert Field for first place in the Northwest Crossroads Conference. In Da Region, these two squads ranked #3 & #4 ... just the kind of matchup we hope for this time of year!

The Brickies got the ball first but were forced to punt after a short drive. Andrean moved the ball well using a short passing game and scored late in the first period to claim a 7-0 lead. Over the next 14 minutes, it was a stalemate where neither team could gain any advantage ... both of the D-D-D-DEFENSES were STELLAR! With roughly a minute to go in the half, the '9ers were able to connect on a short field goal and took a 10-0 advantage into the break.

As fate would have it, that was the difference in the game. Throughout the second half, each team had trouble capitalizing on opportunities ... it was just a TOUGH game on both sides. Both the Brickies & 59ers were able to muster a score, but the game never got any closer than the 10-point halftime margin and when the clock struck zero, the scoreboard showed a 17-7 Andrean victory.

The 59ers were without a doubt the best team our boys have faced this fall ... and even though the Brickies show a "1" in the loss column right now, the only time we really lose is when we don't learn - and I know our guys will learn from this and be better because of it! To quote Rocky Balboa, "It ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

Hobart is now 4-1 on the year and 2-1 in NCC play. The Lowell Red Devils will bring a 4-1 record when they invade The Friendly City on Friday for Homecoming, which means this should be another fun one! Kickoff is slated for 7pm @ The Brickyard - BE THERE!!

#DOUBTUS

After playing 4 games at the Chesterton Invite last Saturday and earning a 2-2 split, there was no rest for the weary as the Brickies were right back at it this week with games on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday!

Tuesday, Hobart traveled to Cedar Lake to square off with NCC frontrunner Hanover Central. The host Wildcats entered the game ranked #17 in Class 3A and undefeated in conference play. Against the best of the best, our girls BATTLED HARD and were very competitive in a 3-0 defeat (25-15, 25-19, 25-17) ... a game that was much closer than the scores might reveal. Junior Alissa Hope had 10 kills on the night ... sophomore Ira Hicko finished with a team-high 1-0 digs and senior Kalli Butcher registered 11 assists in the loss.

On Wednesday, the 11-3 Whiting Oilers visited The Friendly City in a BIG non-conference matchup! This one was EXCITING EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT ACTION from start to finish! The Oilers won the first set 25-20, but Hobart rallied to tie it up with a 27-25 win in the 2nd!! Whiting won the 3rd set 25-19, but the Brickies won the 4th 25-18 to set up a 5th set tiebreaker!! WHAT A GAME!! In the tiebreaker, each squad made plays and they were literally point-for-point until the very end when Whiting was able to edge out the Brickies 15-13 for a heartbreaking loss. Both teams GAVE IT THEIR ALL in a very tough match. Our girls showed GREAT RESILIENCY ... coming from behind multiple times throughout the night ... never giving up -- making all in attendance grin with pride even in defeat.

Remember that RESILIENCY we just spoke about? Well, it was on FULL DISPLAY AGAIN Thursday when the Lowell Red Devils came to town. In ANOTHER 5-SET MARATHON, the Brickies FINALLY got over the hump and earned a HUGE NCC VICTORY by a 3-2 margin!! Here are the scores from each game: 25-16 Brickies, 24-26 Red Devils, 29-27 Brickies, 21-25 Red Devils ... and 15-10 Brickies!! WHAT A GAME!!! WHAT AN EFFORT BY OUR GIRLS FOR THE 2ND CONSECUTIVE NIGHT!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! Hope had a game-high 13 kills ... senior Riley Weber finished with 8 ... sophomore Bella Cawthon had 7 and junior Cadence Costello posted 6!! Weber also finished with 23 digs to lead the defense and classmate Maddie Lams had 16 ... Butcher racked up 23 assists and Freshman Taryn Babcock filled the stat sheet with 11 digs, 10 assists & 3 blocks!! WOW!!

Hobart is currently 9-12 on the year and 2-5 in NCC play. The Bricks will be on the road this upcoming week with contests against Munster (Tuesday) & Wheeler (Wednesday) before returning home to face Andrean on Thursday. WE BELIEVE IN YOU!!!

#CANYOUDIGIT

On Monday afternoon, our boys hosted Hammond Central and made quick work of the Wolves ... dropping just 2 games in the entire match to win an easy one 5-0!!

Tuesday, future Northwest Crossroads Conference foe (starting in 2026) Illiana Christian visited H-town and brought their "A" game. The Vikings were good, but our boys BATTLED! Coach Cade Brumley said, "We played about as well as we could - very proud of our guys". Senior Cash Salunga WON @ #2 singles 6-3, 6-4 and matches @ #1 & #3 singles were very close in a tough 4-1 defeat.

Wednesday, Hobart traveled across County Line Road to face Porter County neighbor Wheeler. As well as our boys played on Tuesday, they turned it up a notch against the Bearcats and WON 4-1!! Sophomore Mav Becerra won in straight sets @ #3 singles and BOTH doubles teams (#1 - juniors Angel Gomez & Teddy Ho, #2 - senior Jayden Standish & junior Mason Mitchell) did the same to give the Brickies the 3 points needed for the win! In the match of the night, senior Gabe Gutierrez had the comeback of the century @ #1 singles!! After dropping the first set 1-6, Gabe fought back to win the 2nd 6-4 and then outlasted his counterpart in the tiebreaker 10-7 to WIN!! WOW!!

On Thursday afternoon, our boys headed up Broadway to square off with NCC and IHSAA Sectional rival Andrean. Before leaving for the match, I encouraged Coach Brumley to "Take No Prisoners" ... and the Brickies DID JUST THAT!! Salunga, Becerra, Gomez & Ho and Standish & Mitchell ALL won in STRAIGHT SETS and Gutierrez once again WON a 3rd set tiebreaker to return home with a 5-0 SWEEP of the '9ers!! YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOOOOAAARRD ... YESSS!!! After the game, Coach Brumley's response was, "I'd call that 0 prisoners." :)

WHAT A WEEK FOR BRICKIE TENNIS!! Our boys played 4 matches in 4 days and went 3-1 for the week ... improving our overall record to 9-4 ...WOW! The Brickies have just one week remaining in the regular season before hosting the IHSAA Sectional starting on October 1st! GO GET 'EM GUYS!! BRICKIEUP!!

#SERVINGNOTICE

For their final match of the regular season, our girls hosted Boone Grove on Monday night at River Pointe Country Club. After a TERRIFIC showing at the NCC Championship a week ago, the Lady Bricks picked up right where they left off and shot one of their BEST (... I SAY THEIR BEST) scores of the year!! Hobart traversed the 9-hole match with a team score of 223!! WOW!! Senior Lily Ullrich showed why she's been our #1 most of the year with a team-best 52! Junior Marisa Salamanca was next to sign her scorecard with a 55 and freshman Corrine Oswald & junior Makenzie Johnston rounded out the varsity lineup with a 57 & 59 respectably! The Wolves could only muster a 257, which means our girls won by 34 strokes to pick up their 11th win on the year!!

On Friday, the Lady Bricks celebrated SENIOR NIGHT with their 2nd Annual Family Scramble! After recognizing Lily Ullrich, Olivia Postma & Alexis Rachau ... they were off to the links! The Postma foursome took home the hardware by winning a tiebreaker with the Garcia foursome - WOW!

Kudos to coaches Gary Roach & Crisse Hairston for putting together such a wonderful tribute to our girls & their families ... and making it fun!

Hobart will compete in the IHSAA Sectional over at the Valparaiso Country Club on Monday looking for straight drives, few puts, and a chance to advance! GOOD LUCK LADIES!! NANANANANANANA :)

#GRIPITANDRIPIT

CONGRATULATIONS to Yohan's Army for being selected as the STUDENT SECTION OF THE WEEK for the 4TH CONSECUTIVE TIME!!! KEEP IT UP!!!

#WEGOTSPIRIT

Girls Golf @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Valparaiso Country Club)

Boys Tennis @ Merrillville

Tuesday

Volleyball @ Munster *

Boys Tennis vs. Morton

Girls Soccer @ Kankakee Valley *

Wednesday

Boys Soccer vs. Kankakee Valley * (SENIOR NIGHT)

Volleyball @ Wheeler

Thursday

Volleyball vs. Andrean *

Boys Tennis vs. Crown Point

9th Football @ Lowell *

Friday

Football vs. Lowell * (HOMECOMING)

Saturday

Boys Cross Country @ Highland Invite

Girls Cross Country @ Highland Invite

Boys Soccer @ Kouts

JV Boys Soccer @ Culver Academy

Girls Soccer vs. Wheeler

JV Football @ Lowell *

JROTC Raider Competition

* = NCC Opponent