Cedar Rapids Washington will have a Harvard man on its team for the Class 4A state track meet in Des Moines this week.

Robert Hogg, a superior student and one of the top half-milers in Iowa, will enroll at Harvard University this summer as a member of their cross country and track squads.

He visited the Ivy League school in Massachusetts this spring and fell in love with the historic college.

He likes the way "Harvard" sounds when you say it out loud.

"It's just an honor to be mentioned with that word. It's crazy," he said Monday before track practice.

"I'm really excited. I visited over spring break and I just had a blast out there. I'm just really excited. Loved the team, loved the coaches. You can't do anything but love the school."

Will Harte, who coaches the distance runners at Washington, helped steer Hogg to Harvard. Harte's brother attended Harvard and ran on the cross country team there.

Hogg ranks second in his class at Washington with a 4.6 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale, including a 4.95 GPA as a senior. He took six Advanced Placement courses this semester in biology, physics, literature, calculus, macro economics and micro economics and scored an eye-popping 35 on his ACT college entrance exam.

He's one of the valedictorians at Washington and will make a speech at commencement exercises on May 25. His theme is, "Don't Stop, Keep Moving Forward," which makes sense for a top student who can run 800 meters in 1 minute, 56 seconds.

He procrastinated with the speech before finding the right tone.

"I finally got it done," he said. "It was kind of hanging over my head. I'm glad it's over with."

Hogg has enjoyed a decorated career with the Washington track program the last four years. He helped the Warriors win Class 4A state team championships in 2009 and 2010 as a freshman and sophomore and ran on the championship 4x800 relay in 2010.

Hogg placed third in the open 800 at state last year in 1:56.45 and is seeded fourth for the 800 at the state meet this week. In addition, he helped the Warriors win the sprint medley at the 103rd Annual Drake Relays last month and was named the Mississippi Division Athlete of the Year in the Mississippi Valley Conference this season.

He's got one more state meet and wants to make it a good one for his team as the Warriors seek high honors again. "Compete, compete, compete," he said. "That's what I've thought since last year. We've got all the pieces to the puzzle we need."

Hogg will run on Washington's 4x400 and 4x800 relays and is listed as an alternate on the distance medley.

Hogg is thinking about studying pre-med at Harvard, but has not made a final decision. He plans to keep an open mind and sample a variety of classes.

His father is state Sen. Rob Hogg, but Robert is not thinking about a political career at this point. He's not the only son of a politician on the Washington track team. Nicolas Corbett, the son of Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, is a premier quarter-miler for the Warriors.

"We joke that we have the most politically influential team in the state," said Hogg.

Hogg is actually Robert Hogg III. His grandfather, Bob Hogg, taught statistics at the University of Iowa for approximately 50 years before retiring to Colorado. His father, Rob, received his undergraduate degree from Iowa and his law degree from the University of Minnesota.

Hogg's track career at Washington will end this week with the state meet, but it won't be the end of his high school sports career. He plans to play for the Washington baseball team again this summer before heading to college.

In addition to all his sports and academic achievements, Hogg participated in choir and show choir at Washington and was a candidate for homecoming king.

He wasn't selected the homecoming king at Washington, but now he's headed to a college that has produced five U.S. presidents.