BricksCenter

WHAT A WEEK! As the SCOH closed the book on the 2023-2024 school year with students wrapping up finals on Thursday, the spring sports season just kept going! Boys golf was competing for a chance to advance to an IHSAA Regional, Hobart softball served as host for the IHSAA Regional for the first time in school history, 3 individuals gave it all they had at the IHSAA Track & Field STATE FINALS and our Unified Track team capped a historic season in Bloomington!!

Now that summertime is finally here, it seems only fitting that we incorporate some lyrics from one of my favorite songs by American Country singer Kenny Chesney,

School's out and the nights roll in
Man, just like a long lost friend
You ain't seen in a while
And can't help but smile

I can't help but smile either ... it's time for BricksCenter!

Indiana University served as the host for the 2024 IHSAA State Track & Field Championship Meet ... and the weather was consistently inconsistent over the 2-day event ... just like it has been ALL SPRING! Still, rain or shine, the Brickies ALWAYS come to COMPETE!!

On Friday, it was "ladies first" as the Girls track & field state finals took place with the Unified & Boys to be contested on Saturday. Junior thrower Taylor Pope was up first in the discus. If you recall, Taylor qualified a year ago in the shot put and finished 27th in Indiana. This year, she was not only competing in the "other" throwing event, but she was also up against one of the best (... I say the BEST) group of ladies the state finals has ever seen. In particular, Hadley Lucas - a University of Wisconsin commit - broke the state record in her 2nd to last attempt with a launch of 169'6" - whoa. Taylor was dialed in during a Friday morning practice, looked good in warmups and threw well overall once the meet began! Her final throws of the season did not result in a PR, but they did happen in Bloomington at the IHSAA State Championship Meet! She represented the Brickies extremely well and finished 29th overall in Indiana! The good news? Taylor is now a 2-time STATE QUALIFIER and has thrown BOTH the shot put and discus in Bloomington. I can't recall the last time Hobart has had a girl compete in back-to-back years and in both events. Can't wait to see what she does next year as a senior!!

Next up was senior Cailey Weber, the Hobart High School OUTSTANDING SENIOR GIRL ATHLETE! Cailey, one of the more decorated track athletes as a 7X All-NCC runner, was seeded 25th in the 300m hurdles. Racing all the way out in lane 8, she was FLYING around the track!! Her finishing time of 46.80 was a SEASON BEST and good enough for 24th in INDIANA!!! Cailey is just the 3rd Brickie in the last 25 years to race the 300m hurdles at the State Finals - joining 2002 State Champion Amanda Stoops and 2011 graduate Alycia Corral who placed 16th. Pretty impressive company if I do say so myself! What a perfect place to cap a BRILLIANT career on the oval for Cailey - SO PROUD OF HER!!

On Saturday, junior Willy "The Jet" Shearer was at the Robert C. Haugh Track Complex on the campus of Indiana University for the IHSAA Boys State Championship Meet ... and it was POURING! The rain was so bad on Saturday afternoon/evening, the IHSAA moved the pole vault, high jump & long jump inside due to dangerous conditions at the outdoor track. All other 13 events, however, had to brave the elements and move forward. The Jet qualified in both the 100m dash and 400m dash. First up was the 100m trials around 4:45pm. In the downpour, he ran well ... finishing 4th in his heat, but failed to advance to the finals and placed 17th overall. About 2 and a half hours later, Willy was up again - this time in the fastest section in the 400. With a new dry jersey on ... well, as dry as it could be under the circumstances, The Jet raced HARD around the oval and finished as best he could down the home stretch. His time did not turn out to be the PR that he wanted, but everyone's performances on the day were a little slower due to such poor conditions. Willy's time put him in 20th place overall for the 400m dash. It was a difficult day to compete, but The Jet finished his junior campaign by racing in two individual events at the IHSAA State Finals, which doesn't happen around these parts too often. In fact, the last time the Brickies had a competitor in two individual races at the boys state finals was in 2011 when Jarvis McMillian raced in the 200m & 400m dashes, placing 4th & 2nd respectively. Even though the day didn't go as well as Willy wanted it to, racing in two events this year puts him in similar company with Jarvis, the only boy in IHSAA HISTORY to WIN the 100, 200 & 400 in the same year (2010) ... which is pretty darn AWESOME!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again ... there's no better place to end the year than at STATE!

CONGRATULATIONS to Taylor, Cailey & Willy ... along with Coach A, Coach Teer and our fantastic coaching staff ... for a terrific end to an exciting season on the track!

#SPECTRACKULAR

#BRICKIEPRIDE

#RUNNINDOWNADREAM

On Saturday morning at Indiana University, the IHSAA held it's 10th Unified Track & Field State Finals ... and the Brickies were FIRST TIME QUALIFIERS!! Conditions at the track were not ideal with a light misty rain annoying athletes & spectators alike for roughly half the meet, but it was much better than what the boys had to endure later in the day. Unlike girls and boys track & field, where individuals or relays qualify for regional and state ... schools qualify as TEAMS for the Unified state tournament series and the Hobart Brickies were one of just 12 teams from around Indiana to compete on Saturday morning!

In Unified competition, participants are grouped together based on similar performances and each flight or section is scored individually. Therefore, EVERYONE can earn points towards the team score!

First up were the field events ... shot put & long jump. For the throwers, seniors Aidan Olague and Marcus Fernandez were FANTASTIC placing 5th & 4th in their respective flights against the top throwers at the competition! Freshman Clark Otero WON his flight with a LIFETIME BEST throw of 17' and senior Andrew Renn finished 6th! WOW!! For the jumpers, seniors James Landrum and Brianna Candiano BOTH finished 3rd in their respective flights... junior Jackson Butler placed 7th in flight #3 and classmate Summer Luttrell got a PERSONAL BEST to earn 7th place in flight #6!! WHAT AN OUTSTANDING JOB BY EVERYONE!!

Once the field events concluded, it was time to race! Seniors Mason Jackson-Solomon and Andrew Navarro placed 7th and 2nd in sections #1 & #2 of the 100m Dash ... sophomore Colton Galliher finished 3rd in section #5 and Luttrell was back out there again to race for 7th place in section #6!! In the 400m Dash, Galliher finished 6th in section #6 ... junior Malcolm Manuel raced to 6th place in section #4 and senior Jacob Ramirez & sophomore Olivia McIntire placed 4th & 6th in sections #1 and #3!! SIMPLY AWESOME!!!

Competition for the day concluded with the girls & boys 4x100m relays! The Lady Brickies (seniors Margo Page & Candiano, junior Lindsey Neyhart and freshman Brooke Hawkins) finished 6th in section #2 of the girls races and our Brickie Boyz (Jackson-Solomon, Navarro, Butler & Manuel) placed 4th in section #2 of the guys!

Before final team scores were announced, all 12 teams in attendance participated in a PARADE OF CHAMPIONS so the crowd on hand could CELEBRATE a GREAT MORNING OF COMPETITION!! When the scores were announced, Hobart tallied 77 points as a team, which was good enough for 10th place overall!! OUTSTANDING!!!

In Indiana's 10th year competing in Unified Track ... the Brickies made their first appearance at the State Finals. This group MADE HISTORY with an IHSAA Sectional title in 2023 ... a Lake County Championship in 2024 ... and a qualifying spot in Bloomington!! WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT!!

CONGRATULATIONS to Coach Keefe, Coach Bell, Coach Butler and ALL of our athletes & partners for WORK WORK WORKing SO HARD to BE EXCELLENT ON PURPOSE!! More importantly, THANK YOU for representing H-town SO EXTREMELY WELL on Indiana's BIGGEST STAGE!!

Champions Together is more than just Unified Sports. Champions Together programs promote acceptance, tolerance, a sense of community, school pride, comfort, belonging, healing and sometimes even therapy for some. Champions Together positively changes the culture of schools, helps increase graduation and attendance rates, and makes possible life-long friendships that otherwise might not have been created. THIS is why we are SO PROUD to be a CHAMPIONS TOGETHER SCHOOL!!!

#CHAMPIONSTOGETHER

After winning their first sectional in 8 years and 4th in school history, the Brickies were scheduled to HOST the IHSAA Regional against Lake Central on Tuesday. Like most other things this spring, lightning & area storms caused a postponement and we got to try it again on Thursday.

On a B-E-A-UTIFUL Thursday night in H-town and in front of a crowd of over 500 at the HHS softball complex, our girls BATTLED #1-ranked Lake Central for the Regional crown! The visiting Indians ... ranked #29 in the country ... opened up the scoring with 2 runs in the top half of the first inning. Hobart responded with 2 BOMBS in the bottom half of the first - one a solo shot by junior Emili Knestrict and the other a 2-run BLAST by sophomore Riley Weber to take a 3-2 lead!!! LC scored again in the 2nd to tie things up at 3 and then added 2 more in the 3rd to move in front 5-3. Still trailing 5-3 heading into the bottom half of the fifth, the Brickie offense came to life with BACK-TO-BACK HOMERUNS by senior Keirys Click and a 2nd of the day by Knestrict to TIE IT UP AT 5-5!!! YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOOOOOAAARRD ... YEESSSSSS!!!! HOLY COW! If there was a roof over the varsity softball field, it would've blown off when those two hits left the yard!! UNBELIEVALBE!! The Indians are #1 for a reason ... and as rattled as they seemed when the game got tied up, those girls regrouped and regained the lead with 3 runs in the 6th to go up 8-5. Hobart was unable to gain any ground in the bottom half and LC was finally able to close the door with 6 more runs in their final at bat. The Brickies were able to tack on one more run in the bottom of the 7th, but ultimately lost the game 14-6. Clearly the final tally does not reflect how competitive this one was ... the Brickies were INCREDIBLE. For 5 innings in the Regional Championship, our girls went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the entire country!! WHAT AN EFFORT!! SOOOOOOOOO PROUD OF THEM!!!

Click finished the night 2-for-4 with a homerun and a triple. Her homerun broke the single-season record at HHS! Knestrict was also 2-for-4 with 2 homeruns, which was INSANE! Weber and junior Taylor Lopez also each recorded 2 hits and scored a run in the loss.

With the win, Lake Central improved to 32-1 on the year and they advanced to Saturday's IHSAA Semi-state in Lafayette. At the semi-state, the Indians fell to the Penn Kingsmen 4-2 in the semifinals.

The IHSAA Regional loss unfortunately closes the book on a memorable season on the diamond where our girls SHINED BRIGHT!

- 19 wins is tied for the most in school history

- Sectional Champions for the 4th time in school history and 1st since 2016

- 8 losses is the fewest since 1985 - also a sectional champion team and for those of you that are counting, that makes this year the best season in Brickie softball in nearly 40 years

Losing the last game is always tough, but the way our Brickies BATTLED on Thursday and represented us all spring makes them champions. CONGRATULATIONS to Coach Moss, his wonderful staff (Katrina Lucas, Shawn Click, Amaya Hostetler, Margaret Herrin & special guest Maddie Adams), and all of our girls for a FANTASTIC YEAR - one we will not soon forget!!

#GOBRICKSGO

After defeating East Chicago and Hammond Central by a combined 39-3 score, the Brickies entered the IHSAA Sectional Championship game on Monday against NWI Powerhouse Lake Central. This was the 2nd consecutive year that these two teams met for the title. In 2023, the Indians ran away with the sectional championship by a score of 16-2. In 2024 ... our boys were looking for some payback!

After a scoreless first inning for the Bricks, LC plated 2 runs in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a 2-run homer to take an early lead. Junior hurler Drew Burris settled in and controlled the Lake Central attack for the next 3 innings ... only surrendering 1 run and striking out 5 batters. With the Indians at bat in the bottom half of the 5th and clinging to a 3-0 lead, classmate Connor Stafford entered the game and closed out the inning with a strike out!! Hobart was BATTLING in the batters box all game long ... getting solid contact on the ball often, but each time it was headed right where an LC defender stood. Ultimately, the Indians added one more insurance run in the 6th and held our boys scoreless over the final 2 innings to win their 3rd straight sectional by a 4-0 score.

As hard as the Brickies hit the ball at times, the only player to record a hit was junior Ben Sullivan. Senior Jevan Andrews stole a base after being hit by a pitch, but was unable to score in the first inning.

Hobart finished the season with an overall record of 16-11 and winners in 9 of our final 11 games. Our boys definitely improved as the season progressed and were playing their best (... I say their BEST!) baseball heading into the post-season, which is exactly what you want. Thanks to our seniors ... Andrews, Carlos Santana, Nick Sobczynski, Gabe Nunez & Ryan Gillio ... for their dedication & commitment to Brickie baseball and to all of our boys for representing H-town extremely well over the last 2 months. Also, thank you to our coaching staff ... Trent Howard, Bobby Wineland, Jorge Figueroa, Danny Gonzalez & Jimmy Sutherland ... for everything they did to help our boys reach as close to their potential as possible. I'd like to offer a special thank you to Head Coach Trent Howard for the 3 years he served the Brickies and wish him the very best in his next adventure!

On Friday at Forest Park Golf Course in Valparaiso, Hobart participated in the IHSAA Golf Sectional. The Brickies, with an experienced crew, were looking to play well and advance!

Ok, in order to advance from the sectional to the regional, we needed to either be one of the top 3 teams that post a team score, or shoot one of best 3 scores for an individual, excluding those individuals who advance with a team. Everybody got it? Ok ... here we go!

If you recall at the Northwest Crossroads Conference Championship, the Brickies shot 374 as a team ... 7 strokes better than they shot a year ago at the same meet and 34 strokes better than the 2022 squad! In fact, it was the BEST score for 18 holes that our boys have shot in recent memory! WOW!! Friday in Valpo, the goal was the same ... shoot a season best and see where the tees may fall :).

As a team, the Brickies were FANTASTIC... combining our 4 best scores for a total of 373 ... 1 stroke better than at the NCC and 17 strokes better than a year ago at this same event, which put us in 5th place overall for the 3rd straight spring!!! The fact that our guys shot a SEASON BEST when it was all on the line is AWESOME! Unfortunately, finishing outside the top 3 teams meant that we would not be advancing collectively. So ... let's look at the individual finishers, would the Bricks send anyone to the regional?

Well, seniors Ben Eberle & Parker Glass BOTH shot an 86, which gave them a tie for the 2nd best score for an individual not on an advancing team! Do you know what this means??? PLAYOFF!!! Ben and Parker had to duke it out mano-to-mano on the golf course to see who would finish 2nd and who would finish 3rd. In a 1-hole playoff, Ben finished with less strokes than Parker, but THEY BOTH ADVANCE TO THE IHSAA REGIONAL!!!!! This is the 7th time in 8 years that H-town has a regional qualifier. CONGRATULATIONS GUYS - THIS IS SO AWESOME!!! Rounding out the lineup for the Brickies were a slew of seniors wearing the Brickie jersey for the last time ... Nate Becerra, Tommy Snemis & Hunter Kilar.

No question about it ... our boys SHINED BRIGHT on Friday at the sectional! Even though they fell 2 spots short of advancing as a team, we are sending TWO to the IHSAA REGIONAL at Sandy Pines Golf Course on Thursday with a chance to punch a ticket to state!

GOOD LUCK BEN & PARKER!! WE BELIEVE!!!

#BETHEBALL

#NANANANANANANANANA

No Events Scheduled

Tuesday

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Wednesday

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Thursday

Ben Eberle & Parker Glass @ IHSAA Boys Golf REGIONAL (Hosted by Sandy Pines Golf Course)

Spring Athlete Recognition @ School Board

Friday

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Saturday

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Next week will be the FINAL BRICKSCENTER of the 2023-2024 school year!

It will include an update on golfers Ben Eberle & Parker Glass at the IHSAA Regional, our spring sports highlight video, and the Way Too Soon Sports Schedule for the Fall season ... at least the 1st event for each of our fall sports :).

#WORTHTHEWAIT