Harker’s swimmers had an impressive showing at the CCS Finals last week, placing 17th out of 43 teams. Leading the way were Ethan Hu, grade 9, who won the 100 butterfly, breaking the school record and becoming only the sixth Harker athlete to win an individual CCS championship, and Vivian Wang, grade 11, who took second in the 100 breaststroke, also breaking a school record. Both Hu and Wang qualified for the CIF State Championships this weekend in Fresno. Wang is seeded fifth and Hu fourth in their respective events. Hu was also interviewed by the Mercury News: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/05/14/ccs-boys-swimming-bellarmine-redemption-in-farewell/
Other impressive finishes included the boys 200 free relay team of Justin Culpepper, Michael Auld, Jack Farnham, all grade 12, and Hu finishing 13th, and the boys 400 free relay team of Culpepper, Auld, Farnham and Yannick Bohbot-Dridi, grade 11, finishing 11th and breaking the school record.
Boys Golf
The boys golf team won the CCS regional tournament last week, a Harker first. Daulet Tuleubayev, grade 11, was the overall individual winner and Ryan Vaughan, grade 12, took fourth. The Eagles move on to the CCS Finals on Tuesday in Monterey.
Lacrosse
The lacrosse team opened the WBAL Skyline Division playoffs last week with a 13-8 win over visiting Sacred Heart Cathedral. However, the team’s season ended later in the week as it fell to eventual champion Burlingame High 14-3. It was a huge year for the girls, as they ended the season with a 13-7 record.
Boys Tennis
The boys doubles team of Edward Tischler, grade 12, and Ram Vegesna, grade 9, take the court on Tuesday against a duo from Aptos in the first round of the CCS doubles championship.
Track and Field
The Eagles competed at the WBAL Championships last Friday with lots of impressive results:
Niki Iyer, grade 12, finished first in the 3,200-meter and advances to the CCS trials this weekend.
Davis Dunaway, grade 12, finished first in the varsity pole vault with a personal best, qualifying for CCS. He also had a fourth place finish in the varsity long jump, setting a new school record, as well as new personal best in a fourth place 100 finish.
Davis Howard, grade 12, finished third in both the varsity shot put and discus, setting a personal best in the discus.
Grace Koonmen, grade 11, set a new school record while taking third place in the varsity long jump.
Anthony Contreras, grade 11, took third in both the varsity 200 and 400.
The varsity boys 4×100 relay team of Dunaway, Contreras, Angel Cervantes, grade 11, and Mitch Granados, grade 10, took third place.
Marcus Tymous, grade 10, took first in the JV boys 100 and 200, as well as second in the JV boys long jump.
Delaney Logue, grade 9, finished third in the JV girls 800.
Sameer Prakash, grade 9, finished third in the JV boys 100.
Boys Volleyball
The boys volleyball team lost 3-0 to Sobrato in the first round of the CCS playoffs last week. The Eagles finished 14-14 on the season.
Softball
The softball team dropped the final two games of the regular season, narrowly missing out on the playoffs. The Eagles dropped an 18-8 game to Mercy Burlingame before losing a heartbreaker to Pinweood 17-16 in the season finale. The girls finished 11-9 on the season.
Baseball
The baseball team ended its season last week with an 8-4 win over Mills, followed by a 12-2 loss to Menlo. In the win over Mills, juniors Tanay Kamat and Matthew Kennedy each drove in two runs. In the final game of the year, Dominic Cea, grade 11, and Varun Haltore, the lone senior, each drove in a run for the Eagles. The boys finished 13-11 on the season.
This article prepared from a report by Shania Wang, grade 10, vice president of public relations for Harker’s DECA chapter.
Students in Harker’s DECA chapter traveled to Anaheim for the 2017 International Career Development Conference (ICDC) this spring. The conference consisted of tough competitions, inspiring leadership academies and unforgettable memories. Eight teams from Harker DECA ended up in the preliminary finalists round. Six of those eight teams had the opportunity to compete in the finalist round, with three teams placing in the Top 10, one team taking third place and one student taking first place.
Finalists are as follows:
First Place
Evan Cheng, grade 9, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
Third Place
Nishka Ayyar, Riya Gupta, both grade 10, Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making
Top 10 Finalists
Enya Lu, grade 10, Business Finance Series
Shania Wang, grade 10, Public Relations Project
Neelesh Ramachandran, grade 11, Virtual Business Challenge – Accounting
Top 20 Finalists
Haley Tran, grade 12, Restaurant and Food Service Management
Testing – Top 10 Finalists
Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 11, Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series
Mona Lee, grade 11, Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series
Wednesday, some students ran the DECA 5K at Angel Stadium to raise money and awareness for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. That evening, members attended the grand opening session, along with the 19,000 other ICDC attendees. The session included a fashion show presented by the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, an inspiring keynote keynote speaker, and performances from country singer Billy Gilman and band Echosmith.
Three students began their Emerging Leader Series in the Ignite Academy to build their leadership skills, and the next day, the group gave presentations and performed in role plays in the initial round of the competition.
“The atmosphere before our presentation was definitely different than previous conferences. We were sitting among tough competitors, and this definitely stressed us out,” said Katelyn Vo, grade 9, competitor in Fashion Merchandising Plan. “However, my partners and I pulled through, and I think we did really well overall. It was a great experience getting to compete at ICDC.”
After the competitive events and academies concluded, members could visit Disneyland for the rest of the day. Students also had the chance to visit the booths including exhibits by various business colleges and corporations.
Saturday was the last full day of ICDC. In the morning, students and chaperones gathered for the achievement awards session to find out whether they would move on to the final round of competitions taking place that day. In each event, approximately 20 competitors from the more than 200 teams would advance to finals. Top participants for presentations, career cluster exams and overall performers were recognized individually. Harker had an amazing turnout, with eight teams receiving the opportunity to come up on stage for their achievements. A total of six teams qualified to compete in the final round of competitions.
“In terms of competition, Harker DECA had its most successful ICDC thus far, which is really a result of everyone’s hard work over the past year,” said Shreyas Chandrashekaran, grade 11, Harker DECA co-CEO and testing finalist in Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series. “I loved seeing how much these students learned and improved regardless of whether they were finalists or not. Everyone was cheering on and rooting for their fellow students, and there was a real sense of camaraderie among them. We really came together as a group and that really contributed to the overall high energy of the chapter this year,” he said.
Five Harker teams were announced as top 10 finalists. The group roared its approval when Cheng was announced as first place winner in the Principles of Hospitality and Tourism event, and that Ayyar and Gupta received third place in the Business Law and Ethics Team Decision Making event.
“It felt amazing going on stage,” said Gupta. “We didn’t believe it and it was really surreal, but we realized our accomplishment afterwards and my partner and I were really happy. I will truly never forget this moment.”
Wang, a top 10 finalist in Public Relations Project, also was recognized on stage for being a part of the ICDC Anaheim Live Social Media Team. Throughout the conference, she worked with DECA Inc. staff to ensure satisfactory social media coverage on all outlets. As part of the editorial team, Shania also wrote several articles for DECA Direct that will be posted in the upcoming weeks.
After the awards ceremony, Harker DECA celebrated all of their accomplishments throughout the past year with the rest of California DECA at the state dinner. ICDC 2017 definitely was one to remember for attendees.
“ICDC this year was an unforgettable experience for the Harker DECA chapter. We were able to come exceptionally prepared with our strongest competitors and they saw great success!” said Juston Glass, Harker DECA advisor. “My hope is that the positive energy experienced here will carry on into next year and bring our chapter to the next level. Most importantly, students were able strengthen their business acumen, develop professionally and grow in confidence as emerging leaders and entrepreneurs. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for them as they own their future.”
Students attending the State Latin Convention at St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco April 21-22 had a lot of fun at workshops, sports, assemblies and competitions. In addition to dozens of individual awards (listed below, for those who like all the details!) the Harker delegation (middle school and high school combined) had the top individual at four of the seven levels of competition.
At the middle school 2 (MS2) level, Akhilesh Chegu, grade 7, was the individual academic and individual overall champion.
At the middle school 3 (MS3) level, Sara Yen, grade 8, was the individual academic champion, while Anna Vazhaeparambil was individual arts and individual overall champion.
Both middle and upper school placed first in the state (in their respective small delegation categories) due to the effort and enthusiasm of all the delegates.
The middle school delegation took second for Scrapbook and T-Shirt Design. In MS2 certamen, the team of Malar Bala, Akhilesh Chegu, Madelyn Jin, Brandon Park, Ann Ryan and Thresia Vazhaeparambil, all grade 7, took second place, and in MS3 certamen, the all-grade 8 team of Jason Lin, Akshay Manglik, Anna Vazhaeparambil, Maria Vazhaeparambil and Sara Yen placed first.
MS1 awards (Latin 1A/grade 6):
Katelyn Abellera: First in Reading Comprehension I, first in Sight Latin Reading
Rupert Chen: Third in History
Andrew Fu: Third in Mythology
Jacob Huang: First in Vocabulary (tie)
Michelle Jin: Second in History
Sukrit Kalsi: Played on the first place open certamen team
Jeremy Ko: Played on the second place open certamen team
Edward Sun: First in Vocabulary (tie)
Anthony Tong: Third in Grammar 1, third in high school mixed doubles tennis
Trisha Variyar: First in Mottoes, Abbreviations and Quotes, second in Daily Life, second in Sight Latin Reading
MS2 awards (Latin 1B/grade 7):
Akhilesh Chegu: First in Sight Latin Reading, second in Latin Oratory, third in Derivatives, third in Vocabulary
Madelyn Jin: Second in Derivatives
Brandon Park: First in Mythology
Ann Ryan: Second in Dramatic Interpretation (Girls)
Thresia Vazhaeparambil: First in Latin Oratory, third in Daily Life
MS3 awards (Latin 2M/grade 8):
Jason Lin: Second in Mythology, third in Pentathlon, third in Latin Oratory, third in Sight Latin Reading
Akshay Manglik: First in Derivatives, first in Dramatic Interpretation (Boys)
Anna Vazhaeparambil: First in Dramatic Interpretation (Girls), first in Sight Latin Reading, first in Cartoons, first in Greeting Cards, second in Pentathlon, third in Vocabulary
Maria Vazhaeparambil: First in Reading Comprehension II, second in Derivatives, second in Vocabulary, second in Greeting Cards
Sara Yen: First in Grammar II, first in Pentathlon, first in Vocabulary, second in Sight Latin Reading
Members of Harker’s Junior Classical League chapter competed at the California JCL State Convention late last month, taking top spots in several categories. The 20-person team included two middle school students – Arohee Bhoja and George Wehner, both grade 8 – who are enrolled in Latin at the upper school.
Harker placed second in two certamen (quiz bowl) competitions and had many stellar individual performances.
The breakdown of top three finishes by Harker students is as follows:
Venkat Sankar, grade 12 – First place: 6; second place: 1
Arohee Bhoja, grade 8 – First place: 4; second place: 2; third place: 3
Nikhil Dharmaraj, grade 10 – First place: 2; second place: 2
Kyle Li, grade 9 – First place: 1; second place: 1; third place: 1
Bryan Wang, grade 9 – First place: 1
Edgar Lin, grade 11 – First place: 1; second place: 2
Andrew Semenza, grade 11 – First place: 1; second place: 3; third place: 1
Jai Bahri, grade 9 – Second place: 1
Jeffrey Fung, grade 9 – Second place: 3; third place: 1
Jack Hansen, grade 9 – Second place: 1
Montek Kalsi, grade 9 – Second place: 1
George Wehner, grade 8 – Second place: 2
Robert Bloomquist, grade 10 – Second place: 2
Sara Min, grade 10 – Second place: 1
Arnav Tandon, grade 12 – Second place: 1; third place: 1
Last week, middle school tinkerers enjoyed a variety of creative activities at a special Mini-Maker Faire organized by middle school learning, innovation and design director Scott Kley-Contini. Harker students designed the activities, which emphasized creativity and ingenuity. The “Airplane Miniature Golf” station, designed by sixth graders Dominick Piscione and Sam Jonker, challenged students to make their own paper airplanes and fly them through six holes, while keeping score on their efforts.
Students also worked on an activity – developed by Andrew Fox, grade 6, with help from Aydin Tiritoglu, grade 8 – involving the creation of simple LED circuits using switches and resistors.
Tanay Sharma, grade 6, and George Wehner, grade 8, developed a special Minecraft coding station where students could use their laptops to tackle coding challenges in the popular computer game.
At the Augmented Reality Gallery, created by Kley-Contini and Harper Brada, grade 6, students used cell phones and tablets to interact with student-made augmented reality content, created using an app called Aurasma.
The Harker Girls Summer Lacrosse Camp, a new offering in this year’s summer program, promises to be a great opportunity for girls to learn and fine-tune their skills in this increasingly popular sport.
This camp is designed for a wide range of experience levels, from beginner to advanced. It will focus on helping players build confidence, improve their lacrosse knowledge, develop key skills and instill solid field strategy. Skills that will be stressed include footwork, stickwork, shooting, dodging, teamwork and defensive concepts. Small-sided games will be played to demonstrate and practice these skills and for just plain fun!
Harker girls lacrosse head coach Alyssa Dunlap will act as instructor along with other coaches and players with division I collegiate backgrounds. Dunlap’s credentials reach as far back as her time in high school, where she was instrumental in helping her team win three consecutive Pennsylvania State Championships and was twice named High School All-American. While at Vanderbilt University, she was selected for the All-West Region team by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association and named to the All-American Lacrosse Conference first team. Prior to joining Harker, Dunlap coached at Stanford University and the Treelax Lacrosse Club.
The Harker Girls Summer Lacrosse Camp is being offered in two sessions, each for different grade levels. The first session, for grades 6-12, will run July 17-20, and the second session, for grades 3-5, will run July 31-Aug. 3. This camp will be held at The Harker School’s upper campus.
For more info and register for this camp and other summer offerings, please visit the Harker Summer website.
Maverick McNealy ’13 was named one of three finalists for The Ben Hogan Award, given annually to the top men’s college golfer. Colonial Country Club, Friends of Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America take into account all collegiate and amateur competitions over the last year when selecting the finalists. McNealy joins Bill Haas of Wake Forest as the only three-time finalist for this award. The winner “will receive the first exemption into the PGA Tour’s 2018 Dean & DeLuca Invitational, as well as earn a $30,000 grant for its [college’s] men’s golf scholarship program,” according to thebenhoganaward.org.
This is the sixth time a Stanford golfer has made it to the final three for this award, of which only one Cardinal golfer has won.
Among his many accolades, McNealy is currently No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and was recently named the winner of the 2017 Byron Nelson Award.
Ashvin Swaminathan ’13 was recently awarded Harvard’s David Mumford Undergraduate Mathematics Prize, which is given to the “most promising” outstanding seniors who have chosen mathematics as a concentration, according to the Harvard University website. Swaminathan will graduate from Harvard this month with degrees in mathematics and physics. Last month he was awarded a Soros Fellowship for New Americans, earning additional funding for his graduate studies in mathematics, which he plans to begin in the fall at Princeton.
Congratulations to Remi Edvalson, grade 8, who was recently chosen for USA Diving’s 2017 Junior National Squad. Edvalson was one of only 30 divers nationwide – and one of just three Californians – invited to be a part of this prestigious group. “The program is aimed at providing these athletes the resources needed to help them continue to progress in their training, with the ultimate goal of developing into future senior national team members and potential Olympic team members,” according to teamusa.org.
The boys tennis team defeated Prospect 7-0 in the opening round of CCS last week, but it ran into undefeated St. Ignatius in the second round and was defeated 6-1, ending a historic season that saw it tally 19 wins. Congrats on a great year as a team! The doubles team of Ed Tischler, grade 12, and Ram Vegesna, grade 9, is still competing as they take on a duo from Aptos in the first round of CCS doubles on May 16.
Boys Golf
The boys golf team continued its amazing play as it won the WBAL Tournamnet last week, with Daulet Tuleubayev, grade 11, winning the overall individual title and Jin Kim, grade 11, taking second. This week, the Eagles head to Laguna Seca for the CCS Regional Tournament.
Softball
The softball team brought its record to 11-7 after going 1-1 last week. In an 8-7 win over The King’s Academy, Marti Sutton, grade 12, had two hits and drove in three runs. Later in the week, the Eagles ran into a strong Notre Dame Belmont team and were defeated 10-1. Joyce Li, grade 12, drove in the only run for Harker. This week, the girls travel to Mercy Burlingame on Tuesday and Pinewood on Thursday with a CCS berth on the line.
Lacrosse
Last week, the lacrosse team picked up its seventh and eighth straight victories with an 18-14 win over Mercy Burlingame and a 15-6 win over Notre Dame San Jose. The girls finished fourth in league and will host their first round WBAL-Skyline Division playoff game against Sacred Heart Cathedral on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Swim
The WBAL swim finals were held over the weekend with some good Harker results. Two Eagles became league champs as Vivian Wang, grade 11, won both the 50 free and 100 fly, and Ethan Hu, grade 9, started his high school career with a 200 IM league championship. Hu also set a new school record in the 100 back, finishing second. Other top finishers included Michael Auld, grade 12, who took second in the 200 free; Alex Yu, grade 10, who finished second in the 500 free; and Justin Culpepper, grade 12, who finished third in the 100 fly. In addition, the boys 200 medley relay team of Kevin Tzeng, grade 11, Arnav Joshi, grade 9, Alex Wang, grade 11, and Yu finished second; the boys 400 free relay team of Yannick Bohbot-Dridi, grade 11, Hu, Auld and Yu finished third; and the boys 200 free relay team of Bohbot-Dridi, Culpepper, Auld and Hu finished second. CCS trials begin this Friday with the following Harker swimmers vying for a championship: Vivian Wang, grade 11, Angela Li, grade 10, Taylor Kohlmann, grade 11, Alyssa Huang, grade 9, Clarrisa Wang, grade 10, Alicia Xu, grade 9 (alternate), Ethan Hu, grade 9, Michael Auld, grade 12, Alex Yu, grade 10, Justin Culpepper, grade 12, Yannick Bohbot-Dridi, grade 11, Jack Farnham, grade 12, Kevin Tzeng, grade 11, and Alex Wang grade 11 (alternate).
Track an Field
This Friday is the WBAL track and field finals at Palo Alto and the Eagles will be well represented. Anthony Contreras, grade 11, will run in the 200 and 400 after finishing second in both events at the trials; Angel Cervantes, grade 11, set personal bests in the 100 and 200 and will race in both events in the league finals; Grace Koonmen, grade 11, will compete for a league long jump title; and Davis Dunaway, grade 12, will sprint in the 100 league finals. In the JV finals, Kismet Singh, Nikki Solanki and Zoey Rosa, all grade 9, and Lilly Anderson, grade 10, all qualified for the 100 hurdles, and Delaney Logue, grade 9, will run in the 800.
Boys Volleyball
The boys volleyball team lost 3-0 to Monta Vista last week, but still qualified for CCS. The boys open up the first round of the tournament at Sobrato on Tuesday night.
Baseball
The baseball team pushed its record over .500 to 12-10 as it picked up three wins last week. In a 14-9 victory over Trinity Christian, Matthew Kennedy, grade 11, led the offense driving in three runs. Later in the week, the Eagles defeated Jefferson 8-2 with Kennedy and Zach Hoffman, grade 10, each driving in two runs. Finally, the boys picked up a 7-4 win over Jefferson with Mitchell Kole, grade 11, picking up two hits and three RBIs. The Eagles finish their regular season this week with trips to Mills on Monday and Menlo on Thursday.