Cross country’s season opener took place Saturday at the De La Salle Invitational in Concord, where junior Veyd Patil and senior Kara Kister were Harker’s top runners, finishing with times of 16:36 and 20:37, respectively, on a three-mile course. The runners’ next event will be the Artichoke Invitational in Half Moon Bay on Oct. 1.
Girls golf has played quite well in its last three outings, winning yesterday against Mercy High, defeating both Castilleja and Crystal Springs at Bay View and finishing second behind CCS champions Valley Christian at last week’s Helen Lengfeld Tournament. The team will face Notre Dame Belmont at Moffett Field on Monday.
Varsity football continued its strong start with a convincing 58-0 victory over Burton last Friday. At 3-1, the team will play at home against Crystal Springs this Friday. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Boys water polo won two straight games last week, defeating Lynbrook and Gunn. The team went into last weekend’s St. Francis tournament undefeated in league play and posted a 3-1 record with wins against Novato, Palo Alto and Gunn, and a loss to Valley Christian in the opening game. The team will host Los Gatos at the Singh Aquatic Center on Thursday.
Girls water polo is looking to bounce back at home on Thursday against Los Gatos after tough one-point losses this week to Castilleja (14-13) and Gunn (8-7) following that same week’s win over Lynbrook. Thursday’s contest starts at 4:30 p.m.
Varsity girls volleyball responded to its fifth-set loss to Westmont last week with a victory over Priory on Tuesday. Junior varsity volleyball currently has a 7-5 record after its win at Priory, and the frosh/soph team earned its first win of the season last week against Westmont.
Football’s 27-16 win over San Jose High at its home opener brought the team to a 2-1 record. Senior Rohan Gorti threw for touchdowns to Zeke Weng and Liam Jeffers, while senior Dylan Parikh scored a running touchdown for the Eagles and junior Kevin Bettencourt notched a defensive touchdown. The Eagles will take on San Francisco’s Burton High this Friday at 7 p.m.
At Saturday’s tournament in Aptos, girls water polo posted a 3-0 record to win the tournament, defeating Aptos 10-7 in the final game. The team faces Lynbrook tomorrow night.
Ninth grade golfer Kimaya Mehta recorded Harker’s first-ever hole-in-one earlier this month at the Bayview Golf Club. In league play, sophomore Allison Yang is currently the league’s leading scorer and has been instrumental in Harker’s strong 3-0 start.
Boys water polo won all three of its league openers against Homestead on Tuesday. The team has two games at home this week, facing Lynbrook on Tuesday and Gunn on Thursday.
JV and varsity girls volleyball were both victorious on Wednesday against Willow Glen. The frosh/soph team came up short against Milpitas after a hard-fought game. On Friday, JV and varsity were defeated by the very tough Santa Cruz High teams. The following day, JV performed respectably at the JV Spikefest, placing 12th out of 32 teams. Each team will play at home on Tuesday against Evergreen Valley and Thursday against Westmont.
Harker’s cross country teams will compete in their first race this Saturday at the De La Salle Invitational, and girls’ tennis’ first match is scheduled for Sept. 27.
Football’s season opener at Harbor High on Friday ended with a 44-27 loss. Touchdowns were scored by senior Zeke Weng, senior Rohan Gorti, sophomore Rayan Arya and junior Ryan Barth, who ran back a blocked field goal attempt for his first career touchdown. They face Swett High School Friday.
Girls varsity volleyball lost a tough season opener 3-0 to Branham High on Thursday, while JV was victorious in its match against Branham. The varsity team be at Harbor High tomorrow and compete this Saturday in the Spikefest tournament.
Upcoming games:
The Singh Aquatic Center will be the place to see boys water polo’s season opener on Friday against Skyline High from Utah. JV will play at 6 p.m. and varsity is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
Girls golf’s season opener is today, facing Notre Dame at Moffett Field. The team will face Sacred Heart Prep and Mercy in tri-match this Thursday.
With preparations to defend its titles league and section titles ongoing, the girls tennis team will not compete until Sept. 27.
Girls water polo opened its season on Sept. 6, while girls cross country is set to start competition on Sept. 17.
An estimated 2,500 people visited the upper school campus on Oct. 9 for the inaugural Harker Day, which combined two Harker traditions – the Family & Alumni Picnic and Homecoming – into a full day of games, food, sports and more.
Attendees traversed the campus, playing a variety of games, including Dance Dance Revolution, air hockey and Skee-Ball. Ms. Carly’s Café, Yoshi and ABVE the Basics served many different kinds of food throughout the day and people packed the Patil Theater to watch performances from lower, middle and upper school performing arts groups. Mini Cat Town, a San Jose-based cat rescue organization, had one of the more popular attractions at the event, as guests flocked there to play with adorable kittens.
Students in attendance were glad to see the community reunite in person after so many months away. “I think the community bonding here is a really nice thing,” said Harshini Chaturdevala, grade 10. “Everyone from all the campuses getting together, it’s a really fun experience.”
Loren Due MS ’85, who lounged at the special alumni meetup area, enjoyed returning to Harker to see “all the teachers and students and staff. It’s great seeing all the activities here.” Due noted that he had seen how the original Family & Alumni Picnic evolved and looked forward to seeing what was in store for Harker Day. “It’s a good carryover from Howard Nichols’ original idea of bringing a community together,” he said.
In the afternoon, the Harker Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place, honoring Cole Davis ’10, Drew Goldstein ’13 and Jessica Khojasteh ’11 for their athletic achievements as well as the example they set in becoming global citizens.
In addition to the Homecoming football game, the JV and varsity boys water polo, JV and varsity girls volleyball and varsity girls water polo teams were also in competition, with fans showing their support. Varsity boys and girls water polo, JV boys water polo and JV girls volleyball all picked up wins, while varsity girls volleyball fell to Castilleja.
Toward the evening, guests moved to Davis Field for the start of the 2021 Homecoming festivities, including the tug-of-war contest between the freshman and the sophomores, which was won by the Class of 2024. After two intense quarters of football between the Eagles and visitors Marina High School, audiences enjoyed performances by the Harker cheer squad and the Harker Dance Company and watched the tug-of-war finals between the classes of 2022 and 2025, in which the seniors emerged victorious. The Homecoming game ended with the Eagles falling to Marina with a final score of 26-42.
As one Harker team celebrates a big win, several others look ahead to Harker Day, during which no fewer than six Harker teams will be competing.
In a highly anticipated contest, Harker girls tennis defeated Menlo 5-2 on Tuesday to improve to 5-0 in league play. The team will host Sacred Heart Prep on Tuesday.
Cross country headed to Half Moon Bay High School last Saturday for a successful meet that saw the boys varsity team finish sixth on the strength of runs by junior Rigo Gonzales (13:42) and sophomore Veyd Patil (13:22). The JV team, led by junior Dawson Chen’s 15:50 run, finished fifth. On the varsity girls squad, junior Kara Kister ran for a time of 16:00 to help her team place sixth. The grade 9 team finished in ninth place, with Harris Miller being the team’s top runner with a time of 15:02. Of particular note was sophomore Ethan Liu, who participated in his first-ever cross country race and finished in the top 50.
In an important league match, girls volleyball triumphed over Notre Dame-San Jose last Thursday, improving their record to 6-13.
Football lost a hard-fought game against Priory last Friday that ended in a 44-38 score and saw frequent lead changes. Currently 2-3, the Eagles look to even their record against Marina High at Saturday’s Homecoming game, which will be streamed live on Harker’s YouTube channel.
On Monday, girls golf lost to Los Altos 214-224 in a non-league match, in which senior Tina Xu shot an impressive 39. The team, still undefeated in league play at 7-0, will face another undefeated team, the 8-0 Castilleja, on Monday.
Varsity boys and girls water polo each lost close games to Gunn High on Monday. At press time, both teams still have winning records, with the boys sitting at second place in league play with a record of 6-2 and the girls currently ranking fourth with a record of 5-4. The girls host Castilleja on Thursday evening and Menlo-Atherton on Saturday. The boys, meanwhile, will play Palo Alto High at home on Saturday. Both Saturday games will be streamed live.
In addition to the already mentioned games, JV boys water polo’s matchup against Palo Alto High, JV and varsity volleyball’s games against Castilleja will also be streamed on YouTube. Be sure to catch the action if you’re unable to attend Harker Day!
Harker football won its season opener against San Jose High in a thriller that went into overtime. The Eagles were down by 8 in the third quarter before tying the score at 14, sending the game into overtime, where senior Aaditya Gulati kicked the game-winning field goal. Harker will meet Lynnbrook at Davis Field this Friday.
Girls golf fell to a strong Palo Alto team in non-league play on Thursday, but rebounded to win its league opener against Notre Dame-San Jose the following day.
In its Thursday season opener, girls volleyball lost to Branham High and had a 2-3 record in Saturday’s Spikefest Tournament, defeating Silver Creek and Christopher. The team faces Harbor at home on Tuesday and will host Santa Cruz on Friday.
Several Harker teams have upcoming season openers. Boys water polo will open its season in a Wednesday away game at Valley Christian, while girls water polo starts its season Sept. 7 against Los Altos High. Opening its season that same day will be girls tennis, which will face Monta Vista. Cross country is hard at work preparing for its Sept. 11 start at the Lowell Invitational, held at Golden Gate Park.
Last weekend, Harker football players participated in a seven-on-seven passing tournament with six other area high schools. Harker took second place overall, narrowly falling to host team Harbor High after a pass for a two-point conversion that would have sealed the game was batted away, leaving the final score at 12-13.
In passing leagues, explained Harker head football coach Loren Powers, teams focus on scoring with (and defending against) passing plays. Before the playoff tournament, Harker played four pre-seeding games.
“We were so proud of our football players today!” said assistant coach Juston Glass, who also directs Harker’s business and entrepreneurial programs. “Went into this tournament with just a few scrimmages under our belt and a half-summer of pretty intense and well-executed training and practice.”
The team celebrated its strong performance with a meetup at Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz.
Nearly 1,000 community members visited the upper school tonight for the 2018 Homecoming celebration, where families, faculty and staff socialized, reminisced and cheered on their Harker Eagles.
The evening started with the grand opening of the Harker Athletic Hall of Fame in the new athletic center. Inaugural Hall of Famers are Adam Vucurevich ’02, Jason Martin ’07 and Tanya Schmidt ’08, along with Phyllis Carley, known as “Mrs. Carley” (1920-2009), Harker’s first super fan, represented by her nephew Dale Johnson ’80. Watch for the full story and bios soon.
Revelers began arriving at around 6 p.m. to partake of the food at Mrs. Carley’s Café and watch the teams warm up on Davis Field, while the Harker Pep Band took its place in the stands to provide the evening’s music. Attendees gathered in the bleachers just before kickoff to see the annual pregame traditions: a performance by the lower school’s junior cheer squad and the Eaglets Fly-By. Soon after, the Harker Eagles sprinted through the Gauntlet of Spirit to take the field for their game against the Lobos of Elsie Allen High School. Minutes prior to the start of the game, a brief memorial was held for former head of school Diana Nichols, to honor the tireless effort and depth of vision that was so crucial to making Harker what it is today.
The Eagles scored 21 points in the first quarter and were up 35-0 by halftime, during which the crowd witnessed the exciting finale of this year’s tug-of-war contest, in which the seniors triumphed over the juniors. The upper school cheer squad and varsity dance team performed to an enthusiastic response from the crowd, just before Dr. Teja Patil recieved Harker’s 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award, followed by the crowning of this year’s Homecoming Monarchs, seniors Kelsey Wu and Neil Ramaswamy. The Eagles won with a final score of 56-0.
Saturday night’s Homecoming celebration brought hundreds of members of the Harker community together to watch the soaring Harker Eagles, who had a 4-0 record going into the game, face off against the Rams of Rio Vista High School. Prior to the game, families socialized and enjoyed a variety of food options at the tailgate area, while performances by the lower school’s junior cheerleaders and the always-popular Eaglets got the crowd amped for the main event.
Rio Vista scored early to go up 7-0, but for the remainder of the half, it was all Eagles, who scored 23 unanswered points.
At halftime, the crowd enjoyed energizing performances by the Harker cheerleaders and the varsity dance troupe, and celebrated the crowning of this year’s Homecoming king and queen, seniors Peter Connors and Eleanor Xiao.
In the second half, Harker extended its lead by 10 points, which remained until Rio Vista responded in the fourth quarter with a last-second touchdown. Harker won with a final score of 33-13.