School Record Broken in Golf; Tennis Starts Strong
Spring sports are ramping up and we’re already seeing great developments!
Boys Golf
The team opened the season with a 216-223 victory March 8 against Pinewood. Ram Seeni, Gr. 11, led the way with a 40 and Maverick McNealy, Gr. 9, had 41, while seniors Yash Khandwala, Jeremy Whang, James Feng and Vinay Kumar scored 43, 45, 47 and 47, respectively. On March 9 the boys lost to a tough Sacred Heart squad 200-190 as McNealy shot a 36. McNealy continued his success March 15 when he shot the all-time Harker best score of 3-under par, 33, against Menlo. The team also nearly beat heavily favored Menlo, losing 194-195. In addition to McNealy, low scores were shot by Kyle Roter, Gr. 9, with a 37, Feng with 39, Khandwala with 40 and Whang with 44.
Boys Tennis
Boys tennis opened the season strongly, making history March 4 by defeating perennial state power Sacred Heart Prep for the first time! The singles lineup of Karthik Dhore, Gr. 11, Adarsh Ranganathan, Gr. 11 and Derek Tzeng, Gr. 10, all won at the top three spots. Ranganathan won an emotionally draining match 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 over an excellent ball striker. The #2 doubles team of Nikhil Parthasarathy, Gr. 11 and Justin Yang, Gr. 9, won in three sets. Akum Gill, Gr. 12 and Revanth Kosaraju, Gr. 10, teamed together and captured #3 doubles in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. The boys also traveled to a tournament in Fresno March 6, where Dhore went 5-0, validating him as one of the top players in California. On March 9, the boys lost to a very strong Menlo School team but rebounded nicely in a 5-2 victory over Priory March 11. At that match, Ranganathan beat the #1 seed 7-5, 6-1; Chris Chang, Gr. 9, at #2 singles was successful by a score of 4-6, 6-1 (10-5). Number three seed Parthasarathy won in straight sets, 7-6 (0), 6-3. The doubles team of Tim Weng, Gr. 11 and Sachin Jain, Gr. 10, won 7-5, 6-1 at #1; #3 doubles, Nikhil Panu, Gr. 9, and Simar Mangat, Gr. 9, won 7-5, 6-2. The #2 doubles team of Gill and Kosaraju lost 5-7, 2-6. On March 16, both JV and varsity tennis defeated King’s Academy. Varsity is now 5-1 and JV is 4-1.
Baseball
The boys almost pulled one out at Willow Glen March 6 but lost 4-3. Greg Plauck, Gr. 12, pitched five innings, striking out 10 batters. Stefan Eckhardt, Gr. 12, pitched five strong innings to earn the 7-4 victory over Fremont High March 11. Kevin Cali, Gr. 12, had two hits and Noah Levy, Gr. 10, had two RBI. The team lost a close one to Dougherty Valley 2-1 on March 13. Plauck pitched seven innings and struck out six batters, while Eckhardt had a hit and an RBI. The boys are now 3-4-1.
Girls Lacrosse
Girls lacrosse played their best game ever March 5, even though they lost 8-3 against a tough Pioneer High squad. Michelle Douglas, Gr. 9, scored two goals and Kelly Chen, Gr. 12, scored one. The girls also lost to St. Francis March 10 as goals were scored by Julia Shim, Gr. 12 and Douglas. They lost to Santa Catalina 2-15 on March 11 with goals by Douglas and Chen. The girls lost to Saratoga and Castilleja this week but are showing tremendous improvement. Monisha Appalaraju, Gr. 11, scored eight goals in the two games.
Softball
Softball lost on March 4 to Monte Vista Christian. Ashley Del Alto, Gr. 9, had two hits, including a double. The girls also lost 11-2 to Sacred Heart Cathedral on March 9. Tracey Chan, Gr. 11, had two hits and Sarah Teplitsky, Gr. 12, recorded her first hit and RBI. On March 11, despite a seventh inning rally started by Zaynah Sadiq, Gr. 12, they lost a close game to Harbor 8-6. Alison Rugar, Gr. 9, scored three runs while Del Alto had two hits with a double and pitched five strikeouts. Softball earned their first victory of the season on March 16 by defeating Liberty Baptist 12-8. Rugar pitched 21 strikeouts and scored three runs. Arthi Padmanabhan, Gr. 12, went 2-4 and had three RBI; Del Alto had two RBI, Aileen Wen, Gr. 11, went 2-4, and Kacie Kaneyuki, Gr. 12, had her first hit of the year. The game was tied in the final inning until Harker scored four runs to win.
Volleyball
The boys volleyball team won the Aptos High Tournament March 6, going 6-0 and defeating Archbishop Mitty 28-26, 13-25, 15-13 in the finals. Setter Eugene Huang, Gr. 12, was named MVP of the tournament. On March 11 they defeated Leland in their home opener 3-1, where Jacob Chappell, Gr. 11, had 14 kills. March 12 they beat Valley Christian 3-1 with Chad Gordon, Gr. 12, tallying 17 kills, and on March 13 the boys hosted the fifth annual 12-team Harker Tournament, where they placed second, losing in the finals 25-21, 25-23 to a strong Branham High School team. Gordon and Huang were named all-tournament. The boys are now 11-1.
Swimming
Our girls swim team opened their season March 4 at Notre Dame, where the varsity team won 112-58. JV was also victorious 101-68. In addition to the three relay wins, Katie Siegel, Gr. 10 and Jessica Khojasteh, Gr. 11, each won two individual events (both in CCS qualifying times). Tina Ma, Gr. 12, Lucy Cheng, Gr. 10 and Amie Chien, Gr. 9, also won events. Chien won the first high school event she ever swam (50 free).
Track and Field
Track and field had their first meet March 6 at Willow Glen. Girls varsity placed sixth out of 15 teams. Izzy Connell, Gr. 9, placed third in the 100m, fourth in the 200m, and second in both the 400m and 800m. Thomas Enzminger, Gr. 12, placed seventh in the discus and sixth in the shot.