Bobocel rose to prominence as a junior athlete competing in the steeplechase and in cross country running. She was the silver medallist in the steeplechase at the 2003 European Athletics Junior Championships, then repeated that finish at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics. She was also the junior runner-up at the 2004 European Cross Country Championships that year. In 2005, she was twentieth in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships and won the junior title at the 2005 European Cross Country Championships. She also retained her silver medal in the steeplechase at the 2005 European Athletics Junior Championships. She set a European junior record of 9:37.45 to take another steeplechase silver at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics, but managed only third in the junior race at the 2006 European Cross Country Championships.