League Play Has Begun and the Eagles Rack Up Victories Around the Area
Middle School
Girls Softball
Harker 7 – Menlo 0! Our dynamic duo of Meghan Robertson and Anika Rajamani, both grade 6, played a great game Sept. 18 against Menlo. Robertson pitched and brings great control and speed to the team; Rajamani is the catcher and is like a wall behind the plate, said Raul Rios, coach. “We had great defensive plays by Marti Sutton, grade 8, Taylor Lam, grade 6, and Grace Park, grade 8. We have a very young but strong team this year; if they stay together and keep playing they are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming years.” The team is now 2-0.
Upper School
Varsity Football
Varsity football now stands at 2-1, having won Sept. 7 and lost Sept. 14. First, the gridiron guys took down Andrew Hill High School 23-16. One highlight was senior Deniz Celik’s 32-yard field goal which, coupled with quarterback senior Spenser Quash’s pair of second-half touchdown passes kept Harker in the lead to help survive a late Andrew Hill drive. Trailing 16-11 in the third quarter, Quash connected with Adarsh Battu, grade 11, on a 10-yard score to put the Eagles ahead 17-16. Another TD pass, on a screen to Ryan Mui, grade 12, provided insurance and Harker needed every bit of it. The game ended with Hill inside the Harker five-yard line, so a bit closer than desired!
The following week, Sept 14. against San Jose High School, with the score 8-8 late in the fourth quarter, SJHS’ Bulldogs drove the ball 60 yards and kicked a field goal with only seconds remaining to seal the 11-8 victory. Robert Deng, grade 12, scored a one-yard touchdown pass from Quash and Keanu Forbes, grade 10, scored the two-point conversion for the Eagles. The 2-1 Eagles are away at Mills High School Saturday afternoon this week.
Girls Tennis
Girls tennis didn’t lose a set in the Sept. 6 7-0 rout of Fremont, played on Fremont’s home courts. Sophomore Arden Hu, playing #4 singles, had the closest match, and was pushed to a first set tiebreaker before prevailing 7-6, 6-0, making the team 2-0. Then, over the weekend, varsity girls had an excellent performance at the Santa Catalina tournament, winning second place out of 16 teams. The standings were very close, with the team just one win away from tying for first place.
Daria Karakoulka, grade 12, was the #3 singles champion and did not drop a single set throughout the tournament. Number 2 doubles team Chau Nguyen, grade 12, and Izzy Gross, grade 9, won first place and remain undefeated this season with six wins. Katia Mironova, grade 11, was a finalist at #4 singles, and Indica Sur, grade 12, and Ariana Shulman, grade 11, were finalists at #3 doubles. Jenny Chen, grade 12, reached the semifinals at #1 singles, and #1 doubles team Sylvie Dobrota, grade 12, and Hu made it to the quarterfinals. Adding to the team’s total, Sahithya Prakash, grade 11, also reached consolation finals at #2 singles. The girls open league play next week.
Girls Volleyball
Girls volleyball lost to a strong Homestead High team Sept. 12, but rebounded against Fremont two days later in a three-game sweep. Shreya Dixit, grade 10, led the team with 12 kills to make the team 2-1. Sept. 13, the team defeated Saratoga High three games to one to improve to 3-1 on the season. Divya Kalidindi, grade 11, and Dixit had 11 kills each. Sept. 17 the girls hosted Immaculate Conception Academy. They face Pinewood High School tonight so come on out and cheer!
Boys Water Polo
Varsity lost the first game of the Wilcox Tournament Sept. 8-9 against Pioneer, but had solid victories over Willow Glen and Santa Clara 18-10 and 15-10, respectively. Karan Das-Grande, grade 12, scored 11 goals over the three games; Ryan Hume, grade 12, got 10; Eric Holt, grade 10, and Gilad Nilo, grade 12, had six each; Stephan Pellissier, grade 11, had four; and Albert Chu, grade 11, put one in.
The boys went on to a solid 8-6 victory over Fremont Sept. 13 to improve to 5-3 on the season. Hume had three goals, Holt added two. Sean Pan, grade 11, was stellar in goal. On Sept. 18, the boys beat Santa Clara High School 18-11 and they host Wilcox High Thurs., Sept. 20.
Girls Water Polo
Girls water polo opened the season last week with a pair of victories over league opponents. On Sept 11, they defeated Saratoga 9-7; and two days later they worked over Fremont 8-5. Senior Keri Clifford, grade 12, led the way with eight goals over the two games. Sierra Lincoln, grade 12, had 13 saves in goal against Saratoga. The girls then went 2-2 in the Wilcox Lady Chargers seventh annual Girls Varsity Water Polo Tournament over the weekend. In that tournament, Clifford had eight goals in three games, and freshman Helena Dworak had seven saves in a very close loss to Lynbrook.
Scores
Harker-7, SCHS-10, with goals by Anushka Das, grade 10; Clifford, Daphne Millard, grade 12; Anna Levine, grade 12 ( three); and Sonia Sidhu. Eight blocks by Lincoln.
Harker-5, Fremont-2 with goals by Clifford (two), Yanovsky and Levine (two); Lincoln, five blocks.
Harker-8, Lynbrook-10, with goals by Clifford (five), Levine (two) and Sidhu; seven blocks by Helena Dworak, grade 9.
Harker-5, Saratoga-0: Saratoga forfeit.
On Sept. 18, the girls beat Santa Clara High School 8-7 and they face Mountain View High School Thurs., Sept. 20.
Girls Golf
Girls golf lost to Notre Dame-Belmont Sept. 7 at Los Lagos in a non-league matchup 240-231. Kristine Lin, grade 11, led all golfers with a 38. They beat Menlo School Sept. 17 221-232 and Lin earned medalist honors, shooting four over par 38. Senior Jessica Son’s timely career best 42 helped the team notch this very important win. Also contributing her personal best was junior Connie Li with a 50. Freshman Daphne Liang debuted with a steady 47 while senior Patricia Huang shot a 44. Late breaking news: Triumph over Sacred Heart Prep Sept. 18, in a close one, 223-227.
Cross Country
Cross country competed at Toro Park in Salinas Sept. 15, and sophomore Corey Gonzales placed 17th in the varsity boys race. His time of 17:07 is a personal best by 30 seconds on the Toro course; the time is second on the all-time Harker list, and also sets a sophomore school record, breaking the old one by two minutes. Freshman Mary Najibi placed ninth in the frosh-soph race, leading her team to a fourth place finish. Najibi’s time of 22:49 is the third all-time freshman time. Another freshman, Connor O’Neill, ran a 19:55, which is the second fastest freshman time in Harker history.
Alumni Sports
Stanford sports reports adding Gautam Krishnamurthi ’11 to the football squad as a wide receiver. Best of luck!