×

Hagebock adds state title to resume

Add Iowa Class 1A state high jump champion to Elliott Hagebock’s impressive prep athletic resume.

Hagebock cleared 6 feet, 6 inches at Drake Stadium in Des Moines Friday to confirm what North Union athletic director Alex Fisher deems as an outstanding four-sport high school athletic career for the Warriors’ senior standout.

Hagebock has been an integral part of the school’s football, basketball, track & field and baseball teams throughout his time in high school.

Hagebock’s success also earned him spots on the Sentinel All-Area football team and basketball squad during the 2018 and 2018-19 seasons, respectively.

Hagebock said he doesn’t have a favorite of the four sports, he just enjoys whatever is in season. He said there are different aspects of each that he enjoys.

“In football, I love the team aspect and how you become a family through the season,” Hagebock said. “I just love everything about basketball, I have ever since I was a little kid. In track, I really like that I get to show off some of my athleticism that doesn’t always come out in the other sports. For baseball, I just love getting to spend time with my friends in the summer.”

Fisher said Hagebock is not only exceptional on the field and track, but in the classroom. He said Hagebock is a true example of a student-athlete, focused on his classwork as well as athletics.

Fisher said Hagebock is a coach’s dream.

“He has been a great leader and role model here,” Fisher said. “He’s very coachable, gives great effort with great attitude and encourages his teammates. He is one of those athletes that makes his teammates around him better. He’s very unselfish and a team first kind of guy.”

Fisher said a perfect example of Hagebock’s team-first attitude shown through the 2018 football season. Hagebock began the year as the Warriors’ starting quarterback, but a Week 1 concussion, combined with personnel changes, moved Hagebock to the receiver position, where he ended the season in the top 10 in his class for receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns.

“Obviously he’s a great athlete, he can run and jump like very few can,” Fisher said. “But he was also a great leader on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. … He was kind of our coach on the field, talking and communicating with his teammates, bringing in information from the sideline. He was a film rat so he kind of had a jump on things that were going to happen.

“A great example is this past year he was penciled in as the starting quarterback, he started the year that way. … We started running a wildcat with Isaac Engeman at quarterback and Elliott at receiver and we decided we really liked that and moved to it full time. He excelled, you never would have guessed he had a position change and the starting quarterback position was taken away from him.”

Through the football season, Hagebock racked up 584 yards and eight touchdowns on 30 catches, while also producing 52 tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery from his safety position.

Hagebock not only put up great numbers on the gridiron, but on the hardwood, too.

Hagebock finished at the top of three scoring categories for the Warrior hoopsters, while totaling top-five finishes in the other two.

He scored 213 points for an average of 10.1 per game, while bringing down 167 rebounds and blocking 79 shots, all to lead the Warriors. Hagebock also dished out 37 assists, second on the team, and 29 steals, fourth for the Warriors.

Fisher, also the North Union head boys basketball coach, said Hagebock played a vital role as a leader on the court.

“He’s a great leader who accepted many different roles,” Fisher said. “He kind of set the standard for our program. In the classroom, he was excellent, always very respectful of teachers, always had his work done on time and he was always prepared and that translated to basketball, too. He was always watching film and working on his game as well as others. He spent extra time in the gym helping them work on their shots, rebounding for them. Basically he played any role we asked him to.

” … He was just a great team-first kind of guy and that’s something all the kids can learn from.”

Fisher said Hagebock’s leadership shined brightest his junior season. Hagebock had torn his anterior cruciate ligament during the end of his sophomore baseball campaign and lost his entire junior football and basketball seasons, before returning to track in the spring and placing fourth in the high jump at the state meet.

Fisher said Hagebock never let the injury keep him from helping the team.

“He was a big part of our team’s success his sophomore season when we set the school record for wins,” Fisher said. “He was still a big part of the team his junior year even though he was sidelined with injury. He encouraged his teammates at practice and in games and was a vocal leader and still truly cared about the team’s success.”

With Hagebock’s high school career nearing its end, he has chosen to attend Iowa State University for his next step. He said he will major in kinesiology.

“Going to Iowa State is kind of an unwritten rule in my family,” Hagebock said. “My grandpa went there, my mom went there, both my older siblings went there.”

With a degree in kinesiology, Hagebock wants to go to medical school and pursue a career in anesthesiology.

While Hagebock looks forward to what comes next, the end of a stellar career gives the chance to look back. Hagebock said a couple of moments stood out in his memory.

“My homecoming game senior year is definitely up there as a favorite memory,” Hagebock said. “Running track at state all three years is definitely memorable, too.”

Through the highs and lows of a terrific high school career, Fisher said Hagebock’s character and work ethic is what he like’s most about the four-sport standout.

He said Hagebock takes the time to interact with younger kids at the school and make sure he always has a positive attitude.

“He just gets it,” Fisher said. “He understands what it takes to be a great student and a great athlete. He knows he is a role model and takes the time to talk with the youth in our school and form relationships with them. Elliott’s positive attitude and work ethic will take him far in life and he will be very successful in whatever he chooses to do.

“Elliott will go down as one of the all-time greats and he will truly be missed here at North Union.”

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.65/week.

Subscribe Today