This past week saw some exciting postseason action from many of our Harker teams and athletes. While seasons ended for some, others are still fighting to bring CCS – and maybe even state – titles back to Harker!
Cross Country
The girls cross country team saved its best runs for last, placing eighth in the Division 4 Central Coast Section (CCS) Championships. Led by captains Niki Iyer, grade 11, and Alex Dellar, grade 12, six of the seven Harker runners ran personal bests on the Crystal Springs course in Belmont. Placing second, Iyer ran 17:26.0 to become the 26th all-time runner on the 44-year-old course; her time is also the eighth best run by a junior. Alycia Cary, Aneesha Kumar, Lilia Gonzales, Anika Rajamani, all grade 9, and Akshaya Vemuri, grade 10, helped the Eagles to their second best season in school history. Dellar and the team also accepted the CCS Scholastic Award for their 3.865 team GPA. The boys were also awarded a CCS Scholastic Award for their 3.792 team GPA.
Iyer will now advance to the state championships in two weeks in Fresno.
Tennis
Girls tennis earned a first round bye in the team championship bracket, before defeating Sacred Heart Prep 4-3. Unfortunately, they fell to eventual CCS champion Menlo in the quarterfinals. But there is still more Harker tennis to be played as Pam Duke, grade 9, and Lizzie Schick, grade 10, will compete in the CCS doubles bracket Monday at noon. Duke and Schick are the No. 2 seed and open with Mountain View. Good luck girls!
Football
The Harker football season came to an end after a first round loss to Fortuna High School in the opening round of the North Coast Section (NCS) Division 4 tournament. However, it was a great season that saw Harker’s best-ever football record and only the second playoff appearance for a football team in school history. Harker football says goodbye to seniors Oison Coveney, Trenton Thomas, Miles DeWitt, and captains Johnathon Keller and Nikhil Ramgiri. The football program graduates only five seniors this year, so this young team should be competitive for a long time!
Volleyball
Coming off a first round bye in CCS, the No. 3 seeded girls volleyball team defeated Santa Cruz in three games (25-19, 25-20, 25-17) to move on to the semifinals it they will face league rival Menlo. The match will be played at Notre Dame Belmont High School tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. If the girls win, they play in the CCS finals this Saturday, which would include a trip to the NorCal Tournament. Students, if you would like to root for your Eagles, Harker is planning to provide transportation to and from the game for upper school students. A permission slip is required and you must sign up at the athletics office by 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, to reserve a seat. Good luck girls!
Golf
After finishing third in CCS, Katherine Zhu, grade 10, ended the season shooting plus-12 at Crazy Horse Ranch and finishing tied for 28 among 83 golfers at the NorCal Championship. Congratulations on a great season Katherine!
Spring saw the release of the 2015 edition of Harker’s Eclectic Literary Magazine – HELM, for short – which featured writing, photography and an assortment of visual artwork, created and compiled by Harker students. Works in the magazine include a short story by now senior Elisabeth Siegel, snapshotting the lives of bookstore employees and shoppers, a powerful poem by Maya Nandakumar ’13 (a regional silver award winner in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards), evocative black and white photography by senior Shay Lari-Hosain, and art pieces by seniors Sophia Luo and Kevin Ke, and May Gao, grade 11.
Study of Music and Spanish students came together to attend a special community concert celebrating Día de los Muertos on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. The San Francisco Symphony performed with Grammy winning Mexican-American singer-songwriter Lila Downs, and the show triggered thoughtful reactions from students who attended.
“I thought the concert was a great blend of classical and cultural music to please everyone of all ages and backgrounds,” said Jessica Zhu, grade 12. “ Lila Downs’ voice was powerful and soulful, as she told different stories and conveyed different feelings with each song.”
Vineet Kosaraju, grade 12, said the show complemented his classroom learning. “Before the concert, because I had never been to one before, I wasn’t really sure what to expect,” he said. “However, as soon as the concert started, I was immediately wowed by the powerful combination of music and culture, and I really enjoyed each of the pieces. As I had taken Spanish in the past, it was nice to relate the theoretical information about the celebration I learned in class to seeing the festive tradition in person.”
Other students also expressed positive reactions to the show. “I enjoyed how the music was adapted for an orchestra, which blended together Latin American and more traditional styles,” said Alex Yu, grade 9.
While Lawrence Li, grade 12, noted he “thought that the first half of the concert was mysterious, enchanting, but powerful at the same time,” Logan Bhamidipaty, grade 9, said he “found that Lila Downs’ voice in the second half reinvigorated the performance with a fresh, modern twist on classical Latin American music.” Great crossover outing!
Playoff season is in full swing! Athletes across numerous sports are setting personal and school records, while helping their teams earn spots in the CCS championships. Junior Niki Iyer is the reigning cross country champ, the football team finished the regular season with Harker’s best-ever record and various teams will compete in championship games this week. “Outstanding! My congratulations to all!” enthused Head of School Chris Nikoloff.
Here’s a look at the week ahead:
Cross Country
Niki Iyer, grade 11, won the girls varsity individual WBAL cross country crown for the second time in three years with a time of 17:48 at Crystal Springs – more than a full minute ahead of the second place finisher – making her the league champion! Another great performance was turned in by Alex Dellar, grade 12, who placed eighth out of 70-plus runners in the championships. The girls team qualified for the CCS Championships for the first time since 2008. That event will be held this Saturday at Crystal Springs. For the boys, sophomore Peter Connors led the way with his 25th place finish followed by senior Jack Rothschild in 29th, taking 2:30 off of his best course time. Over all, there were seven girls with personal bests and five boys. The girls team placed fifth in the meet; third overall in the league.
Football
Football ended its regular season Friday with a 50-7 victory at Richmond. The squad’s 8-2 record is the best in Harker history, and earned the team Harker’s second-ever NCS playoff bid. The boys drew a first round game at Fortuna High (a six-hour bus ride) this Friday. Congratulations boys and good luck in the playoffs!
Girls volleyball earned a No. 3 seed in this week’s CCS tournament, granting them a bye straight to the quarterfinals! That game will be held at Harker on Saturday night at 7 p.m. against the winner of the King’s Academy/Santa Cruz match. Admission of $8 for adults and $4 for students will be charged at all CCS matches. We’ll see you there Saturday!
Girls tennis drew a No. 8 seed in the CCS team championship and our doubles team of freshman Pam Duke and sophomore Lizzie Schick drew a Harker-best No. 2 seed in the doubles championship. Freshman Liza Egorova is the first alternate in the singles bracket. The team gets to host a second round match at our home site, Santa Clara Tennis Center, Tuesday at 2 p.m. vs. the winner of Sacred Heart/St. Ignatius. Please come show your support.
The boys water polo team ended its season with a third place league finish as a result of its 16-8 victory over Fremont. The team ended with a 15-9 overall record. Excellent season boys! The girls ended with a victory as well – a 18-6 win over Milpitas. Senior captain Yasemin Narin led the charge with six goals. Freshman goalkeeper Lily Wancewicz excelled in the cage with 10 saves for the Eagles. It was a great way to finish out the season, way to go ladies!
Golf
Remember to send good thoughts to Katherine Zhu, grade 10, as she competes in the NorCal tournament today in Salinas.
A Harker alum and student received nice mentions in Nuntius Californiensis, the official newsletter of the California Junior Classical League, regarding results at the 62nd National Junior Classical League Convention, held at Trinity University in Texas: Maya Nandakumar ’15 received the Jessie Chambers NJCL Scholarship, and Elisabeth Siegel, grade 12, was part of a multi-school advanced competitive Certamen team that took third place. Congrats to both women! Read on: http://cajcl.org/uploads/fall2015nuntius.pdf
“My mother was born just a few years before Mao died, living in a time when people kept the work ethic and spirit but not the stricter Socialist ideas. The life she spun in her stories possessed few physical luxuries, but was uniquely rich in spirit and ambition.” – Millie Lin
Last month, Millie Lin, grade 10, took first place in Family Travel Forum’s Teen Travel Writing Scholarship. Her piece, “Dirt-Caked Memories: A Story Revisited and Retold” was chosen from among 3,000 entries. In it, she details her journey back to the village in rural China where her mother spent her childhood. The poignant travelogue captures her mother’s memories of daily chores, rivalries with neighborhood children and growing up in Maoist China.
Entries were judged by professional writers, educators and journalists. Lin was awarded with a certificate and a $1,000 cash prize. Lin was thankful for the support of her teacher, Marc Hufnagl, who helped her with the essay by offering feedback in preparing it for submission.
This year’s fall play, “The Laramie Project,” saw the Harker Conservatory tackle some tough material with grace and style. Upper school drama teacher Jeffrey Draper directed this story about the 1998 kidnapping, beating and murder of a 21-year-old student in Laramie, Wyo. Due to the victim’s sexual orientation, the act was classified as a hate crime.
Compiled from interviews from Laramie’s citizens, members of the media and all manner of personalities surrounding the incident, the story plays out via a non-traditional structure in which “moments” are juxtaposed with one another. Every member of the cast worked overtime, portraying multiple characters, more than 60 in total, with a minimal set by Paul Vallerga meant to capture the open Wyoming plains.
The ever-present team of lighting designer Natti Pierce-Thomson, costume designer Caela Fujii and production manager Brian Larsen again came together to help produce this exceptionally powerful work. Several students also worked behind the scenes to produce the play, namely stage manager Aishu Murari, grade 12, sound board operator Zachary Wong, grade 9, video lead Tamar Sasson, grade 9, and light board operator Shilpa Repakula, grade 12.
Sophomore golfer Katherine Zhu shot a 69 en route to a third place overall finish at the CCS Girls Golf Championships – qualifying her for the NorCal tournament for the second year in a row. The girls team placed a very respectable eighth overall. Congratulations to the team on a great season, and let’s wish Katherine well as she competes against the best golfers in Northern California next week in Salinas.
The WBAL girls tennis tournament finals were held yesterday, with outstanding results. For only the second time in school history, we have league champions in doubles. Sophomore Lizzie Schick and freshman Pam Duke teamed up to place first overall in the doubles bracket! Freshman Liza Egorova placed third in singles, and the team of Gloria Guo, grade 10, and Izzy Gross, grade 12, placed fourth in doubles. Schick and Duke will represent Harker and the WBAL in the CCS individual tournament later this month.
Football is now 7-1 overall, 3-0 in league play after a 55-8 victory over St. Vincent de Paul Friday on Davis Field. This sets up a Harker first – a football game to determine the league champion. This Friday the boys host a strong Stellar Prep team, which is currently 6-1 overall, 2-0 in league. If Harker wins, we’ll be league champions! School spirit has been outstanding this year, and we hope the support continues Friday night. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. A film crew from Cal-Hi Sports will be covering the game. Friday is also Senior Night for football and cheerleading. Seniors will be honored before the game around 6:45 p.m.
Tennis
Girls tennis had three solid victories last week: Presentation 7-0, Crystal Springs 7-0 and an important league victory over Sacred Heart Prep 5-2. The girls are now 12-2 overall as they host Castilleja and state powerhouse Menlo Thursday at the Santa Clara Tennis Center. Thursday is also Senior Day for Izzy Gross, who will be recognized just before the 4 p.m. start time.
Cross Country
The cross country team competed in its final tune-up before the league championships on Nov 6. The runners concentrated on running fast last miles on the 3-mile Crystal Springs course. Top marks were turned in by freshman Anika Rajamani, and seniors Alex Dellar, Connor O’Neill and Jack Rothschild.
Golf
Girls golf defeated Mercy-Burlingame Monday on Senior Day, at which seniors Ashley Zhong and Daphne Liang each sank long 20-foot putts on their final hole. The girls ended the regular season at 6-4 as they wait to see if they’ve qualified for CCS. They compete in the league championships today at Poplar Creek Golf Course.
Water Polo
The girls water polo team lost a close game to powerhouse Santa Clara Thursday night in triple overtime. The team fought hard through four quarters and ended up tied 10-10. After two overtime periods, the score was tied 11-11. The girls went into a golden goal period, during which they played tough defense and had some opportunities to score. Santa Clara scored after almost 2 minutes, winning the game in sudden death. Your Eagles were led by seniors Yasemin Narin with three goals and Helena Dworak with 18 saves in the cage!
Boys water polo beat Lynbrook 10-4 last week with senior Edward Sheu scoring five goals and junior Raymond Xu two. The team then hosted Santa Clara for Senior Night, beating them 15-4 with Sheu scoring six goals, and junior Arnav Tandon and freshman Bobby Bloomquist each chipping in two. Sheu currently has 108 goals, a Harker record for the total number of goals in one season.
Both teams travel to Fremont tomorrow in preparation for the league tournament next week.
Volleyball
Your 14th ranked girls volleyball team lost a tough battle against No. 10 ranked Menlo last week, suffering its first league loss at the hands of the Knights. With a record of 15-8 overall, 6-1 in league play, the team dropped into a first place league tie with Menlo.
The girls freshman volleyball team improved to 7-4 with wins over Priory and Saratoga last week. They’ll complete their fine season at Mercy-SF today.
Last week, grade 11 student Riya Chandra appeared on a Girls Who Code panel at the Intel Education Visionaries Conference. Chandra participated in the Intel-sponsored seven-week Girls Who Code immersion program and was subsequently invited to be on the panel.
“As part of their conference, they wanted to put together a student panel to help give insight to educators. Intel asked Girls Who Code to choose two people to invite to speak, and I received an email with an invitation,” said Chandra.
During the panel, Chandra shared her background in computer science and discussed some of her projects. “It was great being able to receive so many amazing questions from these educators, because it showed how much they cared for their students,” she said. Harker computer science teacher Susan King was also in attendance, which Chandra appreciated. “It was truly special as she really made an impact in my life,” she said.
Chandra believes the panel benefited educators by giving them real insight into student experiences. “We gave them honest answers about how we like to learn and gave them advice,” she said. “I think this panel will benefit students in the future as these educators will take back what they learned from the panel and apply it to their teaching.”