Varsity girls basketball is hoping to bounce back this week after consecutive losses to Priory and Crystal Springs last week in one of Northern California’s most competitive basketball leagues. They play Menlo tomorrow and Pinewood at home on Friday.
After last week’s loss to Sacred Heart Prep, girls soccer defeated Westmont 2-1 on Friday to improve to 9-3-1. They have two home games this week against Notre Dame San Jose tomorrow and Menlo on Thursday, which is also their Senior Day.
Boys soccer went 1-1 last week, losing to Sacred Heart on Monday and defeating Eastside College Prep on Wednesday. They will play at home twice this week, hosting Menlo on Wednesday and Crystal Springs on Friday.
Boys basketball is 3-2 in league play and 15-4 overall after last week, during which they took a loss to Sacred Heart and defeated Eastside College Prep. They will face Priory at home tomorrow and visit Crystal Springs on Friday.
Boys varsity basketball is on a three-game winning streak going into today’s home contest against King’s Academy, its second league game of the season. Saturday’s victory over Monta Vista was earned in dramatic fashion with a late game-winning layup by senior Abhi Namala in overtime to take the game 45-44 and grant coach Alfredo Alves his 100th career win.
Girls varsity soccer suffered its first loss to Menlo on Thursday and now has an overall record of 7-1-1. They’re up against Notre Dame Belmont today at Davis Field, where they also will face Priory on Friday. Boys soccer, meanwhile, hopes to bounce back today against King’s Academy after losses to Menlo and Crystal Springs
Girls basketball is headed to Pinewood tonight following losses to Menlo and King’s Academy. The team will play Notre Dame Belmont at home on Friday.
Girls varsity soccer remains undefeated with a Monday win over Crystal Springs and yesterday’s 1-1 tie with Notre Dame San Jose in their first league game. League play continues tomorrow with an away game against Menlo School.
Meanwhile, boys varsity soccer picked up their second win this week over Eastside College Prep. They have two away games this week, facing Menlo today and Crystal Springs on Friday.
Girls varsity basketball is 7-4 after Tuesday’s loss to Menlo and last week’s overtime win against Christopher High. By securing a .500 record in non-league play the team has qualified to apply for the CCS tournament. They will face King’s Academy on Friday in their first league game of the season.
Boys varsity basketball rebounded from last week’s loss to BASIS to defeat Crystal Springs Tuesday in their first league game, improving to 11-2 overall. They will host Woodside High tomorrow at the Athletic Center and play Monta Vista in an away game on Saturday.
Following their big win in the James Lick Invitational tournament, varsity boys basketball dropped a very close game against Del Mar High School with a final score of 53-55, the team’s first loss of the season. The team bounced back two days later with a 47-24 win over University Prep Academy, and faces Design Tech at home this Friday, Dec. 16 at 6 p.m.
Varsity girls soccer is off to a great 4-0 start, defeating Scotts Valley, James Lick High School, Prospect High School and Castilleja since their Nov. 29 start. The team will play Half Moon Bay in an away game this Friday at 5 p.m.
Varsity girls basketball defeated Lincoln San Jose last week, coming back from losses against Evergreen Valley and American High School in the Sandi Stober Classic tournament. The team will be busy during the winter break, facing Independence High this Saturday at home, followed by away games against Piedmont Hills and North Salinas and participating in the Cupertino Classic tournament at Cupertino High School.
Boys varsity soccer lost last week to Santa Clara High, and played to a tie against Lynbrook on Friday. The team’s final game of 2022 will be at home versus Yerba Buena this Friday at 3 p.m.
This past weekend, Harker alumni Melissa Chen ’08, Kacie Kaneyuki ’10, Rebecca Liu ’13 and Daniza Rodriguez ’13 – who is also the upper school girls basketball coach – participated in some friendly competition with Harker students in this year’s alumni basketball game. Several alums who planned on competing unfortunately could not attend, so the alumni team was graciously joined by junior varsity coaches Melissa Cabrera and Pip Chan. The first alumni basketball game was held in 2013 and takes place every year over the Thanksgiving break.
Junior Veyd Patil ran well at the State Cross Country Championships over the weekend in Fresno, placing 67th out of 201 runners while setting a new personal record. Congratulations!
Frosh, junior varsity and varsity boys basketball all won their season openers last week. The frosh defeated Stratford with a score of 45-18 while JV and varsity each had wins against Yerba Buena with scores of 61-14 and 83-28, respectively.
Girls soccer’s season starts tomorrow against Scotts Valley on Davis Field at 4 p.m. The team returns to Davis Field on Friday at 5:30 p.m. to face James Lick. Also this week, boys soccer will visit Half Moon Bay tomorrow and play at home on Thursday against San Francisco International. Girls basketball will be playing in the Sandi Stober Classic tournament this week, hosted by Lynbrook High School. Their first game is scheduled for Thursday at 4:45 p.m.
On Saturday, three outstanding alumni – Alex Abarca ’09, Daniza Rodriguez ’13 and Amanda (Polzin) Sullivan ’06 – were inducted into the Harker Athletic Hall of Fame, along with the entire roster of the 2007-08 girls varsity volleyball team, one of Harker athletics’ greatest success stories. Sullivan and former volleyball team member Candace Silva-Martin ’09 were unable to attend in-person and Zoomed into the ceremony from home.
A highly prolific scorer, Abarca was a four-time boys varsity basketball MVP for the Eagles and posted more than 1,700 points. In his junior year, he was named the Private School Athletic League MVP. As a senior he was named to the WBAL First Team, a San Jose Mercury News Athlete of the Week, declared Harker Athlete of the Year and received the Eagle Award, which is given to athletes who demonstrate extraordinary dedication and enthusiasm, expressed in their willingness to help their teammates, act as role models and offer their maximum effort to every task. He graduated in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in business management economics from UC Santa Cruz, where he also played basketball. Abarca now lives in San Jose and works as an accounting manager at AEye Inc., and is married and a father to a 7-month-old son.
In addition to being named co-MVP of the girls varsity basketball team in her senior year, Amanda Sullivan (née Polzin) received an honorable mention for the All-West Bay Athletic League Team. While performing as a key member of the team, Sullivan — who was born with amniotic band syndrome — also dedicated her time to serving student athletes with disabilities. She began volunteering with the Special Olympics, which eventually led to her winning the top prize in the San Jose Sports Authority’s REACH (Recognizing Excellence, Adversity, Courage and Hard Work) Youth Scholarship Program, an annual award given to Bay Area high school student athletes who have met significant challenges in order to achieve in both athletics and academics. She went on to study human development in college and found a fulfilling career in social work. Sullivan currently resides in North Carolina and is married with two children.
Daniza Rodriguez set a number of records in her time as a member of the girls varsity basketball team. She at one point held the record for most career points (1,214), most points in a season (511) and the best start to a season for any Harker athletics team (11-1). She received many accolades over the course of her upper school career, receiving Harker’s Female Athlete of the Year award in her sophomore and junior years, winning the Eagle Award in her junior and senior years and being named the WBAL Skyline League MVP and to the Skyline League First Team All League. She went on to play women’s basketball at Whittier College and has since returned to San Jose, where she works as a space planner at Cushman & Wakefield. In 2018, she assumed the role of coach for the girls varsity basketball team, which had a historic season that included a first-ever league title win and an appearance in the CCS finals.
The 2007 girls volleyball team remains one of the most successful teams in Harker’s athletic history. The team’s historic 38-5 run included a 12-0 league record, a win at the Maui Classic tournament and the first appearance Central Coast Section ranking ever achieved by a Harker athletics team. The season culminated in an appearance at the state finals against Santa Fe Valley Christian, in which the Eagles fell short but nevertheless left a permanent impression with their phenomenal talent, work ethic and record-setting performances. Featuring no fewer than three Harker Athletics hall of famers — Tanya Schmidt ’08, Kristina Bither ’09 and Candace Silva-Martin ’09 — and coached by decorated Harker veteran Theresa “Smitty” Smith, this team stands as one of the deepest in Harker athletic history to ever take any field or court. Due to their contributions not only to the team’s success but to this landmark chapter in Harker’s athletic legacy, all members of the team were recognized with this special induction.
Congratulations to girls varsity basketball on their historic season, in which they saw their first-ever league title win, an appearance in the CCS finals and first-round win in the CIF NorCal tournament. Though their season ended last Thursday against Argonaut High (with a final score of 66-53), the girls went 25-3 overall and were 10-0 in league play. They will play in the WBAL Foothill division next year.
Harker varsity baseball won 14-3 last Thursday against Overfelt, coasting on great performances by seniors Mark Hu, Austin Wang and Aaron Lo, who each had a single homerun and a combined 10 RBIs. Pitcher Drew Diffenderfer, grade 9, struck out 12 batters in six innings in his first win as a high schooler. They fell to Harbor High 1-9 on Saturday, and are hoping to bounce back Thursday at home against Rancho San Juan.
Track and field opened their season on Saturday in Willow Glen. Junior Andrew Fu took first in the long jump with a distance of 21 feet, 10 inches, as well as first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11 seconds. Sophomore Veyd Patil also took first in two events with a 5:01.17 run in the 1,600-meter event and a 2:14.36 run in the 800-meter event. In discus, senior Kai Burich placed second with a throw of 123 feet, 3 inches. Juniors Rigo Gonzales, Pranav Mullappalli, Zain Vakath and Andrew Fu placed third in the 4×100 relay. Finally, junior Kara Kister finished 10th in the 800 meters and 14th in 1,600 meters.
Following Friday’s loss to Leland High in the fifth set, boys varsity volleyball is hopeful for a win this Friday against Saratoga High.
Boys tennis won 6-1 yesterday against Sacred Heart following Monday’s loss to a very strong Menlo team. They have a busy schedule this week, as they face Crystal Springs today and Pinewood on Thursday, both at home.
Girls basketball lost a close contest to Menlo in their first CCS finals appearance, with final a score of 54-49. They face Colfax tonight in the CIF NorCal tournament. Meanwhile, sophomore Anjali Yella was named the 49ers Cal-Hi Sports CCS Scholar Athlete of the Year for 2022 winter season. Congratulations to Yella on this well-deserved honor!
Boys varsity volleyball’s Friday season opener ended in a loss to Serra High School, but the team rebounded at a tournament in Watsonville this past weekend, going 3-1 to take second place overall. The team plays Mitty today at home.
Last week, boys varsity baseball lost 3-2 to Woodside. Senior Mark Hu gave a strong performance, giving up just two runs in six innings and striking out 10 hitters. Runs for Harker were earned by senior Aaron Lo and Ryan Field. They are at Fremont High tonight and play their home opener on Thursday against Overfelt.
Harker athletics posted a milestone last week, as four winter teams (boys and girls soccer and basketball) reached the CCS playoffs for the first time in school history. Congratulations to the incredible student athletes and staff for this achievement.
The girls soccer team remains undefeated after yesterday’s tie against Mercy High School and is still ranked first in the WBAL-Skyline division with a record of 14-0-0. They will be at home against Eastside College Prep for this Friday’s Kicks Against Cancer game, which starts at 4:30 p.m.
After wins on Friday and Monday, boys soccer holds an impressive 12-1-1 overall record, and is in action against Priory today. They will face Sacred Heart Prep this Friday for their Kicks Against Cancer game, set to start at 7 p.m.
At 21-1, girls basketball’s hold on first in the WBAL-Skyline division remains strong. They will face Castilleja on Thursday, which is also their Senior Night. A special ceremony will be held to honor the graduating seniors at 6:15 p.m., 15 minutes before the tipoff.
Boys basketball traveled to Sacramento on Saturday for a game against Priory at the Golden 1 Center (home of the Sacramento Kings), losing 31-52. They are 10-12 following yesterday’s loss against Menlo.