After over a year without sports, our Harker Eagles returned to the fields, courts, pools and tracks to compete in a historic season. Five varsity teams won CCS championships, four of which were firsts in school history. Varsity baseball performed an upset for the ages, coming back from a 14-5 deficit against Stevenson to win it all with an 11-run comeback. The varsity boys and girls golf teams swept the CCS tournament, each winning their first titles, while varsity girls tennis battled through a difficult season, first by upsetting Menlo’s 24-year league win streak, then by beating Menlo at home to win its first CCS championship. Last but not least, varsity boys volleyball won its second CCS title with a victory over Prospect High.
This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the incredible individual accomplishments by Harker athletes. With an impressive display of resilience and perseverance, track and field long jumper and rising junior Andrew Fu battled through a foot injury to win CCS with a jump of 21’ 8.25”. Varsity swimmer and recent graduate Matthew Chung won CCS in both the 100-meter butterfly and 200 IM. Varsity baseball pitcher and rising senior Mark Hu threw the first perfect game in school history, tying the CCS record of 18 strikeouts.
Take a scroll through this selection of the past year’s best athletics photos.
Girls tennis started off the week with a close 4-3 win over the highly ranked Monta Vista on Monday followed by Tuesday’s 7-0 win against Sacred Heart Prep. The Eagles came together on Friday to put on a dominant showing, ending Menlo’s 24-year, 266 straight league match winning streak by the score of 4-3. The team will be at home against Crystal Springs on Tuesday.
Last week, the Eagles ran a 2.34 mile coed race, clinching the top five, with Anna Weirich leading the way at 13:15!
Golf
The girls golf team defeated Mercy Burlingame 214-276 last week with Natalie Vo, grade 12, scoring a 36. The Eagles face off with Notre Dame on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Joelle Anderson ’17 was selected in the third round (26th overall) by the Houston Dash in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) draft.
Anderson was a stellar player during her time at Harker. She was a two-time Forward of the Year in the WBAL and led the CCS in goals and points her senior year.
Continuing her amazing play in college, Anderson was a three-time All-West Conference selection and a two-time United Soccer Coaches All-West Region selection. The college soccer season was postponed until February because of COVID, so Anderson will still be able to finish her senior season.
Anderson comes from a family of athletes. Older brother Jeremiah ’15 played soccer at Westmont College and younger brother Jarrett ’19 is a standout volleyball player at Springfield College. Her parents also teach at Harker. Her mom Michelle teaches kindergarten and dad Pete is a middle school PE teacher.
Over the past month, three Harker student athletes were recognized on the 49ers Cal-Hi Sports TV show for their excellence on and off the field. Natalie Vo, grade 12, was featured for her outstanding Harker golf career and her bright future; Vayun Tiwari, grade 11, showed off his award-winning talent for bird photography; and Ashley Barth, grade 11, shared her inspiring story of battling cancer and her relationship with Camp Okizu. Check out all the stories of these outstanding Eagles below:
Anna Weirich, grade 12, traveled to San Tan Valley, Ariz., last week to compete in the 14th annual Desert Twilight meet. Weirich was not representing Harker, but rather raced as an “unattached” competitor to stay compliant with CCS rules in representing one’s school out of season. More than 100 schools from across the nation competed in the two-day event, which saw temperatures hit triple digits for the 5K race. Weirich took 12th out of 110 runners in the Unattached-Club Girls Sweepstakes.
Weirich is the reigning CCS D4 champ and is looking for another great season once the COVID-19 delayed year gets going in December.
Alexa Lowe, grade 11, was recently interviewed by the Presque Isle High School newspaper in Maine about the uncertainty of the 2020-21 athletic season due to COVID 19. Lowe shared how she has coped without sports, but also shared her optimism that student athletes will get a chance to compete this year.
Lowe was introduced to Presque Isle High journalism student Cameron Levasseur by her friend Nilisha Baid, grade 12, who met him at a journalism conference.
As of the latest CIF press release on Sept. 17, California sports will begin in mid-December.
The American Junior Golf Association and the USGA recently announced the nine finalists for the 2020 USGA-AJGA Presidents’ Leadership Award, with three being Harker Eagles! This national award recognizes elite junior golfers for their aspirations and work to give back to their communities. Gabriel Yang, grade 12, and Esther Wu and Sophie Zhang-Murphy, both grade 11, each play at top levels, but also pour hours into organizations and issues that mean a lot to them. Check out the full list of finalists and where Yang, Wu and Zhang-Murphy give their time: https://www.ajga.org/2020-usga-ajga-presidents-leadership-award-finalists-and-honorable-mentions
Harker is proud to announce the nine student athletes from the Class of 2020 who have signed commitments to play collegiate sports next year. Ethan Hu committed in the fall to swim at Stanford in the coming year, with the following eight students recently making their decisions public: Katelyn Vo will golf at Pomona College; Jeffrey Kwan will play volleyball at Harvard; Carolyn Lu will play volleyball at Caltech; Cassandra Ruedy will play water polo at Harvey Mudd; Shomrik Mondal will play football at Macalester College; Ashley Jazbec will play volleyball at Bowdoin College; Arushi Madan will play water polo at the University of Toronto; and Emily Cheng will play volleyball at MIT. Congrats to all these amazing athletes! Go Eagles!
Check out all the students along with their “thank yous” here:
Even though he missed out on his senior season, Ethan Hu, grade 12, continues to rack up the accolades. SportsStars Magazine is in the midst of publishing its top 10 athletes in each high school sport from the last decade. When the list of top boys swimmers was released last week, Hu was an obvious choice. Check out Hu’s write up, along with the rest of the top 10:
Although it was a shortened season due to COVID-19, Jarrett Anderson ’19 made the most of his first collegiate year with the Springfield College men’s volleyball team. Anderson excelled on the court and was recently named a D3 All-American and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division 3 Northeast Region Newcomer of the Year. Anderson’s 5.15 points per set ranked him fifth in the nation; he accounted for a team-best 360.5 points; and his .814 aces per set was the fourth best in the country.
Check out all the stats on Anderson, as well as the other accolades that his team took home:
