Oak Ridge's Brock Hobeck takes gold in home meet

Oak Ridge senior Brock Hobeck is going out on a high note after winning the boys' 5k race in the Oak Ridge Invitational on Tuesday, Sept. 19, in Oak Ridge, Mo.

"This race was really nerve-racking for me because our hometown Oak Ridge fans, I just want to make them proud," Hobeck said. "I just gave it everything I got and this is where it led me."

Hobeck finished with a time of 18:09:03, edging Perryville junior Bair Hopkins (18:17:92) by eight seconds. He got into running when he was a child. The realization that it was something he could excel at pushed him to move forward with it.

"I found out I was pretty good at it so I stuck with it," Hobeck said.

Hobeck, a Semoball Awards finalist, finished 15th in Class 1 last season with a time of 17:46.7, a year after just narrowly missing out on being an all-state member as a sophomore year. He was the only all-state member of the Blue Jays last year.

The extra training he put in over the summer is paying off. He recently finished 11th (18:25.80) to lead Oak Ridge to third place in the Cape Central Invitational on Sept. 9 at the Osage Centre. He previously took second place in the St. Vincent Invitational on Aug. 30, in Perryville.

One of his goals this season is to break the 17-minute mark.

"We've done a lot of running, so it should shape out pretty well," Hobeck said.

Perryville won its second team race of the season with a score of 47. Hopkins finished second, Clayton Bauwens (18:26:62) finished third, Porter Johnson (19:14:02) placed 10th, Marcas Smith finished 13th (19:27:59), and Rodney Rauh finished 22nd (20:10:56).

Oak Ridge finished second as a team with senior Ty Wilson (18:51:86) and junior Cohen Hahs (18:58:81) finishing in 8th and 9th place.

Scott City senior Logan Schiwitz finished highest among local runners in the girls' race by placing fifth with a time of 23:07:43.

"It was just a different course because we've been running on the flater ones," Schiwitz said. "This one had more hills so that was a little tougher than the other ones."

Senior Kendall Marshall (24:39:46) placed highest among the hosting Blue Jays with an eighth-place finish. St. Vincent junior Abigail Kirn (24:42:73) finished ninth, Leopold sophomore Elise VanderMierden (24:55:69) finished 10th, and Perryville junior Gwynivere Newbrough (25:14:79) finished 11th.

Other notable finishers in the boys' race include St. Vincent senior Jackson Unterreiner (4th, 18:33:27), Kelly junior Brody Oesch (11th, 19:21:83), Leopold senior Noland Beussink (13th, 19:23:32), and Meadow Heights senior Wyatt Palmer (15th, 19:36:31).