Harker Football Drops Homecoming Game Despite 420 Yards of Offense, Freshman Sets Cross Country Records, and Tennis Jumps Out to 4-1 Record

Fall sports continue, with  a school record in girls cross country; victories in tennis, volleyball and golf; and a great homecoming event, with huge yardage from the Eagles, despite their loss.

After a tight 9-7 loss to Fremont earlier in the week, the varsity boys water polo squad roared back to crush Santa Clara on Thursday in their home opener, 14-8 win. In the win, Karan Kurber, grade 12, Eric Holt, grade 11, and Billy Bloomquist, grade 11, all racked up four goals apiece. Arnav Tandon, grade 9, and Stephan Pellissier, grade 12, each added a goal, and Sean Pan, grade 12, anchored the defense with four point-blank blocks. The week before, the boys had faced off against then-undefeated Saratoga High, with Bloomquist, Holt, Pellissier and Alex Thomas, grade 11, all scoring. The team is now 4-5 overall and 1-2 in league play. They travel to Wilcox on Tuesday and host Homestead on Thursday at the Singh Aquatic Center.

The girls played this weekend at the Aptos Tournament, winning one game and dropping three. On Friday evening, the girls lost to Santa Cruz High. The day, the girls defeated Lincoln 7-2 before losing to Pioneer and SLV. Delaney Martin, grade 11, led the team in scoring over the weekend, netting five goals. Helena Dworak, grade 10, had 24 saves in her four games. The team heads to Wilcox to lead off this week and then returns home to host Monta Vista on Thursday.

Freshman Niki Iyer raced the best-ever time for a Harker female runner in her first varsity cross country meet this past week at the Westmoor Invitational, finishing second overall and missing out on first place by one second. Senior Claudia Tischler placed 13th overall, while Connor O’Neill, grade 10, and Rahul Balakrishnan, grade 11, both broke 16:00 to lead the boys team. The team travels to San Bruno Mountain this Thursday for their first league meet of the season. Meanwhile, last Saturday, Corey Gonzales, grade 11, who is ranked in the top-five in CCS, faced off against a national field at the Stanford Invitational.

Harker football dropped their Homecoming game to Mt. Pleasant last Friday, despite recording 420 total yards on offense. Running back Kevin Moss, grade 12, ran for 128 yards on 16 carries with one touchdown. Quarterback Keanu Forbes, grade 11, also scrambled for 52 yards on 11 runs, scoring twice in the third quarter. Forbes also connected with wide receiver Adarsh Battu, grade 12, five times for a total of 142 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown pass. The week before, junior varsity trumped Irvington High 20-6 to jump out to a 2-0 record early in the season. Varsity’s next game is this Fri., Oct. 4, at home against St. Francis at 7 p.m. The junior varsity plays next on Oct. 18 in a home game against Lynbrook.

Girls tennis now stands at 4-1 on the season after a 7-0 victory over Milpitas last week. “The Lady Eagles battled through injuries to put together a new season-best team performance against an evenly matched Milpitas squad,” writes Dan Molin, Harker’s upper school athletic director. “The doubles team was highlighted by clutch and spirited wins in both third set tie-breakers and the sharp return of Ariana Shulman, grade 12, to the lineup.” Harker did not drop one set all day in their singles contests. The victory came one week after the girls defeated Fremont 5-2 with Dora Tzeng, grade 12, Izzy Gross, grade 10, and Arden Hu, grade 11, sweeping the singles matches. League play begins this week with a game at the Decathlon Club against Sacred Heart Prep.

The girls volleyball team defeated Lynbrook on Wednesday, bumping up their record to 4-3 overall as they prepare to open league play this Tuesday at Blackford against rival Sacred Heart Prep. They’ve now won two of their past three after an early start where the girls, tested early by a strong schedule, faced off against some of the top contenders in their section. Shreya Dixit, grade 11, Divya Kalindindi, grade 12, and Shannon Richardson, grade 10, have emerged as the team’s offensive leaders with setting duties shared by Selin Ozcelik and Selin Ekici, both grade 10. Mercedes Chien, grade 12, meanwhile, has excelled in her role as libero.

Following their league opener against Sacred Heart on Tuesday, the varsity girls will play Castilleja on Thursday. The junior varsity team has played great ball as well. This past week, the JV team won the silver division championship after victories over Presentation, Valley Christian and Menlo.

The girls golf team defeated Notre Dame San Jose this past Thursday, 213-246. Kristin Lin, grade 12, shot a 36. Daphne Liang, grade 10, shot a 39, and Ashley Zhong, grade 10, shot a 42. On Friday, the girls team upset their league rival Menlo 228-235 with Lin again shooting a 36. The weekend before, the girls finished in ninth place in the Lone Tree tournament in Antioch, with Lin shooting an 80 to finish in third place. The girls have a tournament on Monday of this week, followed by matches against Castilleja on Thursday and Sacred Heart on Friday.