The girls volleyball team steamrolled its way through the first three rounds of CCS, defeating Marina, Mercy Burlingame and Santa Cruz all in straight sets, which led to a matchup with Notre Dame Belmont in the D4 championships. It was a tight match, but the Tigers defeated the Eagles in five games, winning the decisive game 16-14, giving Harker the second place finish. However, this qualified the Eagles for a trip to the NorCal tournament. The girls travel to Fairfield on Tuesday to take on Vanden High in the D2 brackets.
Cross Country
The cross country team competed at the WBAL finals last week, with Ryan Adolf, grade 12, and Ritika Rajamani, grade 9, qualifying for the CCS finals on Sunday at the Crystal Springs Cross Country Course.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo season came to an end last week as the team fell 4-11 to Aptos in the opening round of the CCS playoffs. Congrats on a great year!
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team opens up CCS on Monday as it travels to Mountain View High. On Nov. 13, the doubles team of Sachi Bajaj and Fonda Hu, both grade 10, will face off against Soquel to start the tournament.
Girls Golf
After a second place CCS finish, the girls golf team heads to Lodi today to begin its quest for a NorCal championship. Check out results throughout the day at https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/1288547
Scholastic Teams
Harker once again made its presence felt on the Fall Scholastic Championship Teams list. Boys cross country (3.9 GPA) and boys water polo (3.728) earned the top spots in their sports, while girls golf (3.786) finished second in their sport. Congrats to our wonderful student athletes!
The girls volleyball team steamrolled its way through the first three rounds of CCS, defeating Marina, Mercy Burlingame and Santa Cruz all in straight sets, which led to a matchup with Notre Dame Belmont in the D4 championships. It was a tight match, but the Tigers defeated the Eagles in five games, winning the decisive game 16-14, giving Harker the second place finish. However, this qualified the Eagles for a trip to the NorCal tournament. The girls travel to Fairfield on Tuesday to take on Vanden High in the D2 brackets.
Cross Country
The cross country team competed at the WBAL finals last week, with Ryan Adolf, grade 12, and Ritika Rajamani, grade 9, qualifying for the CCS finals on Sunday at the Crystal Springs Cross Country Course.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo season came to an end last week as the team fell 4-11 to Aptos in the opening round of the CCS playoffs. Congrats on a great year!
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team opens up CCS on Monday as it travels to Mountain View High. On Nov. 13, the doubles team of Sachi Bajaj and Fonda Hu, both grade 10, will face off against Soquel to start the tournament.
Girls Golf
After a second place CCS finish, the girls golf team heads to Lodi today to begin its quest for a NorCal championship. Check out results throughout the day at https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/1288547
Scholastic Teams
Harker once again made its presence felt on the Fall Scholastic Championship Teams list. Boys cross country (3.9 GPA) and boys water polo (3.728) earned the top spots in their sports, while girls golf (3.786) finished second in their sport. Congrats to our wonderful student athletes!
By Jenny Achten, speech and debate department chair, 6-12
The speech and debate team has had some great results thus far in the season. Students have won awards in both local and national events in all five major events (policy debate, speech, Lincoln-Douglas debate, public forum debate and Congress).
The team of Anusha Kuppahally, grade 12, and Maddie Huynh, grade 11, made it to elimination rounds at both the Valley Invitational in Iowa and the St. Mark’s tournament in Texas. Andy Lee, grade 10, and Deven Shah, grade 9, were also in elimination rounds in Iowa. In policy debate, the yearlong topic is about whether the United States should ease restrictions on immigration. Harker’s advocated for the United States to accept more refugees from Syria.
The speech students are also off to a great start with Alycia Cary, grade 12, winning an award at the Yale Invitational in original oratory. Nikki Solanki, grade 11, took second place in both programmed oral interpretation and dramatic interpretation at the Florida Blue Key tournament. Solanki also won first place in dramatic performance at the Florida Blue Key round robin. Jay Menon, grade 12, also reached elimination rounds in Florida with his oratory. The team is also proud of Brian Pinkston and Ellis Goldman, both grade 10; Andrea Thia, grade 9; and Brandon Lin, grade 11, for making the final rounds of a local league tournament.
A number of the Lincoln-Douglas students also have represented Harker extremely well. Kelly Shen, grade 12; Akshay Manglik, grade 10; and Quentin Clark, grade 11, all qualified for elimination rounds at the Valley tournament in Iowa. Manglik also made it to elimination rounds at the Presentation tournament in San Jose, along with Aditya Tadimeti, grade 10; Sachin Shah, grade 11; and Anshul Reddy, grade 9. Manglik, Tadimeti and Reddy also cleared at the St. Mark’s tournament in Texas. They have debated topics ranging from the rights of reporters to protect confidential sources to privacy concerns for candidates for public office.
In public forum, the duo of Annie Ma and Amanda Cheung, both grade 11, as well as Cindy Wang and Clarissa Wang, both grade 12, and the pairing of Datha Arramreddy, grade 11, and Raymond Banke, grade 12, were in elimination rounds of the Milpitas Invitational. Naveen Mirapuri and Chandan Aggarwal, both grade 11, also won awards at the St. Francis tournament. Their current topic is about whether or not the federal government should impose price controls on the pharmaceutical industry.
Finally, in Congressional debate, Jason Lin, grade 10; Jason Huang, grade 12; and Andrew Sun, grade 10, earned bids to nationals at the Yale Invitational. Sun and Nakul Bajaj, grade 11, both placed second at a league event. Lin, Sun, Riyaa Randhawa, grade 9, and David Feng, grade 11, earned bids to nationals at the Florida Blue Key Invitational.
The coaches are very proud of the success students have enjoyed across the team. This semester, the team will also travel to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, and Oakland in addition to attending some local events in San Jose and Santa Clara.
Coach Greg Achten noted, “I am really proud of our students’ success but even more proud of the way they have come together this year and worked as a team. The level of support the students show one another and work to help their teammates both in class and at tournaments tells me a lot about how inclusive and caring our students are.”
This article written by Neha Tallapragada, grade 12
Career Connect took seven students to the Constellation Connected Enterprise Conference at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay this week. The conference focused in on the ways that our new world of technology impacts several sectors, from health care to business to sports management.
Harker students were able to hear from panels focusing on the prospect of digital transformation in the business sphere, what to expect from digital privacy laws in the future, how analytics are helping a newer generation of athletes and more. They got the opportunity to hear perspectives from several top professionals in the Bay Area, including Mitra Azizirad, corporate vice president of cloud computing for Microsoft, and David West, a former Golden State Warrior and minority owner of Zoetic Global.
“My favorite part was connecting with all the people and learning about how I can be mindful about my future … and getting an internship offer!” said Julia Yusupov, grade 10.
“At Harker it’s difficult to find people who are interested in blockchain,” said Sayon Biswas, grade 12. “I think that has to do with our age; we’re not 100 percent sure about what we’re interested in. So events like these are really crucial for learning more about your interests and meeting new people who can connect you to potential opportunities.”
Upon conversing with Harker students, one professional remarked, “I like to ask Harker students at least one tough question, because I know they’ll have a good answer.” It’s exciting to know that our reputation as bright and intelligent students has made its way across the Bay!
Overall, the topics of the conference were incredibly topical and eye-opening for our students, and definitely sparked new interests regarding the ways we are starting to use technology and the strategic and moral questions that follow.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team finished off one of the best seasons in school history with three wins in the SCVAL tournament to become tournament champs and co-league champs for just the second time in program history! The girls defeated Milpitas 13-3, Wilcox 11-2 and Saratoga 5-4 in the championship game. The Eagles are the No. 5 seed in the CCS D2 tournament and travel to Aptos on Nov. 3.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team finished the regular season with a 194-299 win over Castilleja. The girls followed up their league title with a league tournament title shooting a 370, defeating the second place team by 44 strokes! Sophie Zhang-Murphy, grade 9, won the individual title shooting a 69, with Tina Xu, grade 9, shooting a 70 to tie for second. The Eagles head to Laguna Seca on Tuesday to compete in the CCS Championships.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team finished off the regular season with a 3-1 victory over Mercy SF before beginning the CCS playoffs. The No. 4 seed Eagles defeated Marina High 3-0 and will now host Mercy Burlingame Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
Girls Tennis
Last week, the girls tennis team defeated Homestead 4-3 and Notre Dame Belmont 7-0 to finish off the regular season with a 13-5 record. On Monday, the doubles team of Sachi Bajaj, grade 10, and Fonda Hu, grade 10, as well as Liza Egorova, grade 12, advanced to the WBAL Tournament semis on Tuesday at Menlo.
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team played very well in the SCVAL Tournament finishing in second place. The Eagles defeated Saratoga 14-12 and Fremont 13-2 before falling to Wilcox 8-9 in the finals. The boys finished a very strong season with a 17-10 record.
Cross Country
The cross country team takes on the entire WBAL at the league finals on Friday at Crystal Springs Uplands Cross Country Course.
MS Golf
Congratulations to the MS golf team as it took first place among 52 competitors and eight teams in the fall WBAL tournament. The Eagles shot a 139, defeating the second place team by 17 strokes, and were led by Claire Chen, grade 8, who won the tournament with a 32, which included a hole in one on the fifth hole! This is the 12th championship out of the last 13 tournaments for the middle school.
The Eagles ran very well in their final cross country race before the league championships in two weeks. Ryan Adolf, grade 12, again led the Eagles at Baylands Park as he and Aditya Singhvi, grade 10 , both finished in the top 20 for the first time this year. Freshmen Ritika Rajamani and Erica Cai were the top two Eagle varsity girl runners, both running times that may qualify for the CCS Championships in three weeks. (Courtesy Coach Scott Chisam.) The Eagles race again on Nov. 2 at Crystal Springs Cross Country Park for the WBAL Championships.
Girls Volleyball
Last week, the girls volleyball team fell to Menlo 0-3 before taking down Mercy Burlingame 3-1. The 13-11 Eagles travel to Mercy SF on Tuesday to complete their regular season before starting CCS this weekend.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team defeated Castilleja 184-231 to become league champs for the first time since 2006. Sophie Zhang-Murphy, grade 9, earned medalist honors shooting a 34. The girls take on Castilleja again on Tuesday before starting the WBAL Tournament on Wednesday.
Football
The football team completed its season with a 7-6 win over St. Vincent de Paul on Saturday. The defensive battle was capped by a second quarter pick-6 by Jared Anderson, grade 12, for the only Harker points on the day. The Eagles finished the year with a 7-2 record.
Boys Water Polo
Last week the boys water polo team fell to Wilcox 7-10 before defeating Saratoga 17-7 and going 3-0 in the Ronald J. Freeman Memorial Tournament, defeating Santa Teresa 15-6, Fremont 16-6 and The King’s Academy 13-1. The boys start the SCVAL Tournament this Wednesday.
Girls Tennis
Last week, the girls tennis team defeated Crystal Springs Uplands 6-1 before falling to Menlo 6-1. The Eagles take on Homestead on Monday and Notre Dame Belmont on Tuesday to wrap up the regular season.
Girls Water Polo
Last week, the girls water polo team defeated Wilcox 11-5 before suffering a rare loss, falling to Saratoga 0-2. The Eagles start the SCVAL Tournament this Wednesday.
Earlier this week, the New York Academy of Sciences accepted senior Ayush Vyas into the NYAS Junior Academy. As part of NYAS’ Global STEM Alliance (GSA), the Junior Academy program connects students aged 13-18 with a range of educational and networking opportunities in STEM disciplines such as public health, sustainability, emerging technology and many more.
Members of the academy participate twice a year in innovation challenges that address a wide range of global issues. Students attend a boot camp to bolster the skills necessary to address these challenges. More than 6,500 applications were submitted to the program this year, and Vyas is one of 586 students accepted. As one of the accepted participants, Vyas is eligible to attend the Global STEM Alliance Summit in New York City, set for summer 2019.
The football team improved to 6-2 on the year as it soundly defeated the Oakland Military Institute 62-18 on Friday night. Once again, lots of impressive numbers including Devin Keller, grade 11, rushing for 151 yards and a score, Mitchell Granados, grade 12, rushing for a score and catching a TD pass, Anthony Meissner, grade 12, rushing for two scores and throwing another, and Jared Anderson with a huge game as he rushed for two scores, had a pick six and returned a kickoff for a score. The Eagles close out the regular season this Saturday as they travel to Petaluma to take on Saint Vincent de Paul.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team won its sole match last week by forfeit, but that didn’t stop the players from enjoying their Senior Night. The girls are undefeated and sit atop the WBAL standings as they take on Mercy Burlingame on Tuesday and Castilleja on Wednesday.
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team picked up two league wins last week as they defeated Fremont 17-8 and Cupertino 15-6. This week, the Eagles travel to Wilcox on Tuesday and Saratoga on Thursday to close out the regular season.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team picked up two big non-league wins last week as it defeated Homestead 5-2 and Castilleja 4-3. This week, the ladies host Crystal Springs Uplands on Tuesday and Menlo on Thursday, both at Blackford.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team continues to roll as it picked up two more league wins last week. The Eagle started the week with a 13-3 win over Lynbrook with Abby Wisdom, grade 12, scoring seven goals. Then in an 11-2 win over Cupertino, Wisdom led the Eagles with three goals, with Cas Ruedy, grade 11, Leah Anderson, grade 10, and Alicia Xu, grade 11, each scoring two goals. The 18-4 Eagles finish up the regular season this week as they travel to Wilcox on Tuesday and Saratoga on Thursday.
Girls Volleyball
Last week, the girls volleyball team took care of Sacred Heart Prep 3-0, but fell to Notre Dame Belmont 0-3 later in the week. The 12-10 Eagles host Menlo on Tuesday before traveling to Mercy Burlingame on Thursday.
Cross Country
The cross country team returns to action this Thursday at Baylands Park as it meets up with the entire WBAL.
The Class of 2022 visited the Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve on Oct. 10 for this year’s Frosh Service Trip. Students spent the day clearing the preserve’s trails and maintaining its fire lines, which are used to inhibit the spread of fires. The students arrived in the morning and were divided into groups to work on different areas.
Special activities were added to this service trip to help the students deepen their understanding and respect of the natural landscape. Art teacher Pilar Agüero-Esparza organized a drawing activity inspired by Coyote Valley’s longstanding oak trees, which she preceded by having the students “consider how the Ohlone and other indigenous peoples of Northern California completely relied on the oak trees for food, shelter, warmth, medicines, cultural crafts, etc.” Biology teacher Mike Pistacchi led his students on a brief hike and had them “notice nature” in a silent observation exercise.
Students expressed happiness at being given the opportunity to help preserve the area. “Not only did I realize how much effort went into maintaining a trail, but also I am overjoyed that I improved the environment for future hikers,” said Andrea Thia. “It is comforting to know I have impacted Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve in a positive way, even if it was just a very small amount.”
“Watching the path get cleared was pretty satisfying in that we could instantly see the effects of our hard work,” added Callie Mayer. “While it was very tiring and the work load was very intimidating, it was overall a good experience and worth it so that we as a class can contribute to making the environment better and more clean.”
Students also said they would like to return to Coyote Valley in the spring to continue their effort and also to see how the preserve looks during a different time of year. “I think getting to volunteer with friends made the experience more enjoyable and seeing it in the spring with that same group would be cool,” said Nageena Singh.
Tiffany Zhu ’17, now at Stanford, had her Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities paper, written while at Harker, published in the spring 2018 issue of the Stanford Undergraduate Research Journal. The paper is titled “Putting the Realism in Socialist Realism: Gorky’s Mother as a Bridge between Soviet and Chernyshevskian Literary Aesthetics.”
Zhu has continued to pursue her interest in Russia and took a three-week seminar in St. Petersburg. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see much about (Maxim) Gorky (he was mostly based in Moscow, it turns out),” Zhu said, “but we did get to look at Soviet architecture, which we learned had as complicated a relationship with the state as Soviet literature.
“Right now, I’m taking an upper-division colloquium on Russian revolutionaries from the 18th century to the present day, and one of our readings talked about Chernyshevsky’s ‘What is to be Done?’ I feel that my Mitra research prepared me to understand Chernyshevsky and his context when the time came.”
She added a note to her Mitra mentors. “Thank you, so much, once again, for all of your encouragement and support from the very beginning. You all have inspired me to dive deeper into my passions, and I really don’t think I could be the scholar (and Russia enthusiast) I am today without the Mitra program.” Check out her paper – it’s the first one in the magazine.