Coming off one of the best athletic seasons in Harker history, our student-athletes were showered with end-of-the-year accolades by their leagues, the CCS and the Mercury News for their efforts in competition and in the classroom.
Breaking News
The grade 5 JVB1 boys basketball team had an impressive December! Coaches Dan Pringle and Karriem Stinson led the team to a league title and the WBAL tournament championship, finishing the season with a 9-0 overall record as Harker defeated St. Matt’s 23-16 last night in the finals of the WBAL Tournament! Congratulations on a great season!
Girls Volleyball
With another great season on the books, the girls volleyball team ended as co-league champs and CCS semifinalists. Doreene Kang, grade 12, and Rachel Cheng, grade 11, received first team recognition. Jackie Chen, grade 12, Lindsey Trinh, grade 11, and Melissa Kwan, grade 10, took home second team honors, and Shannon Richardson, grade 12, received an honorable mention.
Football
The football team had its best record in school history (8-2) and made the playoffs for only the second time in school history, but the team racked up many personal awards as well! Nate Kelly, grade 10, was named league offensive Co-MVP, and Anthony Contreras, grade 10, was named league defensive co-MVP. First team honor went to Demonte Aleem, grade 9, Johnathon Keller, grade 12, James Pauli, grade 10, and Jadan McDermott, grade 10. Receiving second team recognition was Jalen Clark, grade 10, Saketh Gurram, grade 11, Will Park, grade 11, and Trenton Thomas, grade 12.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team had one of its best seasons in school history, finishing eighth in CCS and being named CCS academic champions in their sport. Leading the way was Katherine Zhu, grade 10, who was league champ, league MVP, tied for third in CCS and tied for 12th in NorCals. Ashley Zhong, grade 12, took home a first team award, Daphne Liang, grade 12, was among the second team standouts and Vienna Wang, grade 11, received an honorable mention.
Girls Tennis
The girls varsity tennis team was a CCS quarterfinalist this year, and the doubles team of Pamela Duke, grade 9, and Elizabeth Schick, grade 10, took second in CCS doubles. League first team honors went to Duke, Schick and Liza Egorova, grade 9. Izzy Gross, grade 12, Gloria Guo, grade 10, and Riya Singh, grade 9, were on the second team, with Aliesa Bahri and Kathleen Cheng, both grade 10, receiving honorable mentions. Duke was also named to the All-Mercury News girls tennis second team.
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team was named CCS academic champion for team members’ stellar work in the classroom. In the pool, Edward Sheu, grade 12, was named to the league first team, as well as the CCS coaches D2 second team. Arnav Tandon and Arben Gutierrez-Bujari, both grade 11, also received first team honors, with Zeyad El-Arabaty, grade 12, named to the second team.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team was also well represented in the league awards as Yasemin Narin, grade 12, and Meghana Karinthi, grade 10, took home first team recognition, and Helena Dworak, grade 12, was on the second team.
Boys Cross Country
Jack Rothschild, Lev Sepetov and Connor O’Neill, all grade 12, received league honorable mentions, and the team was named CCS academic champions for their sport.
Girls Cross Country
The girls cross country team ended its season with an eighth place CCS finish as well as some huge individual accomplishments. Niki Iyer, grade 11, was league champ, league MVP, second place in CCS, fifth in state and named to theAll-Mercury News first team (http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_29223827/allmercury-news-girls-cross-country:-gunn-s-gillian-meeks-is-the-runner-of-the-year). Alex Dellar, grade 12, was named to the second team, with Anika Rajamani and Lilia Gonzales, both grade 9, receiving honorable mentions.
Congratulations to all fall athletes for an amazing season. GO EAGLES!
Winning its first two games by an average margin of 43 points, the girls basketball team made it to the finals of the Pescadero Hoop Dreams Tournament before falling to Stevenson High. Jordan Thompson, grade 11, scored 32 points, including eight 3-pointers, in a 60-14 win over host Pescadero High in the opening round game. Thompson followed that up with another 32-point performance in the Eagles second round victory over Alma Heights and the team took Harbor 64-22, last night and are now 3-1. Catch them at their home opener Friday at Blackford 5:00 vs. Prospect–Go Eagles!
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team started the season off with a bang as it defeated Lynbrook, Andrew Hill and Silver Creek to win the James Lick Invitational Tournament, their first tournament championship under coach Butch Keller. Roy Yuan, grade 9, averaged 16 points per game in the tournament with 22 points coming in the championship game. Elijah Edgehill, grade 12, also had a huge tournament averaging 14 points and 14 rebounds per game and was named MVP for the tournament. Fellow senior Rohan Desikan was named All-Tournament. The boys team will begin the Lynbrook tournament tomorrow with an opening round game vs. Summit Prep at 4:45 p.m.
Boys Soccer
The boys varsity soccer team traveled to San Mateo High school last Friday for its first game of the season, but the Bearcats pulled out a 5-3 victory over Harker. The Eagles will host Saratoga High Thursday.
Girls Soccer
The girls soccer team dropped its first two games of the season to San Mateo and Saratoga, but looks to rebound next Friday as it hosts Redwood Christian.
Wrestling
The Harker wrestling team travels to Fremont High in Sunnyvale this Saturday to compete in the 2015 Webber Lawson Varsity Wrestling Tournament. The Eagles will be one of 46 high schools competing in the tournament, which will feature nine top 20 CCS teams.
Final notes on the fall season, in which we had some great finishes!
Cross Country
Congratulations to junior Niki Iyer on her fifth place finish at the state cross country meet, held over the Thanksgiving break. Iyer competed with 191 other runners in the Division 4 championships held in Fresno, and shaved 30 seconds off last year’s fifth place finish. She will race next at the Footlocker High School West Regional on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.
Girls Tennis
Lizzie Schick, grade 10, and Pam Duke, grade 9, were the last Harker team alive in the fall playoffs as they took the court on Tuesday at the Bay Club Courtside to face the duo from Menlo-Atherton High School. They won a highly contested three games, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, to become the first Harker doubles tennis team in school history to make the CCS finals. Lizzie and Pam fought hard, but lost to a very strong Los Altos duo. Congratulations on an amazing season!
In what has been one of the most competitive and exciting postseasons in Harker history, two sports will continue this week in hopes of CCS and state glory.
Girls Tennis
On Monday afternoon, the dynamic doubles team of Lizzie Schick, grade 10, and Pam Duke, grade 9, continued their impressive run at a CCS title as they advanced to the semifinals of the doubles bracket. Playing through the chilly weather at the Bay Club Courtside in Los Gatos, the girls opened their day with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over a tough Mountain View team. Later in the day, Schick and Duke defeated the Mitty duo 6-3, 6-3 on center court in the quarterfinals. Bad weather pushed the semifinal and championship round to Dec. 1, at noon, when the No. 2 seeded Harker doubles team will face off against the No. 3 seeded Menlo-Atherton team. Good luck, Lizzie and Pam!
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball season came to an end last Wednesday as the Eagles fell to league rival Menlo in four games in the semifinals of the CCS D4 Championship. Harker opened with a spirited 25-23 win in game one after trailing by as many as seven points. Menlo would then take the next three games, but not without a fight from the Eagles. Lauren Napier, grade 10, and Jackie Chen, grade 12, led the team with 12 kills each. Congrats on a great season!
Cross Country
Don’t forget, Niki Iyer, grade 11, will race this Saturday, Nov. 28, at Woodward Park in Fresno for her chance at a D4 state title. Last year as a sophomore, Niki finished in fifth place at the state meet. Good luck, Niki!
This past week saw some exciting postseason action from many of our Harker teams and athletes. While seasons ended for some, others are still fighting to bring CCS – and maybe even state – titles back to Harker!
Cross Country
The girls cross country team saved its best runs for last, placing eighth in the Division 4 Central Coast Section (CCS) Championships. Led by captains Niki Iyer, grade 11, and Alex Dellar, grade 12, six of the seven Harker runners ran personal bests on the Crystal Springs course in Belmont. Placing second, Iyer ran 17:26.0 to become the 26th all-time runner on the 44-year-old course; her time is also the eighth best run by a junior. Alycia Cary, Aneesha Kumar, Lilia Gonzales, Anika Rajamani, all grade 9, and Akshaya Vemuri, grade 10, helped the Eagles to their second best season in school history. Dellar and the team also accepted the CCS Scholastic Award for their 3.865 team GPA. The boys were also awarded a CCS Scholastic Award for their 3.792 team GPA.
Iyer will now advance to the state championships in two weeks in Fresno.
Tennis
Girls tennis earned a first round bye in the team championship bracket, before defeating Sacred Heart Prep 4-3. Unfortunately, they fell to eventual CCS champion Menlo in the quarterfinals. But there is still more Harker tennis to be played as Pam Duke, grade 9, and Lizzie Schick, grade 10, will compete in the CCS doubles bracket Monday at noon. Duke and Schick are the No. 2 seed and open with Mountain View. Good luck girls!
Football
The Harker football season came to an end after a first round loss to Fortuna High School in the opening round of the North Coast Section (NCS) Division 4 tournament. However, it was a great season that saw Harker’s best-ever football record and only the second playoff appearance for a football team in school history. Harker football says goodbye to seniors Oison Coveney, Trenton Thomas, Miles DeWitt, and captains Johnathon Keller and Nikhil Ramgiri. The football program graduates only five seniors this year, so this young team should be competitive for a long time!
Volleyball
Coming off a first round bye in CCS, the No. 3 seeded girls volleyball team defeated Santa Cruz in three games (25-19, 25-20, 25-17) to move on to the semifinals it they will face league rival Menlo. The match will be played at Notre Dame Belmont High School tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. If the girls win, they play in the CCS finals this Saturday, which would include a trip to the NorCal Tournament. Students, if you would like to root for your Eagles, Harker is planning to provide transportation to and from the game for upper school students. A permission slip is required and you must sign up at the athletics office by 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, to reserve a seat. Good luck girls!
Golf
After finishing third in CCS, Katherine Zhu, grade 10, ended the season shooting plus-12 at Crazy Horse Ranch and finishing tied for 28 among 83 golfers at the NorCal Championship. Congratulations on a great season Katherine!
Harker’s middle school golf team took second place in a West Bay Athletic League tournament in late October, behind the Nueva School. Harker’s top performer of the day was eighth grader Alex King, who shot a 34, followed closely by Aditya Tadimeti, grade 7, who shot a 36. Katelyn Vo, grade 8, finished with 39, while Natalie Vo, grade 7, and Ronit Gagneja, grade 8, both shot 40. Rounding out Harker’s squad were respectable scorers Marcus Page, grade 6 (41), Bryan Zhang, grade 7 (42), and Bowen Yin, grade 7 (44).
Playoff season is in full swing! Athletes across numerous sports are setting personal and school records, while helping their teams earn spots in the CCS championships. Junior Niki Iyer is the reigning cross country champ, the football team finished the regular season with Harker’s best-ever record and various teams will compete in championship games this week. “Outstanding! My congratulations to all!” enthused Head of School Chris Nikoloff.
Here’s a look at the week ahead:
Cross Country
Niki Iyer, grade 11, won the girls varsity individual WBAL cross country crown for the second time in three years with a time of 17:48 at Crystal Springs – more than a full minute ahead of the second place finisher – making her the league champion! Another great performance was turned in by Alex Dellar, grade 12, who placed eighth out of 70-plus runners in the championships. The girls team qualified for the CCS Championships for the first time since 2008. That event will be held this Saturday at Crystal Springs. For the boys, sophomore Peter Connors led the way with his 25th place finish followed by senior Jack Rothschild in 29th, taking 2:30 off of his best course time. Over all, there were seven girls with personal bests and five boys. The girls team placed fifth in the meet; third overall in the league.
Football
Football ended its regular season Friday with a 50-7 victory at Richmond. The squad’s 8-2 record is the best in Harker history, and earned the team Harker’s second-ever NCS playoff bid. The boys drew a first round game at Fortuna High (a six-hour bus ride) this Friday. Congratulations boys and good luck in the playoffs!
Girls volleyball earned a No. 3 seed in this week’s CCS tournament, granting them a bye straight to the quarterfinals! That game will be held at Harker on Saturday night at 7 p.m. against the winner of the King’s Academy/Santa Cruz match. Admission of $8 for adults and $4 for students will be charged at all CCS matches. We’ll see you there Saturday!
Girls tennis drew a No. 8 seed in the CCS team championship and our doubles team of freshman Pam Duke and sophomore Lizzie Schick drew a Harker-best No. 2 seed in the doubles championship. Freshman Liza Egorova is the first alternate in the singles bracket. The team gets to host a second round match at our home site, Santa Clara Tennis Center, Tuesday at 2 p.m. vs. the winner of Sacred Heart/St. Ignatius. Please come show your support.
The boys water polo team ended its season with a third place league finish as a result of its 16-8 victory over Fremont. The team ended with a 15-9 overall record. Excellent season boys! The girls ended with a victory as well – a 18-6 win over Milpitas. Senior captain Yasemin Narin led the charge with six goals. Freshman goalkeeper Lily Wancewicz excelled in the cage with 10 saves for the Eagles. It was a great way to finish out the season, way to go ladies!
Golf
Remember to send good thoughts to Katherine Zhu, grade 10, as she competes in the NorCal tournament today in Salinas.
Sophomore golfer Katherine Zhu shot a 69 en route to a third place overall finish at the CCS Girls Golf Championships – qualifying her for the NorCal tournament for the second year in a row. The girls team placed a very respectable eighth overall. Congratulations to the team on a great season, and let’s wish Katherine well as she competes against the best golfers in Northern California next week in Salinas.
The WBAL girls tennis tournament finals were held yesterday, with outstanding results. For only the second time in school history, we have league champions in doubles. Sophomore Lizzie Schick and freshman Pam Duke teamed up to place first overall in the doubles bracket! Freshman Liza Egorova placed third in singles, and the team of Gloria Guo, grade 10, and Izzy Gross, grade 12, placed fourth in doubles. Schick and Duke will represent Harker and the WBAL in the CCS individual tournament later this month.
Football is now 7-1 overall, 3-0 in league play after a 55-8 victory over St. Vincent de Paul Friday on Davis Field. This sets up a Harker first – a football game to determine the league champion. This Friday the boys host a strong Stellar Prep team, which is currently 6-1 overall, 2-0 in league. If Harker wins, we’ll be league champions! School spirit has been outstanding this year, and we hope the support continues Friday night. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. A film crew from Cal-Hi Sports will be covering the game. Friday is also Senior Night for football and cheerleading. Seniors will be honored before the game around 6:45 p.m.
Tennis
Girls tennis had three solid victories last week: Presentation 7-0, Crystal Springs 7-0 and an important league victory over Sacred Heart Prep 5-2. The girls are now 12-2 overall as they host Castilleja and state powerhouse Menlo Thursday at the Santa Clara Tennis Center. Thursday is also Senior Day for Izzy Gross, who will be recognized just before the 4 p.m. start time.
Cross Country
The cross country team competed in its final tune-up before the league championships on Nov 6. The runners concentrated on running fast last miles on the 3-mile Crystal Springs course. Top marks were turned in by freshman Anika Rajamani, and seniors Alex Dellar, Connor O’Neill and Jack Rothschild.
Golf
Girls golf defeated Mercy-Burlingame Monday on Senior Day, at which seniors Ashley Zhong and Daphne Liang each sank long 20-foot putts on their final hole. The girls ended the regular season at 6-4 as they wait to see if they’ve qualified for CCS. They compete in the league championships today at Poplar Creek Golf Course.
Water Polo
The girls water polo team lost a close game to powerhouse Santa Clara Thursday night in triple overtime. The team fought hard through four quarters and ended up tied 10-10. After two overtime periods, the score was tied 11-11. The girls went into a golden goal period, during which they played tough defense and had some opportunities to score. Santa Clara scored after almost 2 minutes, winning the game in sudden death. Your Eagles were led by seniors Yasemin Narin with three goals and Helena Dworak with 18 saves in the cage!
Boys water polo beat Lynbrook 10-4 last week with senior Edward Sheu scoring five goals and junior Raymond Xu two. The team then hosted Santa Clara for Senior Night, beating them 15-4 with Sheu scoring six goals, and junior Arnav Tandon and freshman Bobby Bloomquist each chipping in two. Sheu currently has 108 goals, a Harker record for the total number of goals in one season.
Both teams travel to Fremont tomorrow in preparation for the league tournament next week.
Volleyball
Your 14th ranked girls volleyball team lost a tough battle against No. 10 ranked Menlo last week, suffering its first league loss at the hands of the Knights. With a record of 15-8 overall, 6-1 in league play, the team dropped into a first place league tie with Menlo.
The girls freshman volleyball team improved to 7-4 with wins over Priory and Saratoga last week. They’ll complete their fine season at Mercy-SF today.
The fall sports season was a huge success, with more than 300 participants in grades 4-8.
We are very appreciative of all the parental support we received this season. So many parents stepped up to provide snacks and support for the coaches. We also appreciate the hard work and dedication of our athletes.
Here are the final West Bay Athletic League standings and award winners for the lower and middle school fall sports teams.
Varsity A (grade 8) flag football: Finished in fifth place in the WBAL at 2-4, 5-6 overall. Team awards went to Naveen Mirapuri (MVP), Jeffrey Liu (Eagle) and Vedanth Sundaram (Coaches).
Varsity B (grade 7) flag football: Finished in third place in the WBAL at 4-1-1, 7-3-1 overall. Team awards went to Srinath Somasundaram (MVP), Marcus Anderson (Eagle) and Nikhil Gargeya (Coaches).
Junior varsity A (grade 6) flag football: Finished in second place in the WBAL at 5-2, 6-2 overall. Team awards went to Eric Bollar (MVP), Anquan Boldin Jr. (Eagle) and Richard Amarillas (Coaches).
Junior varsity B (grade 5) flag football: Finished in second place in the WBAL at 4-2. Team awards went to Rohan Gorti (MVP), Frederick Hoch (Eagle) and Drake Piscione (Coaches).
Intramural (grade 4) flag football: Team awards went to Om Tandon and Jack Ledford (Eagle) and Jerry Li and Enzo Lucketti (Coaches).
Varsity A (grades 7 and 8) softball: Finished in third place in the WBAL at 3-1-1, 4-2-1 overall. Team awards went to Alaina Valdez, grade 7 (MVP); Hunter Hernandez, grade 7 (Eagle); and Alex Baeckler, grade 7 (Coaches).
Junior varsity A (grades 4-6) softball: Finished in first place in the WBAL at 4-1-1. Team awards went to Brooklyn Cicero, grade 6 (MVP); Annalyn Bean, grade 5 (Eagle); and Maya Kelly, grade 4 (Coaches).
Intramural (grade 4) softball: Team awards went to Cecilia Yang, Maria Chrysafis and Claire Bauschlicher (Coaches).
MS cross country: Team awards went to Courtni Thompson, grade 7 (top runner); Mihir Sharma, grade 8, Anna Weirich, grade 7, and Kevin Chen, grade 8 (MVP); Arya Maheshwari, grade 7, Grant Miner, grade 8, and Anna Gert, grade 8 (Eagle); and Raj Patel, grade 6, Minali Kapadia, grade 6, and Annabelle Ju, grade 8 (Coaches).
First place finishers were:
Courtni Thompson (Harker meet, Rolling Hills meet, JD Morgan Park meet)
Arya Maheshwari (Harker meet)
Grade 6 boys team (WBAL final meet)
Grade 7 boys team (Harker meet)
Grade 8 boys team (Harker meet)
Grade 8 girls team (Harker meet)
MS swimming: Team awards went to Allison Jia, grade 8 (MVP); Nina Gee, grade 7 (Eagle); and Elizabeth Fields, grade 7, and Rishab Parthasarathy, grade 6 (Coaches).
LS swimming: Team awards went to Alexis Nishimura, grade 5 (MVP); Rani Patel, grade 4 (Eagle) and Linette Hoffman, grade 5 (Coaches).
First place finishers at the Castilleja meet were:
William Zhao, grade 6, 100 IM
Rhys Edwards, grade 7, 100 IM and 50 fly
Leland Rossi, grade 7, 50 free and 200 free
Alyssa Huang, grade 8, 50 fly and 50 breast
Kurtis Tong, grade 5, 25 back
Arjun Akkiraju, grade 8, 50 back
Brittany Shou, grade 6, 100 free
Anish Pai, grade 6, 200 free
Avery Young, grade 7, 50 breast
Grade 6 boys, 100 free relay
Grade 7 boys, 100 free relay
Grade 6 boys, medley relay
Grade 7 boys, medley relay
Grade 8 boys, medley relay
Grade 8 girls, medley relay
First place finishers at the WBAL finals meet were: