The boys basketball team’s historic season came to a close Wednesday night as they lost to a strong St. Patrick/St. Vincent team 60-42 in a first-round NorCal playoff game. Wei Wei Buchsteiner, grade 12, led the Eagles with 16 points, and Will Deng, grade 12, came back from a knee injury to contribute 10 points. Last Saturday, they took on, but were defeated by, multiple CCS champ Sacred Heart Prep in the league championship. Though the boys lost in their first-ever appearance in the section finals 48-37, they united the entire Harker community during a fun and spirited afternoon of exciting basketball. The boys ended with an 18-11 record and their first-ever appearance in a section final and NorCal game. Congratulations boys!
Varsity girls lacrosse lost to Menlo-Atherton and Sequoia last week to open their season. The JV squad defeated Aragon 9-1 in their debut. The varsity team defeated Santa Catalina 17-14 on Wednesday in Monterey to earn their first victory of the season. Hannah Bollar, grade 11, scored 6 goals, Mary Liu, grade 12, recorded a personal high of five goals and Allison Kiang, grade 11, made three goals. Mabel Luo, grade 12, contributed with two goals, and defender Alicia Clark, grade 12, scored her first goal of the season. The entire team has improved dramatically since the first game of the season. Come support the girls as they play Burlingame at home next Tuesday!
The Eagle track team joined 3,000 other athletes in the K-Bell meet on Saturday. Niki Iyer, grade 9, defeated a strong field in her first ever 3200m run, running a time that would have ranked her in the top 10 in the CCS last year. She was mentioned in the San Jose Mercury News’ After School column http://blogs.mercurynews.com/hssports/2014/03/11/track-and-field-top-performances-from-the-k-bell-classic/
Meanwhile, Sidhart Krishnamurthi and Allen Huang, both grade 11, broke 13 seconds for the first time in their 100m races. Mehul Khetrapal, grade 10, won his race in the 200m and 400m. Lucas Wang and Winnie Li, both grade 9, took over the team long jump lead with fine jumps on Saturday; Li was also the top Eagle runner in the 100m. The team competes Saturday in the St. Francis Invitational.
Boys golf opened league play yesterday with a 182-230 victory over Crystal Springs at Los Lagos. Shrish Dwivedi, grade 11, was the low scorer with a 32. The boys face Crystal again today at Poplar Creek.
Softball lost to Fremont Friday in their opener 14-13. Hits were from: Tong Wu, grade 10; Sarah Bean, grade 11; Briana Liang, grade 11; Nitya Mani, grade 11; Alisa Wakita, grade 10; and Marti Sutton, grade 9. The girls face Silver Creek tomorrow at the middle school campus.
Boys tennis placed third in their division at the Fresno Tournament over the weekend, winning four matches and losing one.
Baseball started the season with losses to St. Lawrence and Washington last week.
This report prepared by Gregory Achten, debate coach
The Harker Forensics program has a proud tradition of excellence and competitive success. Over President’s Day weekend, we had some particularly spectacular results that merit special recognition. One hundred twenty-seven Harker upper and middle school students competed in speech and debate events at the California Round Robin and the California Invitational at UC Berkeley. The California Round Robin is an elite tournament where some of the best debaters nationwide compete by invitation only. The California Invitational tournament had 2,064 entries from 197 schools from 26 states and five countries.
Round Robin In Public Forum, seniors Maneesha Panja and Sebi Nakos took first place in their pools while senior Jithin Vellian and junior Nikhil Kishore took second, causing them to meet in the semifinals. Panja and Nakos advanced and were named champions in Public Forum Debate. Nakos also was named third overall speaker in the division. In Lincoln-Douglas Debate, junior Pranav Reddy and senior Srikar Pyda both placed first in their respective pools. Pyda lost in the semifinals, but Reddy was undefeated and named tournament champion.
California Invitational at UC Berkeley The combined success of all members of the team earned Harker first place in debate sweepstakes and third place in the speech and debate combined sweepstakes. This is a huge accomplishment and all of the students played a part in helping Harker achieve this recognition.
In Lincoln-Douglas, Pranav Reddy won 13 consecutive debates at the tournament, beating out 280 competitors from across the country to be named the champion of one of the largest and most prestigious tournaments in the nation. Reddy is the first student in the history of the Harker Forensics program to win this event in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Reddy’s national dominance was further highlighted in early February by his victory at the Golden Desert Invitational at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
In Public Forum, sophomore Eesha Chona and freshman Joyce Huang advanced to finals, losing a close decision to Presentation High School. Chona and Huang beat out a field of 190 teams to reach the finals. In Congressional Debate senior Saachi Jain was also a finalist out of more than 130 competitors.
March 2, 2014
Harker’s Business and Entrepreneurial Podcast Series posted its fourth interview, this weekend, featuring Adam Draper. Draper is the CEO and founder of Boost, an organization that accelerates startup companies. His online biography notes he has invested in companies, started companies and daydreamed at different times in his life, and adds, “my life’s ambition is to assist in the creation of an Iron Man suit.”
———
Feb. 3, 2014: The third episode of the Business & Entrepreneurship Podcast Series, which features entrepreneur and author Deborah Piscione, is now available for viewing and download in video and audio formats from the Business & Entrepreneurship Podcast Series website, as well as iTunes. Piscione speaks with student Glenn Reddy, grade 11, about her entrepreneurial history in Silicon Valley, her upcoming book and her insights into the future of Silicon Valley business culture.
——–
On Dec. 31, the latest episode of the Business & Entrepreneurship Podcast Series went live, featuring an interview with Scott McNealy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and Harker parent (Maverick ’13; Dakota, grade 10; Colt, grade 9; and Scout, grade 7). During the episode McNealy discusses his most recent venture, the social media service Wayin. The previous episode featured Satish Dharmaraj, a partner at Redpoint Ventures and Harker parent of Nikhil, grade 7, and Nila, grade 2. Dharmaraj grew his previous company, Zimbra, to $20 million in subscription sales.
The podcast series was started by host Glenn Reddy, grade 11, who approached business and entrepreneurship teacher Juston Glass at the start of the school year about taking on a new project. “After some brainstorming, we decided to make a podcast/videocast series featuring prominent Silicon Valley leaders,” Reddy said.
Episodes are recorded in the multimedia studio at the upper school campus and edited by John Jerney, grade 10. “Right now, the series is sponsored by Harker’s business and entrepreneurship department, but I hope to expand it to include miniseries hosted by other Harker clubs and programs,” said Reddy, adding that the plan is to have new episodes every month, each ranging from about 20 to 30 minutes in length.
The much-anticipated Night on the Town, Harker’s 11th annual gala fundraiser, was a smash success on Feb. 28 at the San Jose Marriott.
A live auction got the show started and climaxed in a $15,000 bid for a trip to Los Angeles to see the finale of “American Idol.” After the auction, a montage of video and live performances showcased several of Harker’s performing arts ensembles and reminded the audience of the evening’s purpose: to raise funds for the construction of a theater and gym complex on the upper school campus. Highlights of the live performances were charming mother/son and father/daughter dances, a lip sync by middle school teachers and students, and a rock band showing off the talents of both upper school student and adult musicians (sharp-eyed attendees may have spotted Chris Nikoloff, head of school, behind the drum set).
After the show and dinner, some guests returned to the casino games in the lobby while others danced the night away to tunes spun by a DJ.
Eagle Update: The boys basketball team defeated Pinewood-Los Altos Hills 51-45 Thursday evening throwing a loop into that schools league title hopes– read the Merc article here!
Feb. 18, 2014
Huge news for the girls soccer and boys basketball teams, as one earned the first league championship in school history and the other earned a spot in the San Jose Mercury News after a dramatic upset.
Soccer:
For the first time in Harker’s history, the girls soccer team is the league champion! Two goals from freshman Joelle Anderson and one apiece from freshman Kailee Gifford and junior Gabi Gupta gave the team a 4-0 shutout victory over Summit Prep to complete the girls’ ascent to the title. Now, after their 12-2-1 season and 8-1-1 league campaign, the girls will play a one-game, winner-take-all playoff against the WBAL Foothill Division’s fourth place team, King’s Academy, for a shot at the league’s final remaining CCS playoff birth. Fans can catch the high-pressure action this Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at King’s Academy!
Thursday also will mark senior day for the boys soccer team, which plays at 4 p.m. on Davis Field. Their senior day ceremony will be held just before the game’s start.
Basketball:
More exciting news for Harker sports: For only the third time in 10 years, the boys varsity basketball team defeated rival Sacred Heart Prep 71-65 on the road. Senior Huck Vaughan started in place of injured senior Will Deng and rose to the occasion, scoring a career-high 23 points, shooting 11-16 from the field. Junior Eric Holt anchored the team with a double-double, netting 14 points and 14 rebounds.
The boys’ dramatic upset earned a full report in the San Jose Mercury News, where they were written up as exciting spoilers to Sacred Heart’s title hopes. Vaughan was commended for his “huge game,” and Harker’s coach, Butch Keller, was quoted. The team will ride this wave of momentum into a senior night showdown this Thursday against first place Pinewood.
Wrestling:
Davis Howard has become only the third freshman in Harker’s history to qualify for the CCS Tournament after he and senior Darian Edvalson competed in last week’s league championships and finished sixth in their respective weigh classes, each earning a place in the tournament. Freshman Danny Reidenbach placed fourth in the Junior Varsity Championships.
The fifth-annual Kicks Against Cancer boys and girls varsity soccer games raised more than $5,000 for children who attend Camp Okizu, a camp for cancer patients and their families.
“Camp Okizu provides peer support, respite, mentoring and recreational programs to meet the needs of all members of families affected by childhood cancer. The amount raised this year will help send five children to camp this summer,” reported Dan Molin, upper school athletic director.
The recent games were also a huge success out on the field. “Boys varsity started the double-header with a 6-0 victory over Pinewood. The girls also won by the score of 6-0 v. Summit Prep,” enthused Chris Collins, who works with Molin as an assistant.
The upper school’s Davis Field was the scene of the match off against Summit Preparatory High School and Pinewood High School. Grade 12 students Apurva Gorti and Julia Fink served as Harker’s boys and girls soccer captains, respectively.
The Kicks Against Cancer event got its start four years ago as a collaboration between the Class of 2010 and the varsity soccer coaches. Since then, the event has continued to serve as an opportunity to raise money for Camp Okizu, which runs week-long camp programs in Berry Creek.
This year’s fundraising efforts included a bake sale and T-shirt sale (the $12 T-shirts served as tickets to the games). The soccer teams also used long lunch periods leading up to the games as an opportunity to sell beanies, full-sleeve purple shirts, visors, bracelets and pens. Donations also were accepted during lunch periods.
As in previous years, faculty and staff were invited to pledge money for the number of goals the teams scored. There was even a silly half-time “butts-up” game in which students paid money to try and kick a ball at their favorite teacher’s backside. Game officials also donated their fees to the cause by officiating the games pro-bono.
In addition, the CIF/Central Coast Section website, http://www.cifccs.org/, is featuring the Kicks Against Cancer story and photo!
“The organization and leadership of the fundraiser was all student-driven,” said Molin.
To donate directly to Camp Okizu, visit www.okizu.org.
Congratulations to senior Sreyas Misra, who has been named a finalist in this year’s Intel Science Talent Search, one of eight hailing from the Bay Area. Misra’s project, “Design and Characterization of a Novel Single-headed and Hand-held PET Camera Using 511 keV Photon Collimation via Compton Scatter,” earned him a place among just 40 other students from an original pool of nearly 1,800 entrants. These students will participate in the final stage of the Intel STS in Washington, D.C. from March 6-12, where $630,000 in prizes will be awarded, including the $100,000 grand prize.
—
Ten Harker seniors have been named semifinalists in the 2014 Intel Science Talent Search (STS), the second-highest number of semifinalists in the nation and just one short of Harker’s record of 11, set in 2012.
This year’s semifinalists and their projects are: Vikas Bhetanabhotla (“Identification of Satellite Galaxies around Milky Way Galactic Analogs Using Machine Learning Algorithms”), Stephanie Chen (“Globular Clusters as Tracers of Dark Matter in Virgo Cluster Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies”), Christopher Fu (“Molecular Characterization and Rapid Generation of Human Rotavirus VP6-Specific Monoclonal Antibodies”), Anika Gupta (“Novel Drug Delivery Systems Targeting Cancer Stem Cells for Next-Generation Chemotherapy”), Saachi Jain (“MicroRNA-223 Promotes Macrophage Differentiation”), Sreyas Misra (“Design and Characterization of a Novel Single-Headed and Hand-Held PET Camera Using 511 keV Photon Collimation via Compton Scatter”), Preethi Periyakoil (“A Video-Assisted, Time-Lapse Analysis of the Effects of the ELF5 Transcription Factor on the Morphology and Proliferation Kinetics of Breast Cancer Cells”), Rahul Sridhar (“Understanding the Effect of Hinge Mutations on Domain-Swapping in Antiviral Lectin Cyanovirin-N”), Vikram Sundar (“Computational Analysis of Novel Drug Opportunities Using Protein-Protein Docking”) and Albert Zhao (“Oxygen Reduction Activity of Dodecyne-Functionalized AuPd Nanoparticles”).
These 10 students are among 300 nationwide who were selected from nearly 1,800 original entrants from across the country and in overseas schools. Each semifinalist will be awarded $1,000, and in order to bolster education in science, math and engineering, every semifinalist school will receive $1,000 for each student from that school named a semifinalist.
On Jan. 22, 40 of these semifinalists will be chosen to participate in the final stage of the Intel STS in Washington, D.C., where they will share their work with both the public and the scientific community, and compete for a $100,000 grand prize.
UPDATE: The San Jose Mercury News has a great write up on one Harker’s 30 Under 30 listees! Surbhi Sarna was interviewed on her medical devices development. Read the article, here!
Jan. 10, 2014 Several Harker alumni made Forbes magazine’s coveted “30 Under 30” lists, which showcase young movers and shakers working in various fields.
Sharing the spotlight with notable young celebrities such as snowboarder Shaun White, actress Olivia Wilde and activist Shiza Shahid are three talented Harker grads: Neil Mehta ’02, Surbhi Sarna ’03 and Ilya Sukhar ’03. The third-annual issue was released Jan. 6.
To compile the prestigious lists, Forbes consulted with experts in 15 industries to select the top 30 in each category, totaling some 450 individuals (all under 30 years of age) who are making things happen. The magazine started working on the project in the fall, by choosing the categories and assembling the panel of judges.
A leading source for reliable business news and financial information, Forbes is well known for its listings and rankings. On the cover of its “30 Under 30” issue, it calls the individuals who made the lists “450 game-changers in 15 industries who are building tomorrow – today.”
Below is a look at the three Harker alums who made the “it” lists:
Neil Mehta ’02, Founder of Greenoaks Capital
Neil Mehta ’02 is the managing director of Greenoaks Capital Management LLC, a global principal investment firm dealing in private equity, venture capital, real estate and public market opportunities.
Prior to that, 29-year-old Mehta was a senior investment professional at Orient Property Group Ltd., a Hong Kong-based real estate investment and development firm financed by D.E. Shaw, a premier $20 billion global hedge fund and investment firm based in New York.
Forbes listed Mehta in its finance category, crediting him with managing some $600 million, investing in industries ranging from ecommerce to insurance. The magazine also noted that he “hit home runs” with early investments in a Palo Alto-based software company called Palentir as well as a South Korea-based e-commerce company named Coupang.
“I owe a lot to my colleagues, friends and family. We still have long way to go at Greenoaks, though,” said Mehta, adding that he was proud and impressed to see so many Harker alumni on the list.
Surbhi Sarna ‘03, Founder of nVision Medical
Surbhi Sarna ’03 was this year’s alumni speaker at Harker’s eighth annual Research Symposium, which drew more than 400 attendees. There, she shared the story of how she suffered from painful ovarian cysts in her early teens, which caused her to later become determined to create better conditions in the field of female health.
To this end, the 28-year-old founded the venture-backed nVision Medical in 2009 to develop technology to help gynecologists more quickly detect ovarian cancer. To date, her company has raised some $4.5 million from Catalyst Health Ventures, Draper Associates and Astia, a group that assists female entrepreneurs.
“It is a great honor to be chosen as one of Forbes “30 Under 30.” I know Harker has a lot do to with my drive to be an entrepreneur and I’m grateful for all of the teachers that inspired me while I was there,” she said of her placement in the medical category.
Ilya Sukhar ’03, Co-Founder and CEO of Parse
Ilya Sukhar ’03 made the news several months ago when Facebook acquired his company, Parse, of which he served as co-founder and CEO. Currently, Sukhar runs the Parse business at Facebook, where he also works on platform products.
“There’s a lot of people I really admire on that list, so it’s a nice honor for me to be included,” reported 28-year-old Sukhar, adding “I got back to work pretty quickly, though.”
Sukhar, who is listed in the tech category, said he got the idea for Parse after he experienced the pains of building a mobile app. According to Forbes, he has since turned Parse into a critical service for mobile developers that now provides the backend infrastructure for more than 180,000 apps, including those built by Ferrari, The Food Network and Sesame Street. Facebook bought Parse in April 2013 in a deal reportedly valued at $85 million.
Big news on all campuses in the world of sports today!
First off, lower school:
Our grade 5 JVB1 boys basketball team took the championship last night in what turned out to be a tight game. The boys led most of the game, but Pinewood closed the gap to three points near the finish. Harker pulled it out, though, winning 31-28. The team finished 8-0. Congrats to coach Walid Fahmy and players McCoy Buchsteiner, Brandon Coulter, Nicholas Coulter, Gowtham Irrinki, Michael Mitchell, Jr., James Pflaging, Srinath Somasundaram, Levi Sutton, Dario Tzeng and Eric Zhu.
Middle school:
The grade 6 JVB6 boys basketball team lost in the championship game last night to Sacred Heart after enjoying a fantastic season. The team finished as tri-league champs based on their regular season record of 7-1. The team finished with an overall record of 8-2.
Grade 6 JVA boys basketball team defeated Pinewood, 37-16, to finish the season as third place tournament champs. The team finished with an overall record of 5-5.
In the upper school, two cross country runners were honored by the San Jose Mercury News yesterday: freshman Niki Iyer made first team All-Mercury News for cross country and junior Corey Gonzales made All-Mercury News honorable mention for boys. This is one of the highest honors for high school athletes in CCS. Congratulations to both runners!
Harker students are running a number of fund raisers, gift and food drives this season, as they always do, and they are all detailed in the Greater Good section of the upcoming issue of Harker Quarterly, which should be in your mailboxes during the holiday break. We just got the news on some exceptionally generous gifts, however, and thought we’d share, in this season of sharing. –Ed.
The week after Thanksgiving break, the lower school’s student council sponsored a hot chocolate sale to help raise money to aid relief efforts in the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan and along with the the hot chocolate sales, there were some exceptional gifts made to the fund.
“The fundraiser was a huge success. We were able to raise $726 from the hot chocolate sales. In addition, we had some special donations, which brought our grand total to $6,996,” reported Kristin Giammona, elementary division head.
The special donations included $5,000 from an anonymous grade 5 family, $1,000 from the Mulpuri family (Rahul, grade 3) and $270 from Faux Hair Salon. Faculty and staff also pitched in by donating money to offset the cost of the hot chocolate, which was then sold for $1 a cup.
Further aiding the endeavor were grades 4-5 student council members, who served the hot chocolate. Various lower school teachers, the dean of students and members of the BEST staff helped ensure the sale ran smoothly.
Proceeds from the sale were then combined with funds previously collected by the middle school for donation to Habitat for Humanity to help typhoon victims rebuild their homes and provide clean-up kits. The boost from the middle school drive brought the grand total up to $8,096.12 raised on behalf of the people of the Philippines.
“I am very touched by the generosity and care of our Harker community. We will combine our funds raised with the middle school’s funds and send one check to Habitat for Humanity to assist with the rebuilding of homes in the Philippines,” said Giammona.