Over spring break, artistic swimmer Alina Zhu, grade 5, competed at the Pacific Association Intermediate Championships at the Miwok Aquatic Center in Novato, Calif. Zhu took home four gold medals for competing in figures, solo, trio and team routines. “It isn’t an easy sport, but I like the challenges,”said Zhu, who started artistic swimming with Santa Clara Aquamaids as a fourth grader. “[Artistic swimming] combines gymnastics, dance and swimming, and previously I had experiences in all three separately.” Zhu won her first gold medal in a mixed duet last June, followed by her second gold medal in a team routine in February. This was the first time she competed in every individual and team event in a single day and she was happy for both her and her team’s success.
Arushi Sharma, grade 11, performed earlier this month at Carnegie Hall in New York City as part of the Winners Recital of the American Protégé International Vocal Competition. Sharma was named a second place winner in the competition’s intermediate category. Her performance of Giacomo Puccini’s “O Mio Babbino Caro” was well-received by the audience in attendance. Sharma, who has been in vocal training for more than 10 years, is a member of Harker’s Cantilena vocal group and also has participated in Harker musical theater productions since grade 9.
Over the weekend of March 6, Harker sixth graders Chelsea Liu and Andy Zhang (pictured right and left above, respectively, holding their teams’ trophies) delivered great results at the Northern California VEXIQ Middle School Regional Championship robotics tournament. Liu’s team, Tetrahedron, took second place overall, qualifying it for the world championship to be held later this year in Dallas. Zhang’s team, known as Season Stealers, was in an alliance with Tetrahedron and took second place in the teamwork challenge, which also earned the team a trip to the world championship.
Competitive fencer Ishani Sood, grade 11, won the bronze medal last month at the USA Fencing Junior Olympics in Denver. She was one of 199 competitors in the Women’s Cadet Foil Fencing category. Sood had a busy and successful season leading up to last month’s event, qualifying for the U.S. Cadet team and representing the United States in four events in Europe. She placed fifth at the Cadet World Cup in Budapest, Hungary, and won bronze at the Cadet World Cup in Germany, which featured 240 participants from more than 20 countries.
Fifth graders Sophie Cai, Natalie Deng, Ariana Siamwalla and Alina Zhu had a successful run at Saturday’s VEX IQ Robotics tournament in Morgan Hill, where the team (known as Actuatorly Awesome) took first place in both Teamwork and Skills and also won the event’s Design Award. Their performance qualified them for the Northern California Regional Championship, set to take place March 4. The team thanked the members of another Harker VEX IQ Robotics team (Techtoro, made up of fifth graders Jolie Chao, Sophie Croswhite and Laura Zhang), who also qualified for regionals and offered their insights with other teams.
At the 2022 US Open Table Tennis Championship, held last month in Ontario, sixth grader Sophie Shen and her partner took first place out of 66 teams in the U3100 doubles event. This was her first international tournament.
Shen also continued competing in cross country after the school league season. At the 2022 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, she set a personal record of 11:50 in the 3K race in 11-12 age division, placed 81 out of 350 runners and helped the travel team place fourth out of 27 teams. The team also placed first in both the Pacific Association and Regional Championships in the national qualifier round.
Chess enthusiasts Vyom Vidyarthi, grade 10, and Omya Vidyarthi, grade 7, participated in the North American Youth Chess Championship in Mexico City from Dec. 1-6, each winning their respective sections. Vyom placed first in the U20 section and earned his second grandmaster norm, while Omya won the U20 girls section. Earlier this year, Vyom and Omya each won gold at the Pan American Youth Chess Championship.
Last month, junior Shayla He was nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award (HMMA) in the Original Recording category. The HMMAs honor up-and-coming independent artists in a wide variety of categories. Shayla, who is a member of the upper school show choir Downbeat, attended the Hollywood Music in Media Academy’s award ceremony earlier this month in Hollywood, where she had the opportunity to see performances by Grammy winners Charles Fox and Diane Warren. Celebrities including Tom Hanks were also in attendance.
Earlier this month, junior Nathan Liu was honored in a special celebration recognizing the winners of the 2021 Teens Dream Video Changemaker Challenge, a video contest in which young people submit videos related to one of the United Nations’ sustainability goals. Liu was named the California winner in March for his video on wildfire prevention. Previously, Liu’s work was celebrated by Turkish America TV as one of its TATV Staff Picks.
At the 2022 National Table Tennis Championship in July, table tennis enthusiast Sophie Shen, grade 6, took first place in the U1000 event and second place in the U1200 event. It was her first national tournament. Shen has been playing table tennis for about a year and a half and began competing earlier this year. Congratulations!