This past winter was amazing, with many league and tournament championships – and a whole lot of fun! We started off in early winter with boys basketball and girls soccer and finished in late winter with girls basketball and boys soccer.
Please see the accomplishments of all of our lower and middle school winter sports teams below:
EARLY WINTER
VA (Grades 7-8) Boys Basketball – The Varsity A team, coached by Ed LeGrand Sawyer, finished in fifth place in the WBAL with a record of 1-5 and went 4-5 overall. Team awards went to Matthew Chen, grade 7 (MVP), Alex Zhang, grade 8 (Eagle) and Ayan Nath, grade 8 (Coaches).
VB (Grades 7-8) Boys Basketball – The Varsity B team, coached by Richard Amarillas, finished in first place (Tri-League Champs) in the WBAL with a 6-1 record and went 6-2 overall. Team awards went to Sasvath Ramachandran, grade 8 (MVP), Zeke Weng, grade 7 (Eagle) and Kaden Kapadia, grade 8 (Coaches).
VB2 (Grades 7-8) Boys Basketball – The Varsity B2 team, coached by Jon Cvitanich, finished in sixth place in the WBAL with a 2-5 record. Team awards went to Akhilesh Chegu, grade 8 (MVP), Michael Pflaging, grade 7 (Eagle) and Saurav Tewari, grade 8 (Coaches).
JVA (Grade 6) Boys Basketball – The Junior Varsity A team, coached by Mike Delfino, finished in fifth place in the WBAL with a 2-4 record and an overall record of 3-5. Team awards went to Om Tandon (MVP), Zachary Blue (Eagle) and Toju Maku (Coaches).
JVB6 (Grade 6) Boys Basketball – The Junior Varsity B6 team, coached by Matt Arensberg, finished in first place in the WBAL with a 6-1 record. Team awards went to Jack Shen and Kyle Leung (MVP), Jordan Labio (Eagle) and Ariav Misra (Coaches).
MS Intramural Boys Basketball – Team awards went to Zain Vakath, grade 7 (MVP), Ramit Goyal, grade 6 (Eagle) and Christopher Tonev, grade 7 (Coaches). The team was coached by Raul Rios and Adam Albers.
JVB1 (Grade 5) Boys Basketball – The Junior Varsity B1 team, coached by Kristian Tiopo, finished undefeated in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record and took first place in the WBAL tournament finishing with a 10-0 record overall. Team awards went to Gary Jin (MVP), Drew Diffenderfer (Eagle) and Advay Monga (Coaches).
JVB2 (Grade 5) Boys Basketball – The Junior Varsity B2 team, coached by Tim Hopkins, finished in eighth place in the WBAL with a 2-4-1 record. Team awards went to Rahul Yalla (MVP), Edward Hunter (Eagle) and Max Zhai (Coaches).
JVC (Grade 4) Boys Basketball – The Junior Varsity C team, coached by Karriem Stinson, finished undefeated in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record. Team awards went to Brennan Williams (MVP), and Topaz Lee and Rishaan Thoppay (Eagle).
LS Intramural Boys Basketball – Team awards went to Vedant Yadav, grade 5, and Jackson Powell, grade 4 (MVP), Keshav Kotamraju, grade 5, and Sriram Batchu, grade 4 (Eagle), and Anderson Chung, grade 5, and Veeraz Thakkar, grade 4 (Coaches). The team was coached by Tobias Wade.
VA (Grades 7-8) Girls Soccer – The Varsity A team, coached by Brighid Wood, Sara Pawloski and Hannah Grannis, grade 9, finished in eighth place in the WBAL with a record of 1-4-2. Team awards went to Kalyn Su, grade 8 (MVP), Alexandra Wong, grade 7 (Eagle) and Ashley Barth, grade 8 (Coaches).
JVA (Grade 6) Girls Soccer – The Junior Varsity A team, coached by Brittney Moseley and Vanessa Rios, finished in sixth place in the WBAL with a record of 0-5-1. Team awards went to Kate Grannis (MVP), Anya Chauhan (Eagle), and Margaret Cartee and Claire Luo (Coaches).
JVB (Grades 4-5) Girls Soccer – The Junior Varsity B team, coached by Justin Sullivan, finished in second place in the WBAL with a record of 3-1-2. Team awards went to Claire Anderson (MVP), MacEnzie Blue, grade 4 (Eagle) and Kylie Anderson (Coaches).
LATE WINTER
VA (Grades 7-8) Girls Basketball – The Varsity A team, coached by Richard Amarillas, finished undefeated in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record and an overall record of 7-1. Team awards went to Maya Hernandez, grade 7, and Haley Hernandez, grade 7 (co-MVPs), Gigi Chan, grade 8 (Eagle), and Ashley Barth, grade 8, and Priya Rohra, grade 8 (Coaches).
VB (Grades 7-8) Girls Basketball – The Varsity B team, coached by Tim Hopkins and Brittney Moseley, finished undefeated in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record and took first place in the WBAL tournament finishing 9-0 overall. Team awards went to Athena Wu, grade 7 (MVP), Angela Jia, grade 8 (Eagle) and Avery Olson, grade 7 (Coaches).
JVA (Grade 6) Girls Basketball – The Junior Varsity A team, coached by Jon Cvitanich and Vanessa Rios, finished in fourth place in the WBAL with a 5-3 record and went 5-5 overall. Team awards went to Anjali Yella (MVP), Kate Grannis (Eagle) and Margaret Cartee (Coaches).
MS Intramural girls basketball – Team awards went to Alice Tao, grade 6 (MVP), Serena Janny, grade 6 (Eagle) and Brindha Chandran, grade 6 (Coaches). The team was coached by Raul Rios and Adam Albers.
JVB (Grade 5) Girls Basketball – The Junior Varsity B1 team, coached by Karriem Stinson, finished undefeated in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record and took 1st place in the WBAL tournament finishing 10-0 overall. Team awards went to Isabella Lo (MVP), Claire Anderson (Eagle) and Kylie Anderson (Coaches).
JVC (Grade 4) Girls Basketball – The Junior Varsity C team, coached by Kristian Tiopo and Belle Carley, finished undefeated in first place in the WBAL with a 6-0 record. Team awards went to Minal Jalil (MVP), Elie Ahluwalia (Eagle) and Tanvi Sivakumar (Coaches).
LS Intramural Girls Basketball – Team awards went to Menaka Aron, grade 5, and Arushi Sahasi, grade 4 (Co-MVP) and Hannah Streeper, grade 5 (Coaches). The team was coached by Tobias Wade.
VA (Grade 8) Boys Soccer – The Varsity A team, coached by Brighid Wood, Adyant Kanakamedala and Deven Parikh, finished in second place in the WBAL with a record of 3-1-1, and an overall record of 6-1-1. Team awards went to Ishaan Mantripragada (MVP), Raj Patel (Eagle) and Sasvath Ramachandran (Coaches).
VB (Grade 7) Boys Soccer – The Varsity B team, coached by Brighid Wood, Adyant Kanakamedala, grade 12, and Deven Parikh, grade 9, finished in second place in the WBAL with a league record of 4-2-1. Team awards went to Ben Tian and Michael Pflaging (co-MVPs), Pranav Mullappalli (Eagle) and Rupert Chen (Coaches).
JVA (Grade 6) Boys Soccer – The Junior Varsity A team, coached by Colleen Campbell, finished in third place in the WBAL with a record of 2-4 and an overall record of 2-5. Team awards went to Alexander Guo (MVP), Ryan Barth (Eagle) and Ramit Goyal (Coaches).
JVB (Grade 5) Boys Soccer – The Junior Varsity B team, coached by Matt Arensberg, finished in second place in the WBAL with a record of 3-2-1. Team awards went to Alec Zhang (MVP), Advay Monga (Eagle), and Veer Sahasi and Vyom Vidyarthi (Coaches).
LS Intramural Boys Soccer – Team awards went to Ryder Hewitt, grade 4 (MVP), Cyrus Ghane, grade 4 (Eagle) and Kaan Kurtoglu, grade 4 (Coaches). The team was coached by Walid Fahmy.
Harker Preschool’s Clover Cottage celebrated today by wearing green, talking about things they love to do in their cottage, beading green necklaces, eating green cookies, dancing to Irish jig music, face painting and more. Additionally, the group enjoyed a special visit from a Clover family who shared a “green” activity. The students learned how vegetables and flowers start as seeds, grow roots and develop from there. After exploring carrots, radishes, green onions and lettuce, the children got the opportunity to do some planting of their own. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Earlier this week, several Harker students were named national medalists in the 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Jacqueline He, grade 12, earned a gold medal for “Mollusk Threnody,” her entry in the poetry category. Junior Annabelle Perng was awarded a silver medal for her flash fiction piece, “Name Tag,” and Katherine Zhang, also grade 11, received a silver medal in the journalism category for her article, titled “Trump’s Proposed Budget Cuts Throw the Future of Research into Question.”
At the middle school level, eighth grader Michelle Liu was awarded two gold medals for her submissions in the drawing and illustration category, “The Feast of Harvest” and “Leisure Time.”
As national medalists, these students are invited to attend the national events this summer in New York City. Gold medalists are invited to the national ceremony at Carnegie Hall.
Congratulations to these students for receiving this remarkable recognition!
It was a very successful winter season for Harker athletics and the accolades continued with the announcement of the All-League teams.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team won its first league title in school history and was awarded with the No.2 seed in the CCS playoffs. Jared Anderson, grade 11, was named WBAL Forward of the Year and Rohit Shah, grade 12, was named Midfielder of the Year. In addition, Nick Acero-Blyshak, Sharad Chandra, Mason Menaker and Vedant Shah, all grade 12, were first team selections. Shaya Zarkesh, grade 12, and Andrew Cheplyansky, grade 10, were named to the second team, with Asmit Kumar, grade 10, and Edwin Su, grade 11, receiving an honorable mention.
Girls Soccer
The girls soccer team finished with a 9-7-1 record and third place league finish. Julia Amick, grade 11, and Stephanie Scaglia, grade 12, were both named to the first team, with Krishna Bheda and Aislinn Coveney, both grade 12, named to the second team. Cameron Zell and Ria Gupta, both grade 11, received honorable mentions.
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team made some noise in the CCS playoffs, winning two games and making it to the quarterfinals. Eric Jeong, grade 12, and Jarrett Anderson, grade 11, received honorable mentions in a tough WBAL league.
Girls Basketball
The girls basketball team entered CCS as the No. 10 seed, but was defeated in the first round. Akhila Ramgiri, grade 11, was a first team selection and Satchi Thockchom, grade 12, received an honorable mention.
Wrestling
Eric Fang, grade 10, was the sole Harker representative at CCS and was named to the All-League roster.
Today, schools across the country organized walkouts to remember the 14 students and three staff members killed in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
At the upper school, students, faculty and staff wore black in remembrance of the victims. A morning vigil was held at the athletic center’s Zhang Gymnasium to honor each of the 17 victims. One by one, students and faculty stood before the assembly to read prepared statements about each of the students and staff who lost their lives in the incident, fondly recalling the qualities that made them such treasured people in their communities. Once all the statements were read, candles were lit to commemorate the enduring memories of those killed, as The Harker String Quartet performed a solemn, heartfelt tribute. As students exited the athletic center, they used special stations set up to contact their local representatives to urge them to address gun violence.
Middle school faculty organized several activities for students to remember the Parkland victims and show their support for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas community, such as creating cards and a large poster with supportive messages that will later be sent to the school. In the library, students watched interviews with MSD students and wrote down their reactions. The middle school community also began the creation of an “empathy chain” to show their support for the families and communities affected by the tragedy.
At the US National Junior Chess Congress in San Jose this past weekend, lower school chess competitors Vyom Vidyarthi, grade 5, and Omya Vidyarthi, grade 2, turned in impressive performances in their respective age groups. Though he qualified to compete in the “under 10” section, Vyom instead opted to compete in the “under 20” group, and took first place by winning all five games in the group, in addition to winning the blitz and tactics problem side events!
Meanwhile, Omya took first place in the “under 8” section, her second tournament win in as many weekends after her victory in the 5-7 age group at the Cal Chess Girls State Championship in Berkeley on March 3. Omya is currently the top-ranked player among girls her age group in the US Chess Federation, and is ranked third overall among players ages 7 and under.
100 Mile Meals – a company that helps those who grow, prepare and deliver food reach a wider audience – has created a video about Harker’s great kitchens! The 100 Mile Meals show airs on YouTube, Roku, the company’s website and some Comcast channels. The company also has a PBS version of its show, which airs on 138 stations in 31 states, reaching 17.5 million homes. The production was spurred by one of Harker’s food suppliers to help showcase its products, but the video is all about why Harker food is legendary! Check it out!
This past weekend, Harker’s Bel Canto and Cantilena choral ensembles garnered unanimous superior ratings at the California Music Educators Association (CMEA) Choral Festival, held at Saratoga High School.
Judges commended Bel Canto, Harker’s non-auditioned mixed voice choir, for its very mature and full sound, clean intonation, balance between sections and challenging repertoire. One of the judges was amazed to discover that the ensemble comprises mostly high school freshmen and sophomores.
Judges praised Cantilena, Harker’s treble ensemble, for its outstanding cohesiveness; superlative tone quality, balance, precision and technical facility; highly developed listening and adjusting skills; mature, expressive, dynamic and consistent shaping of musical phrases; and ability to explore a broad stylistic spectrum. “This is a great example of what a women’s choir can sound like,” commented judge Gail Bowers. “Hopefully, you will have the opportunity in college to sing in a group as good as this one.”
Comments from adult audience members, who approached the groups after their performances, included “spectacular performance” and “I’m very impressed by Harker’s choral program.”
The unanimous superior designation, given by four judges, means the choirs not only gave outstanding performances but also demonstrated outstanding music sight reading skills. This designation, if followed by two more in succeeding years, can result in a coveted showcase performance at regional and national choral conventions.
Bel Canto, under the direction of Jennifer Sandusky, sang Hans Leo’s “Hassler’s Cantate Domino” (1601), Emma Lou Diemer’s “Take, O Take Those Lips Away” from “Three Madrigals “(1962) and Stephen Leek’s “Morning Tide” from “Island Songs” (1994).
Cantilena, under the direction of Susan Nace, sang, Caterina Assandra’s “Duo Seraphim” (1609), Clara Schumann’s “Liebst du um Schönheit” (1841), and Abbie Betinis’ “Jerusalem Luminosa” (2006).
Over the weekend, the track and field team competed at The King’s Academy Track Classic and broke four school records. The boys distance medley relay team of Henry Wong, grade 11, Anthony Contreras, grade 12, Alex Rule, grade 11, and Ryan Adolf, grade 11, broke the previous 4,000-meter distance relay record by 50 seconds. Nikki Solanki, grade 10, set new sophomore school records in the 100 and 200, with both times ranking No. 3 on the all-time list. Giovanni Rofa, grade 10, set a sophomore long jump school record with his 17′ 10″ jump; the previous record holder, Davis Dunaway ’17, who was home on break from Carnegie Mellon, assisted him. Anna Weirich, grade 9, ran the third best all-time 1,600 with her 5:25 run, then came back five hours later and ran a 5:21 on a relay. Next up for the Eagles is the first WBAL event of the year at Bellarmine on Wednesday, followed by the St. Francis Invitational on Saturday.
Boys Volleyball
The boys volleyball team continued its hot start to the season as it defeated Los Gatos and Oak Grove last week, each 3-0. This week, the 6-1 boys team travels to Monta Vista on Wednesday and Lynbrook on Friday.
Softball
The softball team lost two tough games last week. In a 12-13 loss to Notre Dame San Jose, the Eagles gave up seven runs in the final inning to take the loss. In the game, Molly Mobley, grade 9, and Cameron Zell, grade 11, each had an impressive four hits and two RBIs; Anika Rajamani, grade 11, had three hits and two RBIs; and Taylor Lam, grade 11, had four hits, including a home run. Later in the week, the girls fell to Fremont 6-9. Mobley had two more hits and two more RBIs, and Zell added three hits and an RBI. This week, the Eagles host Mercy Burlingame on Tuesday and Gunderson on Friday.
Boys Tennis
The boys tennis team was on fire last week as it defeated Nueva, Priory and Aptos, each 7-0, before running into a Menlo roadblock and falling 1-6. This week, the Eagles take on Pinewood, Carlmont and The King’s Academy on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Lacrosse
Last week, the lacrosse team picked up the 9-5 win over Salinas to open its 2018 season. This week, the girls host Woodside on Tuesday and Stevenson on Thursday.
Baseball
The baseball team lost a tough one to Independence High 2-7 in extra innings last week. Dominic Cea, grade 12, threw 7.1 innings of three-hit, 10-strikeout ballgame. This week, the Eagles travel to Jefferson High on Thursday.
Swim
The swim team competed at the Small School invitational over the weekend with amazing results:
The Eagles host the first WBAL jamboree on March 21.
Boys Golf
The boys golf team picked up a 227-204 victory over Crystal Springs Uplands last week with Daulet Tuleubayev, grade 12, leading the way shooting a 36. Then, over the weekend, the boys traveled to Nevada to compete in the Pahrump Valley Invitational and finished fourth out of 18 teams. Jin Kim, grade 12, and Jaimin Bhagat, grade 10, were the top Eagle golfers, tying for 19th place. This week, the Eagles take on The King’s Academy on Monday.
Members of Harker’s middle school speech and debate team competed at four tournaments in February in California and Nevada. As always, our students primarily compete against high school students.
At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, from Feb. 3-5, 90 schools across 17 states representing 313 entries competed in debate events. Five Harker middle school students competed. In novice Lincoln-Douglas speaker awards, Arjun Krishna, grade 6, came in ninth.
At Stanford University from Feb. 10-12, 270 schools across 27 states representing 2,262 entries competed in speech and debate events. Twenty-five Harker students competed. In junior varsity impromptu speaking, Arely Sun and Madeleine Hansen, both grade 8, were quarterfinalists and finished 20th and 26th, respectively. In JV public forum, Vienna Parnell and Alivia Li, both grade 8, were triple-octofinalists, finishing 33rd; in varsity Lincoln-Douglas, Anshul Reddy and Akhilesh Chegu, both grade 8, were triple-octofinalists, also finishing 33rd.
In Harker’s fourth intramural contest of the year, in early February, about 50 Harker students competed in four distinct events. In speech (memorized interpretive events) Hansen was first and Zubin Khera, grade 7, was second. In public forum, Carol Wininger and Deeya Viradia, both grade 7, took first. Public forum speaker awardees were Krishna Mysoor, grade 6, first place; Ansh Sheth, grade 6, second; Karan Kathuria, grade 6, third; Muzzi Khan, grade 7, fourth; and Stephen Xia, grade 7, fifth. In Lincoln-Douglas, Rahul Mulpuri, grade 7, earned first place.
Sixth graders had their own events. In the intro category, Om Tandon came in first, Angelina Zhu placed second, Bryan Xiao was third and Ramit Goyal was fourth. In intro speaker awards, Goyal was first, Tandon was second and Zhu was third.
At the University of California, Berkeley, from Feb. 17-19, 180 schools across 17 states representing 2,193 entries competed in speech and debate events. This is the most competitive tournament Harker attends during the year, based on entry numbers and skill level. About 90 Harker middle school students competed. In varsity expository speaking Michelle Jin, grade 7, was a quarterfinalist, finishing 24th. In varsity impromptu speaking, Jin was a quarterfinalist, finishing 21st. In JV Lincoln-Douglas speaker awards, Alex Lan, grade 7, came in 17th.
In JV public forum, Carol Wininger and Deeya Viradia earned 36th; Vienna Parnell and Ysabel Chen, both grade 8, were 41st; and Chloe Lee and Kaitlyn Wang, both grade 6, were 45th. All three teams had 4-2 records. In JV public forum speaker awards, Dhruv Saoji, grade 8, was seventh and Aaditya Gulati, grade 8, was 21st. In varsity Lincoln-Douglas, Anshul Reddy, grade 8, was a triple-octofinalist, finishing 33rd.