Swim The swim team took on The King’s Academy in the last dual meet of the season last week. Highlights included:
The JV girls, varsity girls and varsity boys won their 200 medley relays. In the 200 free relay, the JV and varsity girls took second and the varsity boys took first.
Alyssa Huang, grade 10, and Katie Li, grade 10, went 1-2 in the 200 free and Alex Yu, grade 12, won his 200 race.
Nikela Hulton and Ysabel Chen, both grade 9, went 2-3 in the 200 IM.
Sinaya Joshi, grade 9, set a personal record (PR) and took first in the 50 free.
Ethan Hu, grade 11, Rhys Edwards (PR), grade 10, and Matthew Chung, grade 10, went 1-2-3 in the 50 free.
Nikela Hulton and Sinaya Joshi went 1-3 in the 100 fly. Arnav Joshi (PR), grade 11, took first in the 10 fly as well.
JV and varsity 100 free was dominated by Harker swimmers: first Elizabeth Fields (PR), grade 10; first Jay Thilking (PR), grade 9; second Nicky Kriplani, grade 10; first Ysabel Chen; first Cassandra Ruedy (PR), grade 11; and second Andrew Lu, grade 10.
Harker went 1-2-3 in the 500 free with Matthew Chung, Alex Yu and Andew Chang (PR), grade 10.
Jay Thilking (PR) was first in the 50 back.
Arnav Joshi, grade 11, took first in the 100 back.
Andrew Chang (PR) took first in the 50 breast.
Baseball Last week, the baseball team split a two-game series with South San Francisco. Early in the week, the Eagles lost a tough 10-11 matchup with the Warriors, with Mark Hu, grade 9, driving in three runs. Later in the week, Harker got its revenge with an 11-8 win over SSF, this time with Max Lee, grade 11, and Nick Coulter, grade 10, each driving in three runs. This week, the Eagles travel to Terra Nova on Tuesday, Westmoor on Thursday and Harbor on Saturday.
Softball The softball team won both of its games last week against league opponents. First, the Eagles defeated Notre Dame San Jose 13-5 with Cameron Zell, grade 12, exploding for four hits and five RBIs. Later in the week, the Eagles took down El Camino 14-11, this time led by Natasha Yen, grade 10, who drove in three runs on four hits. This week, the girls host Gunn on Monday before traveling to Menlo Atherton Tuesday and Palo Alto on Thursday.
Track and Field Freshmen Alexa Lowe and Andrew Chen each had outstanding performances in their 100-meter and long jump events on Saturday. Both set personal bests in their long jumps. Frosh Brittany Shou threw a lifetime best in the discus, improving by four feet to 64’7″. Zoey Rosa, grade 11, ran both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, in which she set a new personal best. The team competes in its last WBAL meet this Tuesday at Menlo.
Boys Tennis After a few weeks off, the boys tennis team is back in action against Menlo on Monday and Pinewood on Wednesday to finish up the regular season.
Boys Golf The boys golf team defeated Sacred Heart Prep 199-215 last week with Bradley Lu, grade 12, earning medalist honors with a 35. This week, the Eagles face off with Menlo on Friday.
Boys Volleyball The boys volleyball team continued its winning ways last week with a 3-0 win over Mountain View. This week, the Eagles travel to Saratoga on Friday.
Lacrosse Last week, the lacrosse team picked up its fifth and sixth consecutive wins as it defeated Mercy Burlingame 14-5 and Sacred Heart Prep 9-8. The 8-2 Eagles travel to Presentation on Tuesday and Woodside on Friday.
Swim The swim team took on The King’s Academy in the last dual meet of the season last week. Highlights included:
The JV girls, varsity girls and varsity boys won their 200 medley relays. In the 200 free relay, the JV and varsity girls took second and the varsity boys took first.
Alyssa Huang, grade 10, and Katie Li, grade 10, went 1-2 in the 200 free and Alex Yu, grade 12, won his 200 race.
Nikela Hulton and Ysabel Chen, both grade 9, went 2-3 in the 200 IM.
Sinaya Joshi, grade 9, set a personal record (PR) and took first in the 50 free.
Ethan Hu, grade 11, Rhys Edwards (PR), grade 10, and Matthew Chung, grade 10, went 1-2-3 in the 50 free.
Nikela Hulton and Sinaya Joshi went 1-3 in the 100 fly. Arnav Joshi (PR), grade 11, took first in the 10 fly as well.
JV and varsity 100 free was dominated by Harker swimmers: first Elizabeth Fields (PR), grade 10; first Jay Thilking (PR), grade 9; second Nicky Kriplani, grade 10; first Ysabel Chen; first Cassandra Ruedy (PR), grade 11; and second Andrew Lu, grade 10.
Harker went 1-2-3 in the 500 free with Matthew Chung, Alex Yu and Andew Chang (PR), grade 10.
Jay Thilking (PR) was first in the 50 back.
Arnav Joshi, grade 11, took first in the 100 back.
Andrew Chang (PR) took first in the 50 breast.
Baseball Last week, the baseball team split a two-game series with South San Francisco. Early in the week, the Eagles lost a tough 10-11 matchup with the Warriors, with Mark Hu, grade 9, driving in three runs. Later in the week, Harker got its revenge with an 11-8 win over SSF, this time with Max Lee, grade 11, and Nick Coulter, grade 10, each driving in three runs. This week, the Eagles travel to Terra Nova on Tuesday, Westmoor on Thursday and Harbor on Saturday.
Softball The softball team won both of its games last week against league opponents. First, the Eagles defeated Notre Dame San Jose 13-5 with Cameron Zell, grade 12, exploding for four hits and five RBIs. Later in the week, the Eagles took down El Camino 14-11, this time led by Natasha Yen, grade 10, who drove in three runs on four hits. This week, the girls host Gunn on Monday before traveling to Menlo Atherton Tuesday and Palo Alto on Thursday.
Track and Field Freshmen Alexa Lowe and Andrew Chen each had outstanding performances in their 100-meter and long jump events on Saturday. Both set personal bests in their long jumps. Frosh Brittany Shou threw a lifetime best in the discus, improving by four feet to 64’7″. Zoey Rosa, grade 11, ran both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, in which she set a new personal best. The team competes in its last WBAL meet this Tuesday at Menlo.
Boys Tennis After a few weeks off, the boys tennis team is back in action against Menlo on Monday and Pinewood on Wednesday to finish up the regular season.
Boys Golf The boys golf team defeated Sacred Heart Prep 199-215 last week with Bradley Lu, grade 12, earning medalist honors with a 35. This week, the Eagles face off with Menlo on Friday.
Boys Volleyball The boys volleyball team continued its winning ways last week with a 3-0 win over Mountain View. This week, the Eagles travel to Saratoga on Friday.
Lacrosse Last week, the lacrosse team picked up its fifth and sixth consecutive wins as it defeated Mercy Burlingame 14-5 and Sacred Heart Prep 9-8. The 8-2 Eagles travel to Presentation on Tuesday and Woodside on Friday.
In one of its best-attended years to date, the Harker Research Symposium attracted about 800 visitors from across the Harker community to recognize the school’s dedication to the sciences and encourage sustainable lifestyles and policies.
Sustainability was the main theme of this year’s event, which fittingly began with upper school vocal groups Cantilena and Camerata performing J. David Moore’s “We Belong to the Earth” under the direction of music teacher Susan Nace. The first keynote speaker was Max Holmes, deputy director and senior climate scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center, whose talk detailed how the behavior of rivers around the world can offer insight into global climate change.
Sustainability themes also were prevalent at the exhibitors area at the Nichols Hall atrium, which remained a popular attraction throughout the day. A student-run booth detailing the ways in which people can make their lives more environment-friendly greeted visitors as they walked through the front doors of Nichols Hall, alongside booths showcasing marine life, new technologies and the crucial role bees play in our daily lives (as well as the dangers presented by their decreasing populations).
At the Nichols Hall auditorium, a panel of Harker graduates shared their career retrospectives, including how their time at Harker influenced their trajectories and crucial lessons learned through their experiences. “Your career path is going to be windy and you’re going to be meeting a ton of…different people along the way,” said Shephalie Lahri ’05, associate director of marketing and reimbursement at the genetic testing company Natera. “Carve your own path and make sure you have the right advocates and champions,” she advised. The Nichols Hall rotunda was also busy, as upper school students at the Stem Buddies stations showed young science lovers how to purify water, create a DNA helix and find microplastics in ocean water.
The auxiliary gym once again hosted middle and upper school poster presentations, as students explained and answered questions on their research on a variety of topics, including zoology, physics and social science.
Surbhi Sarna ’03 returned to the Harker Research Symposium as this year’s alumna keynote speaker, giving a talk on her journey from being a patient at the age of 13 to becoming a medical technology entrepreneur and developing a device for early detection of ovarian cancer. Her company, nVision Medical, was purchased by Boston Scientific for $275 million last April.
This year’s afternoon keynote was given by David Haussler, an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical institute and distinguished professor of biomolecular engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Haussler took the afternoon audience on an “Odyssey in to the Human Genome,” examining the field of genomics and how the human genome has evolved.
Just before spring break, the Harker Orchestra traveled to Los Angeles to see a performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the world famous Walt Disney Concert Hall and attend workshops by Christopher Russell, conductor for Azusa Pacific University’s Symphony Orchestra, and Glenn Price, director of performing and visual arts at Caltech. They also made a special visit to Disneyland to take part in a Disney Performing Arts Soundtrack Session, in which they sight-read and recorded a portion of the soundtrack to a Disney film under the guidance of industry professionals, who gave them feedback on their work. Following the workshop with Russell, the orchestra gave a special live performance at the Universal Studios 5 Towers Stage.
Last month, Harker journalism won three Crown Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, a first for the program “and an extremely rare occurrence for any high school,” said journalism teacher Ellen Austin.
The Talon yearbook’s Gold Crown – its first Crown win in Harker history – was one of just 18 Gold Crowns awarded to high school yearbook programs nationwide. The Winged Post, the upper school newspaper, was one of 11 high school newspapers to haul in a Gold Crown, while the online news site Harker Aquila received a Silver Crown. All publications were awarded for work they did during the 2017-18 school year. Nearly 1,200 student publications were evaluated for this year’s Crown Awards.
Senior Logan Bhamidipaty was recently awarded a scholarship from the U.S. Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y), which funds a full academic year abroad for students studying languages judged as important by the State Department. Following graduation, Bhamidipaty plans to take a gap year to study Mandarin in Beijing before matriculating to Stanford.
Bhamidipaty also was recognized last month with a Congressional Award for his volunteer work with the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, and as an immigration intern with Catholic Charities USA. He also was honored for his devotion to becoming fluent in Mandarin, and for studying the history and culture of Japan’s Kansai region during the country’s Edo period. Bhamidipaty is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C., in June for a special ceremony attended by awardees and members of the U.S. Congress.
Last week, Harker graduates from the classes of 1988-2015 attended “Harker in Los Angeles,” the second stop in this year’s 125th anniversary tour. The event was held at the Everson Royce Bar in downtown Los Angeles. Albeit an intimate gathering, the folks who attended had plenty to catch up on and did so over great food and cocktails!
In addition, The Keller Tour 2019 continued its tradition of visiting Harker alumni now in college, this time at UCLA! Butch Keller, upper school division head, and his wife, Jane Keller, math teacher, along with Kristina Alaniz, alumni director, caught up with nine current UCLA students. They enjoyed seeing the Harker grads thriving in their shared second alma mater!
Mishi Vachev ’15 is featured in a nice article from Eckerd College, as she was one of 25 students worldwide chosen as a 2018 American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) Conviron Scholar. Benefits include a one-year membership to the ASPB, a hands-on virtual learning program, virtual mentoring with a plant science professional, and the opportunity to present a poster at the next ASPB meeting and to submit an article to the ASPB blog for publication.
“She’s been doing excellent work here at Eckerd in our greenhouse,” said Jacob Browne, director of admission. Vachev credits Harker with helping her find her way.
The article notes, “A biotechnology class in high school combined her passions in a real way. When choosing a college, she already knew what she was looking for.” And she’s not done yet.
Vachev will receive a bachelor’s degree this spring and said, “I hope to pursue a Ph.D. in plant breeding and to specifically work on breeding crops for third world countries or populations in need of improved agriculture.”
Before the break, the lacrosse team picked up two big league wins to go to 6-2 on the season. The Eagles defeated Aragon 4-2 and Notre Dame San Jose 10-6 to run their winning streak to four games. This week, the girls host Mercy Burlingame on Tuesday and travel to Sacred Heart Cathedral on Friday.
Baseball
The boys baseball team has been on an absolute tear over the last few weeks, defeating its last three opponents by a combined score of 40-4. Before the break, the Eagles defeated Summit Rainier 11-1 with Luke Wancewicz, grade 10, driving in four runs on two hits. Later in the week, the Eagles defeated Westmoor 13-2, with Wancewicz again leading the way with four RBIs, this time on three hits. Then over the break, the team took care of ACE Charter 16-1 to improve to 8-3 on the year. This week, the Eagles travel to South San Francisco on Tuesday and host SSF on Thursday.
Boys Volleyball
The boys volleyball team continued to dominate before the break as it took care of Los Altos and Lynbrook, both 3-0. Then over this past weekend, the Eagles took on some of the best competition in California at the Bellarmine Tournament. The boys went 2-0 on day one, defeating Valley Christian and South Pasadena. Day 2 started with a loss to St. Francis, but picked up as the Eagles defeated Madera South, Valley Christian and Homestead to finish ninth out of 22 teams. This week, the boys host Mountain View on Wednesday.
Just before spring break, the boys tennis team continued to roll as it picked up its sixth and seventh consecutive wins. The Eagles are off this week before wrapping up league play next week.
Track and Field
The Eagles traveled to The King’s Academy before the break to compete against the rest of the WBAL at the second meet of the year. Anton Novikov, grade 10, posted two wins and a second place finish; Andrew Chen, grade 9, and Gio Rofa, grade 11, placed first and second in the triple jump; Alexa Lowe, grade 9, set another school record in the triple jump; Erica Cai, grade 9, won her mile race; Kismet Singh and Zoey Rosa, both grade 11, finished second and third in the 100-meter hurdles. The track and field team then competed at the Firebird Invitational at Fremont High. Ritika Rajamani, Ashley Barth and Erica Cai, all grade 9, placed third, fourth and fifith in the frosh-soph 2 mile run, and Bayden Yazalina, grade 10, won his 400-meter heat. This Saturday, the track and field team heads to San Mateo for the Bearcat Invitational.
Boys Golf
The boys golf team picked up a 202-269 win over Crystal Springs Uplands just before the break with Bradley Lu, grade 12, shooting a 32 to earn medalist honors. This week, the Eagles take on Sacred Heart Prep on Monday.
Softball
Before the break, the Eagles suffered a 14-2 loss to The King’s Academy before picking up a win via forfeit to Mercy SF. The 2-7 Eagles are back in action this week with a game at Notre Dame San Jose on Tuesday.
Swim
Harker swimmers took on Priory, The King’s Academy, Nueva, Castilleja, and Mercy SF on the Thursday before the break. The varsity girls went second and first in the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay. Nikela Hulton and Ysabel Chen, both grade 9, went second and third in the 200 IM. Chen added a third place in the 50 free. Ainsley Millard, grade 9, kept her winning streak going in the 50 fly. The varsity boys were first in the 200 medley relay, followed up by wins from Alex Yu, grade 12, in the 200 and 100 free. Jay Thilking, grade 9, was second in the 200 IM. Matthew Chung and Jason Kwok, both grade 10, went first and second in the 50 free with Chung also winning the 100 back. Arnav Joshi, grade 11, was third in the 100 free. Rhys Edwards, grade 10, won the 100 fly. Andrew Chang, grade 12, took the 500 free. Harker went one-two-three on the 100 breast for Kwok, Edwards and Andrew Chang, grade 10. Special recognition for Matthew Chung and Rhys Edwards, who qualified for CCS in every event. This week, the Eagles host The King’s Academy on Thursday and compete at the Palo Alto Sectional Challenge over the weekend.