This article originally appeared in the winter 2015 Harker Quarterly.
Earlier this year, three Harker seniors signed to play their sports for their chosen universities. Read on to find out more about their history with their sports and how Harker enabled them to follow their dreams of becoming stellar student-athletes.
Shannon Richardson Volleyball Stanford University
Shannon Richardson’s varsity volleyball career has been filled with highlights. As a high schooler, she accumulated 853 kills, 159 aces and a .178 hitting percentage, all well above the national average. An avid beach volleyball player since the seventh grade, she first became interested in the sport after seeing it in the summer Olympic Games. “At first, it was more recreational,” Richardson recalled. “I would play in a few tournaments over the summer and did rather well, but I eventually discovered that traveling to Southern California to play was a whole different situation.”
Inspired by the tougher competition, Richardson began making more frequent trips to Southern California. She now spends a month of every summer living with friends in Hermosa Beach to be closer to the higher level of play.
Her love for beach volleyball stems from, among other things, the environment. “Naturally, things are more relaxed at the beach, so tournaments are so much fun because you get to spend time with friends, go to the water, and play the sport you love,” she said. Beach volleyball is also a lot more open-ended and driven by the players than indoor volleyball. Coaching during games is limited and practices are organized and held by players. “There are no set teams and coaches; players choose if they want to improve or not,” Richardson said. “This allows me to be passionate and take control of my own development in a fun and relaxing way.”
Because there are only two players to a team in beach volleyball, players tend to get more touches on the ball, which helps sharpen their handling abilities in other situations, including indoor volleyball matches. “I personally feel like beach volleyball improves my ball control much more than indoor does purely because you get more touches in a shorter amount of time,” she said.
A Harker “lifer,” Richardson attributes her ability to balance her academic and athletic careers to the skills she learned in school. It is also where she discovered her love for playing sports. “I am a ‘lifer,’ so I played a bunch of sports in the lower school and in the middle school,” she recalled. “You would find me on the football field, playing with the boys in the fall, then on the soccer field, the basketball court and on the volleyball court.”
Richardson also noticed similarities in preparing for tests both athletic and academic. “By playing many sports and having to stay on top of my academic responsibilities, I matured quickly and was able to take on more rigorous classes in the upper school, while playing a varsity sport and trying to get recruited,” she said.
With a stint at Stanford on the horizon, Richardson is looking forward to tackling a whole new set of challenges. “I hope that in the four years I spend at Stanford, I can become a better player and a better person,” she said. “I know that the relationships I make in my time there will be ones to treasure, much like the ones I have made at Harker.”
Johnathon Keller Football Claremont-McKenna College
Signing on to play for Claremont-McKenna College was a decision of careful consideration for Johnathan Keller, who had offers from many schools, including Ivy Leagues. “However, after visiting many schools, I knew two things: I wanted to stay with the California weather, and I wanted a school where I could play as a freshman and not red-shirt or be on the bench until my later years,” he said.
In addition to its great academic programs and sunny Southern California climes, Claremont-McKenna also promised to start playing Keller in his freshman year.
Keller’s football lineage speaks for itself. His cousin Jeff Garcia was a four-time Pro Bowl NFL quarterback who now works on the St. Louis Rams’ coaching squad. Keller drew inspiration from watching his cousin on the eld as a child. “I used to think it was amazing watching him play in front of so many people,” Keller said. He started playing the sport at 8 years old and moved on to tackle football once he reached grade 6.
The talent seems to run in the family. So far this year, Keller has recorded nearly 350 yards as a wide receiver with 58.2 yards per game.
“I enjoy the competition in football and all the great memories that are made with the other players,” he said. “The football team is like a family to me.”
He credited Harker’s teachers with helping maintain his academic standing while also following his passion for football, and noted that many recruiters were aware of Harker’s academic reputation. “Knowing this,” Keller said, “they weren’t worried that I was short of any academic credits or if it would be hard getting used to the rigorous academic environment of college.”
Oisin Coveney Soccer Swarthmore College
Oisin Coveney doesn’t remember how he got started playing soccer. That’s because when he started playing, he was just 2 years old. “However, I kept playing the sport because I could be creative on the field,” Coveney reminisced. “I loved trying to dribble and beat players, and pretend I was on the best soccer team in the world.”
The rhythms of a soccer match and the potential for creativity are what Coveney enjoys about the sport. “There’s a beautiful flow to soccer where you have to constantly think about where your teammates and the opponent’s teammates are, where the ball is going to be, and how we can score another goal,” he said.
The dedication of Harker’s teachers were of utmost importance to Coveney’s success as a student-athlete. Like Keller, Coveney found that recruiters were well aware of Harker’s academic pedigree, which made the recruiting process much easier than anticipated. “With Harker, I was able to pursue my dream of get- ting into a great school and playing soccer in college,” he said.
Coveney said he is excited to join Swarthmore’s soccer team, which is a force in the Centennial Conference. “A lot of hard work will definitely be involved,” he said, “but I can’t wait to get a chance to prove myself to my teammates, my coaches and the school.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2015 Harker Quarterly.
Upper School: Spectacular Sports Season, Achievements Run the Gamut
What a spring for Harker athletics! Golf won a league season and saw one of its athletes ascend to the state tournament. A swimmer broke a school record at CCS and won an individual championship. Track and field’s coach became the first in Eagles history to win the Honor Coach award. And the boys tennis squad made it further in the finals than it has in four years. It was a spectacular season of achievement.
Track and Field
It was another great season for the team, including many school records, personal records and first place finishes. Coach Scott Chisam became the first coach in Harker history to receive the CCS Honor Coach award, and both the boys and girls teams received recognition as CCS scholastic championship teams! At the league finals, freshmen Grace Koonmen, Gloria Guo and Aria Coalson and sophomore Davis Dunaway had big wins. Sophomore sensation Niki Iyer advanced to CCS and then, in the most important race of her career so far, blazed an incredible last lap in the 3,200-meter run to slide into third place at the CCS finals and qualify for the CIF State Track & Field Champion- ships. She went on to finish 17th at the State Track & Field Championships in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 10:48.60. She was the top underclass- man in the field; all those ahead of her were either juniors or seniors. Congratulations to Iyer on an outstanding track season and for representing Harker so championship and saw well at the state meet! Go, Eagles!
Golf
Harker won its league championship, then finished seventh overall in CCS, firmly ensconcing the team among the section’s elite. At CCS, senior Shrish Dwivedi finished just one shot off the lead and qualified for the NorCal Championships, where he shot a one-under-par and advanced to the state tournament. See the box on this page for more on Dwivedi’s great season finish.
Swimming
After the Eagles came in fourth in the league championships, freshman Vivian Wang broke a school record at CCS in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 freestyle en route to winning Harker’s fourth ever CCS individual championship. Wang went on to place eighth in the state championship in the 200 individual medley and 16th in the 100 freestyle. Harker sent a number of swimmers and divers to CCS, including freshman Taylor Kohlmann, sophomores Michael Auld, Jack Farnham and Justin Culpepper, juniors Grace Guan, Angela Huang, Karen Tu and Sandhana Kannan, and seniors Aaron Huang, Craig Neubieser, Stacey Chao, Delaney Martin and Jackelyn Shen.
Tennis
For the first time since 2011 and for just the second time ever, the boys tennis team returned to the CCS quarterfinals after an upset victory over eighth seed Westmont on their courts. Congratulations to the boys on an amazing season!
Softball
The girls finished at .500 overall, going 9-9 while winning four of 10 league games. Freshman Kristin LeBlanc led the team in hitting, finishing with a .370 bat- ting average, .444 on-base percentage and .462 slugging percentage. Sophomore Marti Sutton also had a tremendous year at the plate, with a .314/.429/.392 line while leading the team with 16 RBIs. Overall, five Eagles finished with better than .400 on-base percentages through 12 or more games, including LeBlanc, Sutton, junior Alisa Wakita, senior Sarah Bean and sophomore Grace Park. Wakita also had a home run on the season and, on the basepaths, she and LeBlanc each swiped a team-high four bases. LeBlanc and junior Marita Del Alto pitched for Harker this year. LeBlanc finished 2-1 with a 1.33 ERA in four starts, while Del Alto finished 6-8 with a 5.86 ERA in 14 starts, including a complete game and a save in another appearance.
Baseball
The sluggers let their offense do the talking this year, hitting their way to an amazing .298 batting average and .402 on-base percentage, including six home runs, en route to finishing 9-14 overall and 5-10 in league. Freshman Nate Kelly led the team with a .405 batting average, .506 on-base percentage and .675 slugging percentage. Kelly and junior Miles DeWitt each hit two home runs. DeWitt, for his part, finished with a .370 batting average, .448 on-base percentage and .589 slugging percentage. Freshman Dominic Cea led the team in RBIs with 26, to finish up with a .368/.432/.394 line.
Lacrosse
The Eagles finished 7-13 overall and 5-7 in league. The team averaged nine goals per game, led by senior Hannah Bollar, who had 57 goals, 69 points and an average of three goals per game.
Volleyball
The boys ended with a 10-19 overall record and a 2-10 record in league. Senior Shiki Dixit led the team with a 42.5 kill percentage, while sophomore Andrew Gu led the team with 184 kills, and senior Jeremiah Anderson led the team with an average of three kills per set. Senior Matthew Ho led the team with 52 aces, averaging 0.6 aces per set.
Graduating Athletes Join Collegiate Sports Teams
Heartiest congratulations to 12 graduates who have committed to playing their sports in college! “These are all outstanding student athletes,” said Dan Molin, upper school athletic director. “This group of seniors has represented Harker exceptionally well over the years, and we want to thank them and wish them well as they represent their new schools.”
Jeremiah Anderson (Westmont College, soccer), Aadyot Bhatnagar (California Institute of Technology, water polo), Billy Bloomquist (California Institute of Technology, water polo), Shreya Dixit (Yale University, volleyball), Shrish Dwivedi (Duke University, golf), Keanu Forbes (San Jose City College, football), Aaron Huang (Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
swimming), Eric Holt (Oberlin College, basketball), Sid Krishnamurthi (Stanford University, football), Craig Neubieser (Tufts University, swimming), Erika Olsen (Southern Methodist University, cheer) and Christian Williams (University of Redlands, football).
Soar to new heights, Harker Eagles!
Golfer Shines at State Finals
by William Cracraft
Harker’s Shrish Dwivedi, grade 12, finished his season tied for second – missing first place by one stroke – at the California Interscholastic Federation state golf championships.
Dwivedi is the first Harker male golfer ever to qualify for the state tournament. “He is truly playing at an elite level,” said Dan Molin, upper school athletic director.
“Since his freshman year, Shrish has always been a true student of the game, studying all aspects,” said Ie-Chen, Harker’s golf coach. “His attention to detail, from his preparation leading up to match day, and his on-course management are what separates him from others. He studies the course meticulously, then goes and practices the shots he needs to succeed.” Read the full story in news.harker.org; search on Dwivedi or use this shortlink: https://staging.news.harker.org/?p=26025.
This article originally appeared in the spring 2015 Harker Quarterly.
Basketball Teams Leave Their Mark; Wrestlers Qualify; Boys Tennis Kicks off Season with a Big Win
Basketball
The gents went 16-10 this year, finishing in fourth place in the league, winning a CCS academic championship and reaching the CCS quarterfinals. Their biggest win of the year, a 71-38 crushing of Del Mar High School at home in front of a raucous crowd in the second round of the CCS championships was punctuated by senior Sriv Irrinki’s 20 points and senior Eric Holt’s breakaway dunk!
Holt racked up 315 points and 162 rebounds, averaging a team-high 17.5 points per game. Irrinki, meanwhile, led the team with 330 points, averaging 13.2 points and a team-high nine rebounds per game. He also was named the San Jose Mercury News’ Santa Clara County Boys Athlete of the Week earlier in the year for his 35-point performance against King’s Academy, which included eight 3-pointers and a perfect record from the free-throw line. Senior Dylan Patel led the team with 80 assists, while junior Elijah Edgehill averaged 10.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.
The girls also reached the CCS playoffs after finishing with a 12-12 record, losing in the first round. They also had a Senior Night for the ages; when Crystal Springs forfeited, the girls played an intrasquad scrimmage in which Team Green defeated Team White!
Jordan Thompson, grade 10, led the team with 451 points, 20.5 points per game, seven rebounds per game and a free-throw percentage of 66. She also was honored by the San Jose Mercury News after she scored 38 points with 11 rebounds against Woodside Priory and then followed that performance up with 28 points against Crystal Springs. Senior Lekha Chirala led team with 53 assists.
Wrestling
For the second year in a row, Davis Howard, grade 10, qualified for CCS after finishing in fifth place at the league wrestling championships. He represented Harker with two tough loss against talented opponents. Anthony Contreras, grade 9, finished in eight place at the league wrestling championships and was named a second alternate for CCS. Contreras is only the fourth freshman in Harker history to place at the varsity level in league finals. Senior Ryan Palmer had one of the most memorable weeks of the year, going 2-0 by winning by pin against Homestead on his Senior Night and then winning again by pin against Lynbrook on their Senior Night.
Soccer
The girls just missed qualifying for the playoffs after finishing 7-8-1 overall. Sophomore Joelle Anderson had an amazing season, racking up 31 goals with 12 assists. She was recognized in the San Jose Mercury News twice: once for scoring five goals with two assists in an 8-3 win over Priory, and once for scoring three goals against Mercy-Burlingame and then three again versus Crystal Springs. Kailee Gifford, grade 10, scored 14 goals and led the team with 13 assists this year.
For just the second time in school history, the boys soccer team defeated Menlo this season, beating them 3-1 on Harker’s Senior Day. They finished with a 10-4-2 record. Overall, junior Omar Hamade led the team with 15 goals. Senior Jeremiah Anderson had seven goals and seven assists, while senior Alan Guo tied for the team lead with seven assists.
Volleyball
This winter, senior Shreya Dixit was named to the All-Mercury News second volleyball team for her performance in the fall. This recognition honors her as one of the best players in the section.
Tennis
Harker’s varsity boys tennis team went an amazing 5-0 (6-0, 5-1, 5-1, 5-1, 5-1) to earn the Division 4 championship at the California Tennis Classic. It is “the most prestigious preseason tennis tournament in the state,” according to Dan Molin, upper school athletic director.
This article originally appeared in the winter 2013 Harker Quarterly.
On Nov. 27, the alumni office sponsored two basketball games in which the varsity and junior varsity boys teams challenged alumni and faculty, respectively. Held in the early evening at the middle school campus, the faculty began the games by shooting a technical foul (which they had gained to make up for all the students’ missing homework) and proceeded to beat the junior varsity team. Then, varsity and alumni tipped off at 7 p.m. in front of a crowd of spectators, with varsity emerging victorious.
Although the exciting games were held over break, 14 alumni who were in town got in on the action while nearly 100 spectators cheered from the stands. A good time was had by all at the inaugural event. To mark the occasion, complimentary T-shirts were handed out and alumni sold snacks to benefit the school’s endowment fund.
This article originally appeared in the winter 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Last spring, as track and field season heated up, a funny thing happened: Harker records began to fall en masse. With 2013 now drawing to a close, the cross country team has kept the streak alive, making the past calendar year one for the record books for Harker runners.
It all started in March at the Willow Glen Track and Field Invitational, when Corey Gonzales, now grade 11, topped his own Harker record in the 3,200-meter run by 40 seconds. Isabelle Connell ’13, then a senior, broke her own record in the 200 meter, and Michael Chen ’13 broke his own record in the shot put. A week later, Connell set a new Harker record in the 100 meter, while Julia Wang, now grade 11, set a new shot put record, then posted the second-best mark in Harker history for girls discus. A week after that, Gonzales set a new Harker record in the mile run, Connell set a new Harker record in the 400-meter run, and Sumit Minocha ’13 set a new Harker record in the 100-meter run.
A month later, Cheryl Liu ’13 broke a Harker record in the 100-meter hurdles. Then, three minutes later, Nadia Palte, just a freshman at the time, broke Liu’s record. That same day, Chen broke a Harker record in the discus competition. A few days later, Minocha broke a Harker record in the 100-meter run, and Palte broke her own record in the 100-meter hurdles. At the WBAL championships, Minocha won the 200-meter race, Gonzales won the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter races, Claudia Tischler, now grade 12, won the 1,600-meter race, and Connell won the 100-meter and 200-meter races. A relay team of Tischler, Palte, Connell and Ragini Bhattacharya ’13 also came in first place. Discus throwers Wang and Chen all advanced to CCS.
All told, Harker sent more athletes to CCS and saw more athletes score points at CCS than ever before. Minocha won the CCS championships in the 200-meter run, becoming the first runner in Harker’s history to win an individual CCS championship and the second Harker athlete ever to achieve such a mark. Minocha and Connell became the first athletes in Harker history to qualify for the state meet, and they and Gonzales all set personal records at CCS. Minocha was recognized as athlete of the week by the San Jose Mercury News.
It was an incredible finish to an incredible year. Spring 2013 was a breakthrough season for the program, unlikely to be rivaled. The seniors graduated, and Minocha’s and Connell’s new records were noted in the Harker gym.
When the returning athletes came back to school in the fall, an amazing thing happened: the cross country team picked up right where it left off. Tischler was now the team’s senior statesman, and Gonzales was freshly saddled with new expectations to continue his record-breaking streak. They were joined this year by a new phenom: freshman Niki Iyer.
Running cross country in September, Iyer won the first race of her Harker career. In her next effort, her first varsity race, she ran the best time of any female runner in Harker’s history, coming in second place by a single second. In her next race, she racked up her first varsity win, setting a new school record with one of the 10 best times for a freshman in the course’s 70-year history, an achievement that Harker’s athletic director Dan Molin called “truly elite level.” That race won Iyer athlete of the week recognition from the San Jose Mercury News.
In the first WBAL meet of the year, Gonzales set a new course record, while Iyer won her race and missed out on setting a new course record by, again, a single second. At Baylands, Iyer won another race, beating the previous year’s league champion and setting a new course record. At Crystal Springs, Gonzales and Iyer both set new Harker records. Both runners came in first at the WBAL championships. They and Tischler all qualified for the CCS championships, where Iyer placed third in her race and Gonzales won his, making him the new Division 4 CCS cross country champion. Both qualified for the state meet, where Iyer took seventh and Gonzales finished 85th. See the Eagle Report, page 36, for details.
One of the things that changed Harker’s fortunes was a new head coach. The 2012- 13 school year was the first for Scott Chisam, who had run cross country and track at UCLA, then coached UCLA’s women’s track and field team to two NCAA national championships. All told, Chisam has coached 36 NCAA All-Americans and Olympians, and coached the U.S. women’s cross country team in the 1984 World Cross Country Championships.
“He’s as good as it gets,” says director Molin. “The Chisam name in cross country and track is well known.” The team agrees.
“I really could not have asked for better coaches,” says Gonzales. When Chisam arrived, he took naturally quick runners and made them into smart runners, teaching them techniques to improve their times and their stamina, ensuring that not only would they improve, but improve sustainably.
“It’s amazing how little they knew. They could run fast, but just things like starts, staying near the line on the turn. Just the things that make differences, to the hundreds, to the tenths,” said Chisam.
The team’s success has been contagious. “Last year’s team has been such an inspiration,” says Iyer. “They used to break the records like every week,” she remembers. Iyer, in turn, has inspired her teammates. “She’s more tenacious than any runner I’ve ever seen,” says Gonzales. “Being able to have Niki at practice has made me more tenacious as a runner as well.” He has kind words for Tischler’s leadership, as well. “I’ve always looked up to her,” Gonzales adds. “She’s the real captain on the team. She keeps everyone together. We all look up to Claudia.”
The inspiration of last year’s team, the expertise of Chisam, Gonzales’ ascendance, Tischler’s leadership and Iyer’s sudden emergence have created a great vibe among the runners.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better team this year,” raved Iyer. “The dynamics of our team are just so amazing.” Iyer can recall walking into the gym and gaping at the records set by the team the year before. Now, she is proud to see her name on that list as well. When, at a recent race, an athlete at another school asked Iyer if she’d prefer to be at Simi Valley, one of the state’s top cross country programs, Iyer cut her off mid-sentence. “Once an Eagle, always an Eagle,” was Iyer’s definitive reply.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
At the annual Head of School’s Circle Celebration on May 2, Joe Rosenthal, executive director of advancement, announced that Jeff and Marieke Rothschild (Isaac, grade 12; Jackiel, grade 10) had generously made a $10 million matching gift challenge. The annual celebration honors Harker’s leadership donors, who are recognized, thanked and shown the impact of their donations.
The Rothschilds will match, dollar-for-dollar, all gifts to the capital campaign up to $10 million that meet the following criteria: 1) pledges must be made between April 21 and Oct. 12, 2014, and 2) pledge payments must be made in the years 2014, 2015 and/or 2016.
The challenge is meant to inspire all members of the Harker community to join in and make a gift to help build a much-needed theater and gymnasium. The matching gift challenge, if achieved, will allow the school to begin construction on the new events center a full year earlier than previously thought possible without a gift of this magnitude.
“Marieke and I looked at the Harker community, what the school has meant to our children; we know that this events center is not going to be here for their benefit, directly, but everything on this campus is here for a reason. It is here because the Harker community envisioned it and pulled together and made it happen, and this project will be no different,” Rothschild said at the event, surrounded on stage by performing arts and athletics students.
The Rothschilds had previously made a $1 million gift to the school to help with the purchase of the preschool campus. They decided to contribute again with a transformational gift, leading the fundraising effort for the events center because they recognize the impact the building will have on the entire Harker community. Structuring their matching gift challenge as they did – by matching the pledges and gifts made within the given time frame – will enable Harker to provide this much-needed facility to benefit the students and families one year sooner.
If the match is met and construction goes as planned, the Harker community will cut the ribbon on the events center in fall 2016. Current Harker families, as well as alumni and parents of alumni, will be able to enjoy games and productions in much more suitable facilities, improving the experience significantly. The enhanced school spirit and pride invoked by the activities that will take place in this new building is one of the most anticipated benefits.
Preparing students for college and beyond by providing academic and programmatic excellence is at the heart of the Harker mission and will continue to be the central focus of the school’s whole-mission approach. Head of School Chris Nikoloff said that the events center will have a positive impact on Harker’s century-old mission both directly, from the numerous activities and events that will take place there, and also through the ability to allow other departments to expand into spaces currently used by athletics and performing arts that will be vacated when those activities move into the new facility.
Donors who rise to the challenge and make a capital gift during the match period will be recognized as a member of the Partners’ Circle, with their name added to an inaugural plaque in the atrium of the events center. Securing the $10 million in matching gift pledges from the Harker community over the next few months is a tall order, but, as the Rothschilds said at the Head of School’s Circle Celebration, “Together we can all make this happen. The sooner, the better.”
Many parents and faculty members already have started planning their pledges and making gifts to be matched. Harker parents Alex Franz and Keiko Horiguchi (Kai, grade 7; Maya, grade 5; Nina, grade 3) stated, “We can see the strategic importance of the theater and gymnasium project for all of Harker, so we wanted to join the campaign to support this construction. Harker provides an exceptional setting where kids can unfold their potential and reach for the stars. The amazingly generous matching grant, which lets us double our contribution, led us to donate before the beginning of the next school year, and we wanted to support the best-case construction schedule so we just decided to make the donation right away.”
Those interested in learning more about the proposed events center can visit www.harker.org/eventscenter to review the “Case for Supporting the Events Center” booklet. A video featuring a virtual tour and several members of the Harker community – students, parents and teachers alike – sharing the impact they envision the new building will have on the Harker community is also available on the website, alongside Harker’s Vision Statement, which illustrates how the construction of the events center is aligned with Harker’s overall strategic plan through 2020.
Interest in making a capital pledge can be expressed by clicking the “Pledge Now” button on the events center website or by contacting Rosenthal directly at joe.rosenthal@harker.org or 408.345.9266.