In all, it seems, Hogg is boss

CEDAR RAPIDS -- There's got to be something.

There must be something in which Robert Hogg struggles. Maybe something in which he's a colossal failure.

He pondered it a moment in a recent interview.

"No, not really," he said.

Academically and athletically, musically and socially, the senior at Cedar Rapids Washington seems to have it all going for him.

"The thing about Robert, he makes everything look really easy," said Will Harte, the Warriors' distance coach in track and the cross country coach. "But though things come easy for him, it's because he realizes that hard work makes a difference."

Hogg (it's pronounced HOGUE) will compete in four events at the Drake Relays, which run Thursday through Saturday at Drake Stadium.

He will go solo in the 800-meter run, and he'll run in three relays -- the 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays and a medley that takes the state's fastest time (3:32.61) to the capital city.

"A Drake (championship) flag would be nice," he said. "I don't have one of those."

It's a rare item that has eluded him.

Hogg was a contributor when Washington won the Class 4A state track championship two years ago, leading off the winning 3,200-meter relay. He was a state qualifier in cross country last fall, finishing 16th individually as the Warriors placed fourth in the team race.

He is so versatile in baseball that Coach Tony Lombardi has told him he would like to try to put him at all nine positions at some point this season. In a single game.

He is an all-state vocalist (he's a baritone) and is active in the school's show choir, and the captain of the math team.

Most impressively of all, his ACT score (35) and his grade point average (4.6) are so high that he earned "a good financial-aid package" at Harvard University, where he'll enroll in the fall.

"It came down to where I can get one of the best educations in the world and still compete," Hogg said. "It will be a great place to explore and become more well-rounded."

Hogg hasn't decided on a major, but he's leaning toward biomedical engineering.

"It's quite an educational opportunity for him. It's so much fun to be around kids like him," said Washington track coach Bill Pinckney. "It takes quite a kid to do all the things he does, and do them all so well."

Hogg is the son of Rob Hogg, a state senator.

"Dad says I overcame genetics (in my running)," Robert said.

There is talent there. And dedication. Take last Thursday, for example.

"He was going to run the 1,600 and the 4-by-4 at a meet, but it got called off," Harte said.

Instead, Hogg and distance teammate Etienne Nzoyisaba went for a long run. Long, as in 14 miles.

"The next day, he ran 4:31 in the 1,600, and made it look like a jog," Harte said.

That didn't qualify him for Drake in that event, though, and that might turn out for the best.

Hogg is at his best, and his most determined, in relays.

"I love the team aspect of track ... the guys you run with every day. They push you, you push them," Hogg said. "The entire team is depending on you."

And that's how Hogg wants it this weekend. The relay mates depending on him, that elusive white Drake flag hanging in the balance.

"Robert's not a show-off. He doesn't have a need to impress people," Harte said.

"But he doesn't shy away from the stage, and Drake is like being on a stage."