This article originally appeared in the spring 2016 Harker Quarterly.
With hundreds of grade 5-8 students competing on dozens of teams and using facilities at three campuses, the lower and middle school sports program has become a force to be reckoned with. The program is a finely tuned machine that helps produce well-rounded Harker students, many of whom will move on to the upper school. It balances competitiveness, hard work and learning, all while emphasizing the love for the game.
Theresa “Smitty” Smith has the task of managing 55 lower and middle school teams in 16 sports, as well as coaching the upper school varsity girls volleyball team – for which she recently eclipsed 300 career wins. But it is all in a day’s work, she says. “There are a bazillion kids in the program, there are tons of teams. It’s a huge undertaking. But we have a really good program and I’m proud of that.”
Dedicated Coaches
Gazing around the middle school gym just outside of Smith’s office, one can see the source of her pride in the many championship banners.
Since 2008, the middle and lower schools have won 56 league titles. Smith gives the credit for the program’s success to her amazing coaches. “Any extra help that I need, all hands are on board. It’s a great unit of people to work with,” Smith said. “All are willing to jump in and take initiative, and it makes my job easier.” There are plenty of hands to help, too, as Smith has more than 40 devoted coaches and assistants, with about a 50-50 split between walk-on coaches and Harker employees.
One of those coaches is Raul Rios, who has been working with Harker athletes for a decade. During the fall and winter, Rios can be found with the middle school athletes; in the spring he works with the upper school students. “I coach because I love sports and working with kids,” said Rios, who also heads up the shipping and receiving department at Harker. “It’s very rewarding seeing somebody using something you taught them and succeeding with it.”
Dan Pringle is another loyal coach, who first began coaching at Harker in 2000. Pringle is involved with four different middle school sports and also assists the upper school’s girls varsity basketball team. One might think that kind of schedule would take its toll on a coach, but not Pringle. “Every year coaching at Harker, there has been a special memory of a team, player or season that brings a smile to my face and shows me how lucky I am to be coaching at such a great school,” stated Pringle.
The sound of dozens of basketballs beating against the pavement as three girls teams practiced on the blacktop was almost deafening, but Charlotte Blanc, grade 8, loudly stated, “Coach Pringle is the best basketball coach I’ve ever had. He’s really serious and he’s really funny. He pushes you to work really hard.”
Hard Work On and Off the Field
Hard work is a common theme in conversations with Harker athletes, and is clearly something they do not shy away from. When asked for a favorite Harker sports memory, Ryan Tobin, grade 7, said, “We were playing soccer against Menlo last year and it was back and forth all game. The whole team worked their hardest and never gave up and we eventually won.”
So what makes Harker athletes wantto work and try so hard? “Our students are unique, because at a very young age they are motivated to be successful in the classroom,” said Brighid Wood, coach and assistant to the middle school athletic directors. “We have been able
to extend that focus onto the eld and have seen some amazing results.”
Dhruv Saoji, grade 6, thinks the influence sometimes moves in the opposite direction. “Sports help you focus. It lets you clear your mind and then you have a fresh mind when you go back to academics.” Whether it is academics influencing sports or sports influencing academics, Harker students seem to enjoy bringing the same intensity into both arenas.
The work ethic displayed by Harker students produces an amazing effect in that the student athletes actually grow and evolve in their sports, and as people. “My favorite part of coaching is getting to see the progression in the kids,” said first year Harker coach Brittney Moseley. “Just seeing how much they’ve grown on and off the field is beneficial and shows that I’ve done my job.” Wood added. “As [the students] grow in our system, we’ve seen some great strides on and off of the field. I feel like the success is found in development of character alongside ability, and that is always our goal.”
The Element of Fun
But the middle school athletic program isn’t only about work ethic and personal growth, it is also about the athletes enjoying themselves. According to Smith, one of the philosophies of the program is “the element of fun.” When asked why he plays sports, Saoji answered just as one would expect a sixth grader to: “It’s time to have fun!” Though a little older, Blanc answered the question similarly: “It’s always so much fun. Even if your teammates aren’t your friends regularly at school, you connect as a team.”
“Last year we won the championship and all had an amazing time,” said basketball player Ashley Barth, grade 6. “We bonded as a team and became really close friends!”
Pringle hopes his coaching style encompasses all these qualities. “I want all my student athletes to gain confidence and self esteem while learning how to work as a team, and build lifelong relationships while having fun.”
Preparing for High School
The results of the middle school sports experience are evident at the upper school campus. Jared Anderson, grade 9, is one of the stars of the boys varsity soccer team this year and a product of the Harker sports program. “The middle school sports program prepared me for high school sports because it led me to understand the competitiveness of high school sports without too much pressure being placed on me,” Anderson noted.
Joelle Anderson, grade 11, who has been lighting up the scoreboard this year for the girls varsity basketball team, partially credits her success to her Harker middle school coaches. “They help you develop your skills. Those skills come in to effect when you play at a higher level,” she said.
In addition to the sport-specific preparation the Harker athletes receive in middle school, the variety of sporting opportunities also serves students well at the next level.
This year, Rachel Cheng, grade 11, earned a West Bay Athletic League first team honor in volleyball, but she might not have discovered her talent if not for the breadth of sports offered at the middle school. “I delved into a number of sports when I was in middle school,” she said. “I ran cross country, track and eld, played soccer and played volleyball,” recalled Cheng. “I experimented with all these different kinds of sports, so I could easily nd which ones I was good at, and which ones were my passion.”
Giving young student athletes choices and opportunities is all part of the pathway that Harker’s sports community has built over the years. Academics have always been prevalent at Harker, but appealing to students with a high interest in athletics has become a focus in recent years. “When we initially started the upper school one grade at a time, a lot of our students and parents were hesitant to go [there].
Our better athletes went to the Mittys and Bellarmines and St. Francises,” remembered Smith. “Within the last ve years, the retention rate on those top athletes has exploded.” This retention rate has shown great results as the upper school just came off one of its best fall seasons in Harker history, with five teams making the postseason. This success may not have been possible without the groundwork that Smith and her coaches create in their athletes at the lower and middle school levels.
On any given day, on any given Harker campus, a sixth grader could be scoring his first-ever basket, or an eighth grader kicking her nal goal before heading to the upper school. But whether their teams are playing in a championship or working on drills, the Harker playing eld is always filled with joy.
“You can’t make everyone happy, but I think we make a lot of people happy,” stated Smith with a slight grin.
This article originally appeared in the spring 2016 Harker Quarterly.
Winter Sports Wrap
The winter sports season was one for the Harker history books! Harker’s teams set scoring records, broke opponents’ streaks and reached new heights in the playoffs. And the Eagles continue to soar as the spring season gets underway.
Girls Basketball
The girls varsity basketball team started the season on fire, winning nine of its first 10 games by an average margin of victory of 31 points. The team finished with an impressive 16-8 regular season record, and third place in the West Bay-Skyline Division.
The Eagles headed into CCS with a No. 10 ranking in the Division 4 tournament, which gave them home court advantage against their first round opponent, Terra Nova. However, injuries and illnesses left the Eagles shorthanded and the team fell to the Tigers 52-44, ending Harker’s season.
Leading the way for the Eagles were Joelle Anderson and Jordan Thompson, both grade 11. Anderson averaged 14.3 points per game, while Thompson averaged an amazing 27.2 points per game, the best in the CCS and fifth in the state, according to MaxPreps.com. Thompson also became Harker’s all-time leading scorer this season, with her senior year still ahead of her.
Thompson was honored with a WBAL first-team selection, Anderson was named to the second team, and Satchi Thockchom and Selin Sayiner, both grade 10, received honorable mentions. Coach Tomas Thompson has his sights set high for the program’s future. “This was a great year for Harker girls basketball. Next year we return all five starters and, if we continue to work hard, we will contend for the league championship and have goals to advance in CCS,” he said. “This is the start of something special, and we can’t wait to get back to practice to get to the next level.”
Boys Basketball
The Eagles opened the year by winning the James Lick Invitational Tournament, the first tournament championship under coach Butch Keller. Elijah Edgehill, grade 12, was named tournament MVP, averaging 14 points and 14 rebounds a game.
The Eagles finished the season with a 12-12 record, making the playoffs as the No. 11 seed in the CCS Division 4 playoffs. They traveled to San Lorenzo Valley for their first round game, where the very talented Cougars defeated Harker 67-47, ending the team’s season. Edgehill and Roy Yuan, grade 9, led the Eagles offensively as Edgehill averaged 13.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, while Yuan dropped in a team high 15.2 points per game.
The boys basketball team also racked up accolades. Edgehill was named to the WBAL first team, Rohan Desikan, grade 12, received an honorable mention, and the team shined in the classroom, as it won the CCS scholastic championship with a 3.655 team GPA.
“This group worked really hard all year, from summer league to the Thanksgiving and winter breaks,” stated Keller. “This was a remarkable team.”
Wrestling
Although the varsity wrestling team was winless this year, several of its wrestlers had impressive individual seasons. Davis Howard, grade 11, became only the fourth Harker wrestler in school history to reach the league finals.
Howard finished second in league in his weight class and qualified for the CCS tournament, where he went 3-2 and became just the sixth Harker wrestler to reach the second day of the CCS tournament.
Anthony Contreras, grade 10, placed third in league and also qualified for CCS, where he had a solid 1-2 performance. Meanwhile, Daniel Reidenbach, grade 11, placed eighth in league for his weight class, although he didn’t qualify for CCS. Howard, Contreras and Reidenbach were each named to the all-league team. As a team, the Harker wrestlers were named the CCS scholastic champion with a 3.475 team GPA.
Coach Karriem Stinson said, “I have been working with these guys since middle school. It’s great to see them grow up.”
Girls Soccer
It was a rebuilding year for a very young varsity girls soccer team. They fielded only one senior, lost multiple starters and played up to a higher division. The Eagles went 0-15-1 on the season, but with a team comprising mostly underclassmen, the future looks bright.
The team always worked hard and stayed positive, and it showed as four Eagles were named to the WBAL all- league team. Lyndsey Mitchell, grade 11, was a first team selection, Anuva Mittal, grade 11, was named to the second team, and Layla Walker, grade 12, and Maile Chung, grade 11, were both honorable mentions.
“Throughout the year, we really grew as a team and became more comfortable with each other,” said Mitchell. “I’m really excited for next year.”
Boys Soccer
The boys varsity soccer team played well all season, finishing with a 7-9-1 record and fourth place in the WBAL.
The Eagles started the season off on the right foot with a couple of big wins. First, they defeated Valley Christian 3-0 on Davis Field. Two days later, the Eagles made history as they upended Sacred Heart
Prep 2-1 on their home field. Jared Anderson, grade 9, scored both goals in Harker’s first win at SHP in nearly 10 years and the Gators’ first home loss in five years!
The Eagles were well represented in the WBAL All-League awards as Oisin Coveney, grade 12, was a first-team selection, Omar Hamade, grade 12, was named to the second team, and Rohit Shah, grade 10, and Anderson were both honorable mentions. The boys soccer team also finished third for the CCS scholastic championship with team GPA of 3.680. “We had a really talented group with lots of raw talent,” stated Hamade. “It was super fun working with everyone on the team. We are all a family.”
Lower and Middle School Results
The early winter sports season for grades 4-8 has concluded. Nearly 220 lower and middle school students participated in boys basketball and girls soccer.
Our varsity B and JVB1 boys basketball teams were both league and tournament champs!
Here are the teams’ final results:
VB (Grades 7-8) Boys Basketball: The varsity B team, coached by Josh Miller and Rich Amarillas, finished in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record and went 9-0 overall. They were league champs of the south division and tournament champs!
Team awards went to Michael Mitchell, grade 7 (MVP), Vance Vu, grade 8 (Eagle) and Vedanth Sundaram, grade 8 (Coaches).
VB2 (Grade 7) Boys Basketball: The varsity B2 team, coached by Jon Cvitanich, finished in sixth place in the WBAL with a 3-4 record. Team awards went to Levi Sutton (MVP), Marcus Anderson (Eagle) and Anmol Velagapudi (Coaches).
JVA (Grade 6) Boys Basketball: The junior varsity A team, coached by Mike Delfino, finished in fourth place in the WBAL with a 3-3 record and went 3-4 overall. Team awards went to Rishi Jain (MVP), Anquan Boldin Jr. (Eagle) and Alex Zhang (Coaches).
JVB6 (Grade 6) Boys Basketball: The junior varsity B6 team, coached by Matt Arensberg, finished in fifth place in the WBAL with a 3-4 record. Team awards went to Marcus Page (MVP), Josh Tseitlin (Eagle) and Jack Hayashi (Coaches).
MS Intramural Boys Basketball: Team awards went to Tuhin Chatterjee, grade 7 (MVP), Alex Shing, grade 8 (Eagle) and Harrison Chang, grade 6, and Akshay Manglik, grade 7 (Coaches). The team was coached by CJ Cali, Jeff Martarano and Raul Rios.
JVB1(Grade 5) Boys Basketball: The junior varsity B1 team, coached by Dan Pringle and Karriem Stinson, finished in first place in the WBAL with a 7-0 record and went 9-0 overall. They were league champs and tournament champs! Team awards went to Matthew Chen (MVP), Zeke Weng (Eagle), and Michael P aging and Armaan Thakker (Coaches).
JVB2 (Grade 5) Boys Basketball: The junior varsity B2 team, coached by Kristian Tiopo, finished in fourth place in the WBAL with a 4-3 record. Team awards went to Boulus Ajlouny (MVP), Max Pflaging (Eagle) and Pranav Mullappalli (Coaches).
JVC (Grade 4) Boys Basketball: The junior varsity C team, coached by Jim McGovern, finished in fourth place in the WBAL with a 4-3 record. Team awards went to Om Tandon (MVP), Rohin Bhagat (Eagle) and Spencer Mak (Coaches).
LS Intramural Boys Basketball: Team awards went to Panav Gogte, grade 4 (MVP), Jack Ledford and Kyle Leung, both grade 4 (Eagle) and Vivek Nayyar, grade 4 (Coaches). The team was coached by Ken Allen and Jeff Paull.
VA (Grades 7-8) Girls Soccer: The varsity A team, coached by Brighid Wood, Brittney Moseley and Kelcie Lai, finished in seventh place in the WBAL with a record of 2-5-0. Team awards went to Aria Wong and Hannah Grannis, both grade 7, (MVP), and Dylan Williams, grade 7, and Delaney Logue, grade 8 (Coaches).
JVA (Grade 6) Girls Soccer: The junior varsity A team, coached by Cyrus Merrill and Mandy Schroeder, finished in fifth place in the WBAL with a record of 2-3-1. Team awards went to Ashley Barth (MVP), Angela Jia (Eagle) and Diana Kohr (Coaches).
JVB (Grade 5) Girls Soccer: The junior varsity B team, coached by Lisa Lubke and Jared Ramsey, finished in second place in the WBAL with a record of 2-1- 1 and went 2-3-1 overall. Team awards went to Anya Chauhan (MVP), Anika Muddu (Eagle) and Jia Parikh (Coaches).
LS Intramural Girls Soccer: Team awards went to Ananya Sriram, grade 4 (Eagle) and Kinnera Mulam, grade 4 (Coaches). The team was coached by Randy Le Gris and Maria Maldonado.
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 summer 2015 Harker Quarterly.
Varsity A (grades 7 and 8) girls volleyball, coached by Stephanie Coleman and Diana Melendez, finished the season 5-1, taking second place in the West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) Gold Division. The team awards went to Allison Cartee, grade 8 (MVP), Srija Gadiraju, grade 8 (Eagle) and Lauren Beede, grade 7 (Coaches).
Varsity B (grades 7 and 8) girls volleyball, coached by Sarah Prudencio, finished undefeated at 7-0, taking first place in the WBAL South. The team awards went to Allison Jia, grade 7 (MVP), Lilly Anderson, grade 8 (Eagle) and Laura Wu, grade 8 (Coaches).
Varsity B2 (grades 7 and 8) girls volleyball, coached by Mandy Schroeder, finished 6-1, taking second place in the WBAL South. The team awards went to Cindy Wang, grade 8 (MVP), Rashmi Iyer, grade 7 (Eagle) and Mina Stojanovic, grade 7 (Coaches).
Junior Varsity A (grade 6) girls volleyball, coached by Vonda Reid, finished undefeated at 7-0, taking first place in the WBAL Gold Division. The team awards went to Julia Yusupov (MVP), Michelle Ning (Eagle) and Vidya Jeyendran (Coaches).
Junior Varsity B6 (grade 6) girls volleyball, coached by Tina Mai, finished 3-3, taking third place in the WBAL. The team awards went to Katerina Fenner (MVP), Annamma Vazhaeparambil (Eagle) and Aria Wong (Coaches).
Varsity A (grade 7 and 8) baseball, coached by Dan Pringle, Matt Arensberg and Tim Hopkins, finished 2-4, taking fifth place in the WBAL. Team awards went to Logan Frank, grade 8 (MVP), Andrew Skrobak, grade 8 (Eagle), and Jared Anderson and Jack Dawson (Coaches), both grade 8.
Junior Varsity A (grades 6 and 7) baseball, coached by Jeff Paull, Matt Haberli and Joe Newman, finished 4-1 in league and 6-2 overall, taking second place in the WBAL. Team awards went to AJ Escobar (MVP), Luke Wancewicz (Eagle) and Ricky Wardenburg (Coaches), all grade 6.
Varsity A (grades 7 and 8) boys volleyball, coached by Pete Anderson, went 10-0 in league and 11-0 overall, taking first place and the tournament championship in the ADAL. Team awards went to Chris Gong (MVP), Charlie Molin (Eagle) and Zachary Wong (Coaches), all grade 8.
Junior Varsity A (grades 6 and 7) boys volleyball, coached by Diana Melendez and Kurt Schwartz, went 4-4, taking fourth place in the Art David Athletic League (ADAL). Team awards went to Utkarsh Priyam (MVP), Andrew Lee (Eagle) and Anish Kilaru (Coaches), all grade 6.
Coed water polo (grades 6-8), coached by Ted Ujifusa and Peter Blume, went 4-0 at the WBAL championships. Team awards went to Bobby Bloomquist, grade 8 (MVP), Matthew Hajjar, grade 8 (Eagle), and Leah Anderson, grade 6 and Rohan Sonecha, grade 7 (Coaches).
Middle school track (grades 6-8), coached by Allison Burzio, Margaret Huntley, Kelcie Lai and Karriem Stinson, took first place at the WBAL track meet in the 4 X 100 grade 8 girls relay (Alex Janssen, Sara Min, Alycia Cary and Julia Amick) the 400 and 800 (Amick) and the long jump (Janssen). Team awards went to Amick (MVP), Anton Novikov and Arya Mahesh- wari (Eagle), both grade 6, and Rosh Roy and Elizabeth Fields (Coaches), both grade 6.
Varsity A tennis (grades 6-8), coached by JP Fruttero and John Fruttero, went undefeated at 7-0 in the WBAL and took first place in the WBAL and in the WBAL tournament. They finished 4-4 in the Mid-Peninsula Tennis Patrons Junior Tennis League (MTP) and will be competing in the MTP tournament next week. Team awards went to Joshua Valluru, grade 7 and Neil Ramaswamy, grade 8 (MVP), Gina Partridge, grade 7 and Anjay Saklecha, grade 8 (Eagle), and Jack Hansen and Simar Bajaj, both grade 7 (Coaches).
Middle school golf (grades 6-8), coached by Ie-Chen Cheng, finished in second place at the spring WBAL golf tournament at Crystal Springs Golf Course. Par was a 36. Competitors were: Alexander King, grade 7 (41), Aditya Tadimeti, grade 6 (42), Jaimin Bhagat, grade 7 (45), Ronit Gagneja, grade 7 (45), Abhinav Joshi, grade 8 (46), Katelyn Vo, grade 7 (52), Natalie Vo, grade 6 (54) and Elvin Chen, grade 6 (56).
This article originally appeared in the spring 2015 Harker Quarterly.
Girls Basketball
Varsity A (grades 7-8) girls basketball, coached by Richard Amarillas and Angelo Parangat, finished the season with a league record of 1-5 and have the WBAL tournament remaining on the schedule. Team awards went to Jennifer Hayashi (MVP), Lilly Wancewicz (Eagle), and Prameela Kottapalli (Coaches), all grade 8.
Varsity B (grade 7) girls basketball, coached by Allison Burzio and Kelcie Lai, is currently 3-3 with one game and the WBAL tournament remaining. Team awards went to Cassandra Ruedy (MVP), Adhya Hoskote (Eagle) and Radhika Jain (Coaches). Junior Varsity A (grade 6) girls basketball, coached by Coli Simmons and Jon Cvitanich, finished the league season with a 7-0 record and are league champs! The girls will also participate in the WBAL tournament. Team awards went to Courtni Thompson (MVP), Hunter Hernandez (Eagle) and Reina Joseph (Coaches).
Middle school (grades 6-8) intramural basketball, coached by Chrissy Chang and Vince Salinas, enjoyed working on the fundamental skills of basketball and playing intersquad scrimmages. Team awards went to Vaishnavi Murari and Shreya Srinivasan (Eagle) and Aditi Vinod (Coaches).
Wrestling
Middle school (grades 6-8) wrestling, coached by Karriem Stinson, Charlie Ward, Jason Mendel and Jeff Paull, worked tirelessly to learn the fundamentals of wrestling. They will compete in two upcoming tournaments. Team awards went to Kobe Howard, grade 8 (MVP), Devin Keller, grade 7 (Eagle), and Eric Fang, grade 7 and Anish Kilaru, grade 6 (Coaches).
Boys Soccer
Varsity A (grade 8) boys soccer, coached by Matt Arensberg, is currently 3-1-1 with two matches remaining in the season. Team awards went to Jared Anderson (MVP), Edwin Su (Eagle), and Aleksander Erk and Logan Frank (Coaches).
Varsity B (grade 7) boys soccer, coached by Emily Oliver, finished the season with a league record of 2-2-1. Team awards went to Andrew Cheplyansky (MVP), Henry Wiese (Eagle) and Griffin Crook (Coaches).
Varsity B2 (grades 6-7) boys soccer, coached by Cyrus Merrill, is currently 0-6 with one match remaining in the season.
Junior Varsity A (grade 6) boys soccer, coached by Brighid Wood, is currently 3-1 with one match remaining in the season.
Team awards went to Ryan Tobin (MVP), Tuhin Chatterjee (Eagle), and Arjun Virmani and Rosh Roy (Coaches).
This article originally appeared in the winter 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Football Varsity A flag football (grade 8) went 4-2 in league (third place) and 10-2 overall. The VA team also took first place at the Harker Flag Football tournament. Team awards went to Demonte Aleem (MVP), Jackson Williams (Eagle), and Charlie Molin and Zachary Hoffman (Coaches).
Varsity B flag football (grade 7) went 3-3 in league (fifth place) and 7-5 overall. The VB team also took first place at the Harker Flag Football tournament. Team awards went to James Rugnao and Aaron Featherstone (Co-MVP), Jeffrey Liu (Eagle) and Naveen Mirapuri (Coaches).
Junior varsity A flag football (grade 6) went 5-1 in league (second place) and 6-1 overall. Team awards went to Michael Mitchell (MVP), Srinath Somasundaram (Eagle), and Arjun Virmani and Marcus Anderson (Coaches).
Softball Varsity A softball (grade 6-8) went 6-1 in league (second place) and 6-2 overall. Team awards went to Lily Wancewicz and Taylor Lam, both grade 8 (Co-MVP), Alaina Valdez, grade 6 (Eagle) and Cameron Zell, grade 8 (Coaches).
Cross Country Cross country (grades 6-8) enjoyed a phenomenal season! In the final three meets of the season, the team really turned up the heat.
The following were first-place finishers at the Harker meet: Julia Amick, Alycia Cary, Lilia Gonzales, Aneesha Kumar and Anika Rajamani, all grade 8; and Gina Partridge, grade 7. These eighth graders also all were first-place finishers at the Menlo meet, and Amick, Cary, Gonzales, Partridge and Rajamani were first-place finishers at the WBAL final meet.
Team awards went to Mihir Sharma, grade 7 and Amick (top runners); Partridge, Arya Maheshwari, grade 6, and Alex Rule, grade 8 (co-MVPs); Gonzales, Anna Weirich, grade 8, and Noah Lincke, grade 8 (Eagle); and Kumar, Jasmine Wiese and Grant Miner, both grade 7 (Coaches).
Swimming The lower and middle school swim team participated in the Harker and Castilleja meets. First-place finishers at the Harker meet were Lorenzo Martinelli, grade 4, in the 100 IM and 100 freestyle; Ysabel Chen, grade 5, in the 100 IM and 100 freestyle; Ethan Hu, grade 7, in the 100 IM and 50 freestyle; Angela Li, grade 8, in the 100 IM and 50 backstroke; Bobby Bloomquist, grade 8, in the 50 freestyle; Rhys Edwards, grade 6, in the 50 breaststroke; and Matthew Hajjar, grade 8, in the 50 breaststroke.
First-place finishers in the Castilleja meet were Brandon Wang, grade 4, in the 100 IM and 100 freestyle; Hu in the 100 IM and 50 freestyle; Anh My Tran, grade 7, in the 50 freestyle; Bloomquist in the 50 freestyle and 50 backstroke; Li in the 50 butterfly and 200 breaststroke; Leland Rossi, grade 6, in the 50 backstroke; Andrew Fox, grade 4, in the 25 breaststroke; and Leon Lu, grade 8, in the 50 breaststroke.
Awards for middle school swimming went to Li (MVP), Leah Anderson, grade 6 (Eagle), and Evan Bourke, grade 6 (Coaches). Awards for lower school swimming went to Lorenzo Martinelli (MVP), Arianna Martinelli, grade 4 (Eagle), and Daniel Fields, grade 5 (Coaches).
This article originally appeared in the spring 2014 Harker Quarterly.
What an amazing winter it was for Harker sports! While the East Coast was blanketed in snow, the sun shone bright on California – and nowhere did it shine brighter than on Harker’s athletes, who pushed further and, for some, achieved more than they ever had before. That’s right, while California faced a drought, Harker’s athletes ended two droughts of their own, with one team winning a league championship for the first time in school history and another becoming the first the boys team of any sport to qualify for the section finals. After a fall that saw Harker athletes take home a CCS Division IV cross country league championship, WBAL cross country championship and a WBAL women’s golf championship, Harker’s teams kept rolling all through the winter, making this a year to remember for Harker athletics. Let’s get to it!
Soccer
This was one of the greatest girls soccer seasons in Harker’s history, as the team won the most victories ever for a Harker girls soccer team en route to a 12-3-1 overall record and a league championship. The season ended when the team lost a heartbreaker to King’s Academy in the last 30 seconds of the game. A King’s Academy goal gave Harker’s rivals a 2-1 win and catapulted them into the CCS tournament, stunning Harker.
Harker’s achievements in the WBAL were well-recognized this year. Out of four All-League team awards, Harker received three. Freshman Joelle Anderson won forward of the year, junior Gabi Gupta won defender of the year and senior Alicia Clark was recognized as goalkeeper of the year. Harker also saw five athletes make First Team All-League and another make Second Team All-League, with two honorable mentions. On First Team All-League was senior Julia Fink, juniors Safia Khouja and Nikita Parulkar, and freshmen Kailee Gifford and Lyndsey Mitchell. On Second Team All-League was junior Alyssa Amick, while sophomore Sadhika Malladi and freshman Anuva Mittal were each awarded honorable mentions.
The girls, meanwhile, averaged a jaw-dropping 4.75 goals per game, which befits a league champion. More than a third of those goals – a staggering figure – were scored by Joelle Anderson, who scored 27. Kailee Gifford scored 18. Anderson also had 19 assists, giving her an average – an average! – of 4.6 points per game, while Gifford had 11 assists and an average of 3.1 points per game. Nikita Parulkar averaged 1.3 points per game.
Harker students are not just talented athletes, they are also incredible people, whose sportsmanship and character unite the community. With their season over, the girls had one last great act left in them. The squad changed the start time of its year-end banquet to be able to travel to watch the varsity boys basketball team in its CCS tournament game. The gesture was just the latest reminder of the great work Harker’s athletes do both on and off the field.
Meanwhile, the boys finished the year with a tremendous 11-6-2 record. Despite winning nearly two-thirds of their games, the boys missed the CCS tournament. Sophomore Omar Hamade led the team for the year with 15 goals, and sophomore Oisin Coveney cracked double digits as well with 10. Jeremiah Anderson, grade 11, led the team with 10 assists, while Hamade and Kevin Moss, grade 12, had 8 and 7, respectively. That means that Hamade led the team for the year with 38 points, finishing with an average of more than two points per game, while Coveney and Anderson each averaged more than a point per game. Overall, the team averaged about 2.7 goals per game.
Basketball
This winter the boys, led by coach Butch Keller, made their first-ever appearance in the section finals. This was the first time any Harker boys team has qualified for the section finals in any sport! Here’s how they got there:
After going 15-9 in league play in the regular season, the boys earned a first-round bye in the 2014 CCS Boys Basketball Division IV Championship. In the second round, the boys met Carmel at Harker and outplayed them for a 46-40 victory. Next, they packed up and headed down the winding, sylvan road to Santa Cruz to defeat Soquel 46-40 in a quarterfinal matchup at Kaiser Arena. That win catapulted them into the semifinals, where they returned to the Bay to face off against Seaside at Menlo School. There, the boys walked away with a sound victory, trumping Seaside 71- 61. That set up a finals game between Harker and Sacred Heart Prep. The event united the Harker community, and a generous donor stepped up to sponsor the admission fee for all students, faculty and faculty spouses. Fans poured in to watch Harker compete to bring home the title, but the Eagles dropped a heartbreaker, 48-37.
The boys went on to compete for the first time in the Northern California Playoffs in a single elimination tournament at St. Patrick/St. Vincent of Vallejo, where they finished their season with a 60-42 loss.
Earlier in the year, for only the third time in 10 years, the boys varsity basketball team defeated rival Sacred Heart on the road. 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. Huck Vaughan, grade 12, was commended for his “huge game,” and Coach Keller was quoted.
The girls, meanwhile, went all the way to the third round of the CCS tournament, losing a heartbreaker by three points to Mercy Burlingame. After the regular season ended, the girls met Oceana at Harker for a first round matchup for the right to continue on in the tournament. The girls crushed Oceana 58-49, sending them to Archbishop Riordan for a second-round matchup against Immaculate Conception Academy. They walked away again with a large victory, trouncing Immaculate Conception 52-44. From there, it was on to the third round, where the girls lost 30- 27 to Mercy Burlingame at College of San Mateo.
Nithya Vemireddy, grade 12, led the girls with 12.4 points per game and 323 total points. Jordan Thompson, grade 9, was second in both categories with an even 11.0 points per game and 287 points on the year, and Regina Chen, grade 12, finished third with 7.6 points per game and 182 total points. Chen also led the team with 4.8 assists per game.
For the boys, Wei Wei Buchsteiner, grade 12, led the team with 270 total points, giving him an even 10 per game, while Eric Holt, grade 11, who was limited to just 18 games this season, led the team with 12.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, meaning that he nearly averaged a doubledouble per game.
Wrestling
It was another great year for Harker wrestling. Davis Howard became only the third freshman in Harker’s history to qualify for the CCS tournament, after he and senior Darian Edvalson each competed in the league championships and finished sixth in their respective weight classes, earning them places in the tournament. Danny Reidenbach, grade 9, placed fourth in the junior varsity championships.
This article originally appeared in the spring 2014 Harker Quarterly.
The late winter sports season is coming to an end. Congratulations to all the boys soccer, girls basketball and wrestling teams for a great season!
We had a near league championship, lost by just one point (grade 6-7 girls basketball). Read on for details!
Varsity A girls basketball, coached by Allison Burzio and Chrissy Chang, finished 1-7, eighth place in the WBAL. Team awards went to Tiffany Shou (MVP), Selin Sayiner (Eagle), and Megan Huynh (Coaches), all grade 8.
Varsity B girls basketball, coached by Dan Pringle and C.J. Cali, finished 7-1, second in the WBAL. Team awards went to Jennifer Hayashi, grade 7 (MVP); Prameela Kottapalli, grade 7 (Eagle); and Alexandra Janssen, grade 7 and Charlotte Blanc, grade 6 (Coaches).
Junior Varsity A girls basketball, coached by Gus Cordova and Therese Wunnenberg, finished 1-8, ninth place in the WBAL. Team awards went to Haley Arena (MVP), Annabelle Ju (Eagle), and Cassandra Ruedy (Coaches), all grade 6.
Varsity A boys soccer, coached by Brighid Wood, finished 4-2-2, third place in the WBAL. Team awards went to Nicolas Acero (MVP), Mason Menaker (Eagle), and Erik Tran (Coaches), all grade 8.
Varsity B boys soccer, coached by Matt Arensberg and Joe Newman, is currently 2-2-1 in the WBAL. Team awards went to Edwin Su (MVP), Krish Kapadia (Eagle), and Alex Rule and Rahul Goyal (Coaches), all grade 7.
Junior Varsity A boys soccer, coached by Cyrus Merrill and Sean Kamkar, is currently 0-6 in the WBAL. Team awards went to Andrew Cheplyansky (MVP), Asmit Kumar (Eagle), and Karthik Nukala (Coaches), all grade 6.
Wrestling is coached by Karriem Stinson and Jason Mendel. Team awards went to Anthony Contreras (MVP), grade 8; Kobe Howard (Eagle), grade 7, and Arjun Kilaru (Coaches), grade 7.
This article originally appeared in the spring 2014 Harker Quarterly.
The late winter sports season is coming to an end. Congratulations to all the boys soccer and girls basketball for a great season!
We had two league champions this season (grade 5 girls basketball and grade 5 boys soccer) and a tournament champion (grade 5 girls basketball). Read on for details!
Junior Varsity B girls basketball, coached by Coli Simmons and Jon Cvitanich, finished 9-1 overall, 7-1 in league, co-champs of the WBAL and champions of the WBAL tournament! Team awards went to Courtni Thompson (MVP), Maria Vazhaeparambil (Eagle), and Anna Vazhaeparambil (Coaches), all grade 5.
Junior Varsity C girls basketball, coached by Michelle Hopkins, finished 2-3, fifth place in the WBAL. Team awards went to Brooklyn Cicero (MVP), Ashley Barth (Eagle) and Anishka Raina and Angela Jia (Coaches), all grade 4.
Intramural girls basketball is coached by Vanessa Rios, Miles Brown and Laura Wolfe. Team awards went to Advika Phadnis and Aditi Vinod (MVPs), Anvitha Tummala and Vidya Jeyendran (Eagle), and Arusha Patil and Suman Mohanty (Coaches), all grade 5.
Junior Varsity B boys soccer, coached by Jared Ramsey and Walid Fahmy, is currently 4-1, and should finish as co-champs of the WBAL! Team awards went to Ryan Tobin (MVP), Arjun Virmani (Eagle) and Srinath Somasundaram (Coaches), all grade 5.
Intramural boys soccer is coached by Jim McGovern and Scott Rudolph. Team awards went to Sasvath Ramachandran (Eagle), Dhruv Saoji and Aaditya Gulati (Coaches), all grade 4.