BricksCenter

7-time National Champion college football coach Nick Saban knows a thing or two about what it takes to be successful ... in sports and in life. Back in 2020, Coach offered his thoughts on what kind of choices we have in life that help us get there.

"We have about five choices in our life. We can be bad at what we do. We can be average at what we do. We can be good at what we do, which is probably God's expectation for whatever he gave us. Or we can be excellent. Or we can be elite."

Then he follows it up with this -

"If you're going to be excellent or elite, you've got to do special things. You've got to have special intensity, special focus ... a special commitment and drive and passion to do things at a high level and at a high standard all the time."

What a GREAT perspective on how what we control can directly impact the results we seek! This is EXACTLY what all programs strive for ... particularly in education-based athletics because we want student athletes to reach as close to their potential as possible - in sports and in life.

Here in Hobart, we know the only way to do that is to bring special ENERGY in the work you do every day ... make SACRIFICES that can have a special impact on those around you ... and have a special mission, drive and DIRECTION that won't allow you to be denied! Each of our sports are WORK WORK WORKing HARD to establish this standard to help our kids be their best when their best is needed!

Fall sports are FANTASTIC! If you haven't been out to a game, there's still time! GO AND CHEER!! WE ARE HO-BART!!!

Now that we've identified the standard ... it's time for BricksCenter!

On Tuesday, boys & girls cross country hosted the 85th Annual Hobart Invite ... the longest 'running' invitational in the entire state of Indiana! In 1940, the Hobart Invite was a 2-mile race for all competitors. Since then, high school cross country has lengthened the course to a 5k or 3.1-mile race. In order to keep up with tradition, we still run the Hobart Invite as a 2-mile race :) ...right here on campus!!

Girls

It was a B-E-A-UTIFUL night as the Lady Brickies welcomed 7 other schools from around the area to compete in the 85th running of the Invite! Overall, our girls ran EXTREMELY WELL and took 2nd PLACE as a team! Led by senior Cassie Cohen, who raced to a 2nd place overall finish by less than a second in a fantastic finish, the Bricks put all 5 varsity runners in the top 15 to finish with 36 points as a team! Sophomore Liliana Lopez (4th) & senior Aalliah Otero (5th) cracked the top 5 ... sophomore Sydney Reyes was next into the chute for the Brickies in 12th and senior Millie Massie (15th) rounded out Hobart's top 5! Also earning hardware for a top 20 finish were senior Audrey Turley (16th) & sophomore Khloe Reyes (19th). The overall team champion was Illiana Christian who put 5 runners in the top 11 to edge our girls 33-36 in one of the closest races in recent memory. The Lady Vikings have now won 4 of the last 5 Hobart Invite Championships.

Boys

Even though the old saying goes "Ladies first", it was actually the boys who ran first on Tuesday to mimic what the IHSAA will do at the 2025 State Finals. Every kid on campus was chasing the same goals - a PR and hopefully some hardware! Coach A was looking for a "best effort" from the Brickies and that's EXACTLY what he got! Senior Lu Cohen was the first Brickie into the finish chute in 8th place and juniors Nolan Shaginaw (11th) & Jerry Theodorakos (14th) joined him in the top 15! Seniors Mason Thorpe (17th) & Kole Ketchum (19th) ... along with junior Evan Harness (20th) ... earned spots in the top 20 for the Bricks and took home medals! Unfortunately, just like in the girls race, Illiana Christian was stellar and won the team title after placing all 5 of their varsity runners in the top 7 overall finishers - wow. Still, Adam Sandler might say that Hobart's 2nd place finish in the team standings was "Not too shabby" considering the Vikings earned 10th at the 2024 IHSAA Regional.

Overall, Tuesday was a GREAT DAY TO BE A BRICKIE as all of our harriers ran STRONG!!

Legendary distance runner Steve Prefontaine used to say, "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." The Brickies will definitely need their best this upcoming week as our kids get a shot to race at New Prairie on Tuesday in their annual Cougar Kickoff! LET'S GO BRICKS!!

#PRIDEANDTRADITION

Heading into Week #3 of the high school football season, Hobart ... undefeated at 2-0 ... ranked #3 in NWI behind area powerhouse programs Crown Point & Merrillville. With the Munster Mustangs galloping into H-town for the Northwest Crossroads Conference opener, our boys were not looking to "rest on their laurels" based on what they'd done so far ... rather, the Brickies were WORKing to STAY HUNGRY and keep moving forward in the DIRECTION of their goals!

... and they SHINED BRIGHT on NEON NIGHT @ The Brickyard!!

After forcing a Mustang punt on the opening possession, the Bricks methodically drove the field and scored on a short run by senior Max Pickett to claim an early 7-0 lead! As the game moved into the 2nd quarter of play, Hobart seized complete control by handing the ball off to Pickett ... again and again ... and watching him run behind our STRONG offensive line into the endzone 4 more times before halftime!! WOW!! Here's how the Brickie possessions went:

- 9 minutes left in the half, Pickett scores from 7 yards out (14-0 Brickies)

- 5 minutes left in the half, Pickett scores from 8 yards out (21-0 Brickies)

- 3 minutes left in the half, Pickett scores from 5 yards out (28-0 Brickies)

- less than a minute left in the half, Pickett scores from 8 yards out (35-0 Brickies)

That's 5 straight possessions ending in a Max Pickett TD and junior placekicker Peter Janda was GOOD on all 5 extra points to give Hobart a commanding 35-0 cushion heading into the locker room.

UNBELIEVABLE!!! WHAT A HALF FOR THE BRICKIES!!!

Each team would tack on a score in the 2nd half of play to result in a final score of Hobart 41, Munster 7. Not surprising that Hobart's score was by none other than Max Pickett!

LET'S GOOOOOOOOO!!!! THE BRICKIES ARE 3-0000000000000000000!!!!!

For the game, Max ran the ball 22 times for a career high 153 yards and SIX TOUCHDOWNS!!! CRAZY!! In total, the Brickies kept in on the ground and compiled 237 total rushing yards on 35 carries for a whopping 6.8 yards per carry!! How about that O-line?? INCREDIBLE EFFORT!!!

Junior QB Alex Tatum was about as efficient as it gets under center as he completed 7-of-9 passes for 145 yards ... that's a QBR of 119.0 - WOW!! Classmate Stephen Miller led the receiving corps with 3 catches for a game-high 90 yards!

Hobart is now 3-0 on the year and off to a 1-0 start in NCC play! Our boys will need to be ROAD WARRIORS next week at Kankakee Valley. DON'T STOP NOW BOYS!!

#DOUBTUS

Tuesday evening, the NCC-leading Munster Mustangs visited River Pointe to do battle with our Lady Brickies over 9 holes of golf! On a cool night on the links, our girls were heating things up to the tune of a team score of 219 - only 1 stroke off our SEASON BEST!! Freshman Corrine Oswald fired a team-best 52 ... senior Lily Ullrich & junior Marisa Salamanca were right behind her with a pair of 53s and senior Olivia Postma completed the course with a 61 to round out the varsity scores for Hobart. Unfortunately, the 'Stangs are tops in the NCC for a reason and were able to traverse the course in just 169 strokes - whoa.

On Wednesday night, Hobart battled Calumet, Wheeler and the weather to get in a non-conference double-dual. With our coaching staff keeping an eye on the radar and our girls dodging some rain drops here & there, the Brickies still came away with VICTORIES over both opponents!

Hobart is currently 7-5 on the year and 3-3 NCC play. The NCC Championship Meet tees off on Tuesday morning over at Scherwood in Schererville. LET'S GOOOOOOOO! YOU CAN DO THIS LADIES!!

#NANANANANANANANA

The Brickies had a busy week with matches on Tuesday & Thursday followed by an Invite @ New Prairie on Saturday!

On Tuesday, Hobart hosted Lowell in their 2nd NCC match of the young season. Anytime the Brickies & Devils line-up across from each other, there's a little something extra on the line ... and this one proved to be no different! This was a BATTLE ... particularly at #2 singles where Brickie senior Cash Salunga pushed the competition into a 3rd set tiebreaker. After falling behind early, Cash rallied to win the 2nd set and force the extra session! Unfortunately, it was Lowell who came away with the hard fought win ... at all positions. Hobart played well across the board, but the Devils were better on this night and left town with a 5-0 win.

On Thursday, it was a ROAD TRIP to Cedar Lake to face Hanover Central in another NCC SHOWDOWN ... and our boys SHINED BRIGHT!! Seniors Gabe Gutierrez (#1) & Cash Salunga (#2) won their singles matches in STRAIGHT SETS along with sophomore Maverick Becerra (#3) to give the Bricks enough points for the "W" ... and our #2 dubs team consisting of senior Jayden Standish & junior Mason Mitchell also won 2-0 to give Hobart an IMPRESSIVE 4-1 VICTORY!!!

Saturday, the Brickies were "On The Road Again" (thank you Willie Nelson) @ New Prairie to compete in the NP Invitational ... and OUR BOYS SHINED! With a TOUGH DRAW at seemingly every spot, Hobart gave a TREMENDOUS EFFORT and placed in the top 3 at all three singles spots ... Gabe Gutierrez placed 3rd @ #1, Cash Salunga placed 2nd @ #2 & Mav Becerra placed 3rd @ #3! Play was extremely competitive at NP as our boys finished 6th out of 8 schools, but were just 3 pts away from 3rd and only 5 from winning the whole thing.

The Brickies are now 4-2 on the year and 1-2 in NCC play. Our boys will be busy this upcoming week with 3 matches in 3 days followed by the Highland Doubles Tournament on Saturday! GO GET 'EM GUYS!!

#ACES

Girls

On Thursday, the Brickies welcomed Lowell to The Brickyard for a Northwest Crossroads Conference game under the lights. Our girls were on the ATTACK right from the first touch ... constantly putting pressure on the Red Devil goal. Eventually, Hobart was able to break through when freshman Maci Simpson scored a GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAALL from the left side! A few minutes later, junior Kurah Krucina took a shot that hit NOTHING BUT NET and the Bricks took a 2-0 advantage into the halftime break!! Lowell responded early in the 2nd half with a score to cut the deficit to just 2-1, but junior Addy Hendricks answered the call with another Brickie GOOOOOOOOAAALL to push the lead back to 2 scores! Hendricks added another score on a free kick with 17 minutes left to make it 4-1, which ended up being the final margin of VICTORY!!!

The Lady Bricks are now 3-2 on the year and an even 1-1 in NCC competition! Our girls will have a busy week ahead with 4 games in 6 days. It's a good thing Coach Provins has them in shape! GOOD LUCK GIRLS!!

Boys

On Wednesday night, our boys boarded the bus and headed south on I-65 to square off with Lowell in a HUGE Northwest Crossroads Conference matchup. Unfortunately, storms & lightning delayed the game too long into the night and it had to be postponed.

In their only game of the week (thanks to Wednesday's postponement), the Brickies were @ Plymouth for a non-conference game on Saturday afternoon. Trailing 0-1 late in the game, junior Spencer Provins sent a pass to classmate Cam Guess who fired a shot into the back of the net for a GOOOOOOOOOAAAALL to tie things up at 1-1!!! Play was frantic over the final 7 minutes as each team tried to net a go-ahead score, but the D-D-D-DEFENSE for both squads was STELLAR and this one ended in a tie.

*Side note - Non-conference games in soccer do not play OT until the state tournament series.

With a tie on Saturday, our boys are now 1-3-1 on the year and will travel to Hanover Central on Wednesday before returning home next weekend to face Portage. WE'VE GOT THIS GUYS - YOU CAN DO IT!!

#WEAREONE

After a hectic first two weeks of competition, the pace slowed a bit for our girls this past week as the Brickies had just two games on the schedule ... Merrillville and Andrean.

On Wednesday, the Merrillville Pirates hosted our girls for a non-conference matchup of old rivals! In the first set, the Brickies seized control early and WON 25-20 to move in front 1-0! In the 2nd set, BOTH teams MADE PLAYS as the scoreboard lit up with points! It was literally back-and-forth ... unfortunately, the Pirates were able to outscore the Bricks 25-27 to knot things up at 1-1. The 3rd set was another BATTLE with neither squad backing down ... and they needed extra points to determine the winner, which was Hobart 28-26 to go back in front 2-1!! WHAT A GAME!! Merrillville rallied in the 4th set to tie it up again at 2-2 with a 13-25 win. You know what that means? We got a 5th set tiebreaker!!!! In an evenly matched contest, the girls on BOTH teams gave it everything they had & left it all on the floor! In an INTENSE finale, the host Pirates were able to hold off the Bricks and win 12-15 to seal a come-from-behind victory 2-3. Our girls gave an INCREDIBLE EFFORT against a tough opponent on the road and were right there at the end. In spite of the loss, this one should give Hobart some confidence going forward.

Thursday marked a return to NCC action as our girls visited 5959 Broadway to face the Andrean 59ers. Similar to the night before, this was another WELL-PLAYED contest between two competitive teams! The host '9ers won the first set, but the Brickies BATTLED BACK in the 2nd to tie things up with a 25-23 win! Unfortunately, that's as close as it got as Andrean gained the upper hand with an 18-25 win in the 3rd set and went on to win the 4th as well to hand Hobart a 1-3 defeat.

Hobart is currently 4-7 on the year with a HUGE week of play beginning Tuesday @ Highland. LET'S GO LADIES!!! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!!!

#CANYOUDIGIT

HUGE shout out to Yohan's Army for being named the Powering Indiana Student Section of the Week for the 2nd time in a row!!

Our kids were AWESOME over at Portage a week ago and backed it up this past Friday night dressed in NEON and bringing the NOISE!!

Keep up the great WORK WORK WORK!!

#WEGOTSPIRITHOWBOUTYOU

Announcing Our Brickie Athletes of the Month for August!

Aleks Tatum - Football

Aleks Tatum delivered an outstanding performance in Week 1, completing 13 of 19 passes for 165 yards, rushing 9 times for 65 yards, and scoring 2 total touchdowns. Beyond the impressive stats, Aleks stands out as an exceptional student-athlete and an incredible leader for the team - Coach Schreiber

Lily Ullrich – Girls Golf

Lily Ullrich began the season as our #2 player and quickly claimed the #1 position in just the second match. She has maintained a 51 average, making her our most consistent player this season and a true leader for the Brickie golf team - Coach Roach

Congratulations to Aleks and Lily for their hard work, dedication, and leadership!

#EXCELLENTONPURPOSE

On Friday night, the Hobart Athletic Department and Hall of Fame Committee shared the privilege of inducting another memorable group into the HHS Hall of Fame ... the 1990 Class 4A State Runner-up football team!

The Brickies of '90 celebrated their memorable run to the state finals with a reunion and received recognition during a special halftime ceremony at Friday's varsity football game against Munster. Members of one of Hobart's all-time best were on hand to take part in the festivities and to watch the present-day Brickies corral the Mustangs in a dominating VICTORY!

It is always a special occasion when we get the opportunity to welcome back Hobart's very best. We are forever grateful for the contributions they have made to this school city and the impact they made on this town! THANK YOU to all who came out to honor these fine individuals!!

*Special thanks to our Hall of Fame Committee - Tim O'Brien, Don Rogers, Bob Glover, Don Hancock, Rich Lain, Dugo Kozyra, Tom Kerr & Mike Black - our cheerleaders and our JROTC cadets for all their hard work putting this together! It was FANTASTIC!!

#ALLMYLIFE

The HHS Athletic Department would like to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all who donated for, contributed to, and participated in our 5th Annual Charity Bingo Night at the Hobart Moose Lodge! WHAT A NIGHT!! With over 200 players in attendance, Bingo Night raised over $3,000!! Funds raised will help support all 23 sports in H-town!!

Special thanks to the Loyal Order of Moose for the invitation to partner for this event and to all coaches, booster clubs, parents and local businesses who helped make it happen!! We are already looking forward to next year!!

#BRICKIESTRONG

Girls Soccer vs Griffith

Tuesday

Girls Golf @ NCC Championship Meet * (Scherwood Golf Course)

Girls Cross Country @ New Prairie Cougar Kickoff

Boys Cross Country @ New Prairie Cougar Kickoff

Girls Volleyball @ Highland *

Boys Tennis @ Highland *

Girls Soccer vs Hanover Central *

Wednesday

Girls Volleyball vs Morton

Boys Soccer @ Hanover Central *

Girls Golf @ Merrillville

Boys Tennis vs River Forest

Thursday

Girls Soccer @ Bishop Noll

Boys Tennis @ Munster *

Girls Volleyball vs Kankakee Valley *

9th Football vs Kankakee Valley *

Friday

Football @ Kankakee Valley *

Saturday

Girls Soccer @ Portage

Boys Soccer vs Portage

Girls Volleyball @ Chesterton Invite

Boys Tennis @ Highland Doubles Invite

JV Football vs Kankakee Valley *

* = NCC Opponent