Ethan Ma won his wrestling match last Thursday night against his Cupertino HIgh opponent. The wrestling team will compete in the league championships at Homestead this Saturday.
Basketball
Girls basketball earned victories over ICA and Mercy-Burlingame last week to improve their sterling record to 16-4 overall and 6-2 in league play. Against Mercy, Nithya Vemireddy, grade 11, scored 14 points and added 10 rebounds while Daniza Rodriguez, grade 12, netted 10 points. Wednesday evening marks a huge occasion for the girls: not only is it Senior Night, but the girls are fighting for a share of the league championship. They play Notre Dame in the crucial contest, with JV playing at 6 p.m. varsity playing at 7:30 p.m., and senior recognition just preceding the JV game.
Boys basketball went undefeated last week with victories over Crystal Springs and Pinewood, improving to 16-4 overall and 8-2 in league play. Nikhil Panu, grade 12, and Eric Holt, grade 10, led the way against Pinewood as each scored 17 points. The boys travel to Priory Wednesday and host King’s Academy on Friday. Senior night for the boys will be next Tuesday against Sacred Heart Prep.
Soccer
Girls soccer lost to Pinewood last week before rebounding with an impressive 5-4 victory over Mercy-San Francisco Thursday in a tightly-fought game. Sondra Leal Da Costa, grade 12, Safia Khouja, grade 10, and Wendy Shwe, grade 12 all added goals while sophomore Alyssa Amick’s two goals led the team. The girls’ record now stands at an impressive 6-3-1 in league. The girls hosted Latino College Prep today and then have their Senior Day on Thursday at 3:30 against ICA.
Boys soccer dropped a game to Priory last Friday, 2-1, then played well in a 0-0 tie against Menlo this past week. Omar Hamade, grade 9, scored in the loss against Priory. The boys host Crystal Springs today for their Senior Day; seniors will be recognized in a special celebration at halftime. The boys’ next game after Senior Day will be at home against Sacred Heart Prep on Friday.
Wrestler Danny Wang, grade 12, went 3-2 at the Overfelt Tournament on Saturday, earning his three victories by pinning his opponents. This Thursday is the wrestling team’s final home match of the regular season, which means that it’s also Senior Night for Wang, Harker’s lone senior wrestler. Come support him in his final Harker home match at Blackford this Thursday at 5:30 p.m.!
Soccer
Girls soccer had two wins and one loss last week to even up their record overall at 6-6-1 and improve their league record to a sterling 5-2-1. The girls capped off their week with a 6-0 win against Eastside College Prep in the annual Kicks Against Cancer fundraiser game. Sondra Leal Da Costa, grade 12, led the way with three goals. Safia Khouja, grade 10, added a pair, and Alyssa Amick, grade 10, scored one, while Indica Sur, grade 12, made two clutch saves in goal. The girls have now won four of their past five games after blowing out Latino College Prep 9-0, blanking Immaculate Conception Academy 5-0, defeating Summit Preparatory High 4-2, dropping to Mercy High School – Burlingame 6-2, and then finishing their run off 6-0 against ECP. That means they have also won those four out of five in spectacular fashion, walking away with shutouts in three of them. The girls travel to Pinewood today and host Mercy – San Francisco this Thursday on Davis Field.
The boys dropped their last game 4-1 against ECP, bringing their record to 6-4-1 overall and 4-3-1 in league play. The boys did win their Kicks Against Cancer fundraiser game the day before, blanking Pinewood 3-0 with seniors Denis Celik, Maverick McNealy and Simar Mangat all scoring goals. In the week leading up to the Kicks Against Cancer game, the boys had defeated Crystal Springs 2-1, dropped a 3-0 game to rival Sacred Heart Prep, and tied King’s Academy 1-1. The boys host Menlo on Wednesday and travel to Priory this Friday.
Basketball
Girls basketball defeated Crystal Springs on Tuesday, 56-36, but struggled in their away game against King’s Academy on Friday, losing 46-27. In the Crystal Springs victory, Nithya Vemireddy, grade 11, led the way with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Shreya Vemuri, grade 12, added 11 points. The girls are now 14-4 overall and 4-2 in league play as they prepare to host ICA tonight at Blackford.
Boys basketball lost a heartbreakingly close game against Sacred Heart, 56-54, for their first league loss, but responded well with dominant victories against Crystal Springs Uplands, Eastside College Prep, and King’s Academy before dropping a game to Menlo on Saturday afternoon. The boys’ victory against Crystal Springs was a 75-41 drubbing, and they defeated Eastside College Prep to the tune of 59-32, while their win against King’s Academy was a closer but still comfortable 75-59. Against King’s Academy, sophomore Eric Holt had a team-high 25 points to add to his 15 rebounds. The boys travel to Crystal Springs today and host Pinewood on Friday as they try to improve upon their 6-2 league record.
Some 30 alumni returned to cheer on their friends for Harker’s first basketball league games of the season, held Jan. 4, in front of a boisterous home crowd at the middle school campus. That night was also the premier of the Student Directed Showcase (SDS), concurrently held at Blackford, which many alums chose to come out in support of as well.
At both of the alumni driven happenings, alumni could be seen proudly sporting alumni “Eagle Nation” T-shirts.
While the Harker versus Menlo boys and girls respective basketball games went a long way towards building team spirit, SDS serves as an important venue for final projects by seniors in the class of the same name.
The graduates, along with the home crowd, celebrated the Harker boys’ win over Menlo at the Friday night game, where girls lost for only the second time this year in a tough match against the 10th-ranked opponent.
At the exciting conclusion of both the basketball games and theater performance, alumni joined basketball players and actors for a fun, informal pizza party held in the Blackford gym. Some parents of the students and grads enjoyed attending the party as well.
“Once again, it was a pleasure to see so many alums return home to Harker. We are truly one big community, where present and past students can join together – whether supporting each other on stage or on a court,” noted MaryEllis Deacon, director of alumni relations.
Middle School Basketball A great season in middle school basketball is coming to a close!
The varsity A girls soccer team finished 11-0 and took the league title.
The varsity B boys basketball team finished up 8-2 – co-champs – and took second place in the WBAL tournament.
A huge shout out to the middle school basketball teams!
Upper School
Basketball
Girls varsity basketball improved their record to a spectacular 13-2 after defeating Immaculate Conception Academy 52-32 and crushing Mercy-Burlingame in a crucial league game, 60-36. Against ICA, Nithya Vemireddy, grade 11, led the way with 18 points and 13 rebounds. The girls face off against Notre Dame High School on Friday at 7 p.m.
Boys basketball improved to 9-4 overall and 3-0 in league play with their 68-45 win against Woodside Priory. Sophomore Eric Holt had 19 points and 10 rebounds and junior Will Deng had 14 points and 12 rebounds in the victory. The boys traveled to Sacred Heart Prep this Wednesday in a huge league showdown and host Crystal Springs Friday at Blackford at 7:30 p.m.
Soccer
Girls soccer won a blowout 9-0 victory against Latino College Prep this Tuesday to improve their record to 3-5-1 overall. Before facing Latino College Prep, the girls had recently lost to Pinewood 4-0 and tied Mercy-San Francisco 1-1. They host Immaculate Conception Academy on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
Boys soccer defeated Woodside Priory 6-1 at Davis Field on Saturday and then edged out Crystal Springs in an away game on Wednesday. Their record now stands at a strong 5-2 overall. Against Woodside Priory, goals were scored by Oisin Coveney, grade 9, Denis Celik, grade 12, Jeremiah Anderson, grade 10, Robert Deng, grade 12, Jeffrey Hanke, grade 11, and David Lindars, grade 12. The boys travel to Sacred Heart Prep this Friday.
Harker athletes are rebounding, wrestling and running the legs off their opponents as the winter athletic season comes into its own!
Basketball Girls basketball lost for only the second time this year in a tough game against 10th-ranked Menlo last Friday. Daniza Rodriguez, grade 12, scored 12 points, and Nithya Vemireddy, grade 11, added another 12 points with six rebounds. In their league opener Tuesday against King’s Academy they won 66-49. Rodriguez scored 24 points; Priscilla Auyeung, grade 12, 19; and Vemireddy added 14. The girls travel to ICA today, Thursday, to build on their 11-2 record.
Boys basketball defeated Menlo on Friday night in front of a boisterous home crowd at Blackford to start league play at 1-0. For his play against the Knights, junior Will Deng was named player of the game. Deng racked up 16 points and nine rebounds in the win. They improved to 8-4 overall, 2-0 in league with their 58-49 win over Pinewood Tuesday. Nikhil Panu, grade 12, scored 15 points and Eric Holt, grade 10, had 11 points. The boys host Priory tomorrow night, Friday, at Blackford: 5:30 JV and 7 p.m. varsity.
Wrestling
Harker wrestling competed in the Cupertino tournament this past weekend. Ethan Ma, grade 10, went 1-1, while Vincent Lin, grade 11, went 1-2, and Daniel Wang, grade 12, went 0-2. Darian Edvalson, grade 11, went 2-2 and made it to the consolation finals, where he lost a close match for a medal, 7-5.
Soccer Girls soccer opened league play with a 4-0 win over Eastside College Prep. Sondra Leal Da Costa, grade 12, scored three goals, and Gabi Gupta, grade 10, added the other. Come watch them today in a big game v. Pinewood as they try to improve upon their 2-4 record! Boys soccer defeated ECP yesterday 3-1. Maverick McNealy, grade 12, scored twice for the Eagles and classmate Sumit Minocha scored as well. The boys improved to 3-1 overall and travel to Menlo tomorrow.
Upper School
Varsity Basketball Aloha! Both boys and girls varsity basketball teams traveled to Maui over the holiday break and came away undefeated. The girls earned victories over Seabury Hall (twice) and Kamehameha-Maui while the boys defeated Kamehameha, Molokai and Seabury Hall. The girls now hold an impressive 9-1 record
Soccer
Sophomore Jeremiah Anderson had a goal and an assist in the 3-1 boys varsity soccer victory over KIPP Collegiate as the team improved to 2-1 overall. Kiran Arimilli and Kevin Moss also scored for the Eagles. The boys face ECP next Wednesday.
Wrestling Our wrestlers competed over the holiday break against Milpitas High with Junior Vincent Lin earning his first high school victory. Trailing 9-5 on the scoreboard Vincent got a reversal and pinned his opponent with 30 seconds left on the clock. Junior Darian Edvalson won with a dominating performance leading 8-0 before pinning his opponent in the second period. The team competes at the Cupertino High Tournament this weekend.
Volleyball Harker freshman Shannon Richardson participated in the USA High Performance Junior Beach Holiday Camp held at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista from Jan. 2-5 in the Girls’ A1/A2 Select group. The only players invited were those that had qualified for the High Performance program through rigorous tryouts in June of 2012 and participated in camp and championships last summer. Richardson and her partner took first place in the U15 division of the High Performance Championships. This is Richardson’s fourth invitation and visit to the Olympic Training Center since June of 2011.
Middle School
Soccer The grade 7-8 varsity A girls soccer team finished the season as league champions with an undefeated 11-0 record. The team finished off the season with exciting, close victories over Castilleja and King’s Academy to preserve the perfect record. Lyndsey Mitchell and Joelle Anderson, both grade 8, went home with the team’s Co-MVP Award, while Anuva Mittal, grade 8, and Anuja Shah, grade 7, each won the Eagle Award and Maile Chung and Stephanie Scaglia, both grade 8, were given the Coaches Award. Congratulations to the whole team, led by coaches Chrissy Chang, CJ Cali and Allison Burzio, on a banner season!
The grade 6 junior varsity A girls soccer team, coached by Cyrus Merrill, Rafeh Akram and Miles Brown, finished the season at 0-7. Despite the lopsided record, the girls made significant improvements to their game as the season progressed, which should bode well for their future soccer careers with Harker. In particular, the girls have developed an excitement for the game, leading to passionate and dynamic play even in defeat. With an eye toward continuing to improve their skills, many on the team have tried out for and plan to play on outside club soccer teams. The team had two very tight games with Nueva and Girls Middle School – their best chances at a victory – and dropped each by the score of 2-1. Team awards went to MVP Lilia Gonzalez, Eagle Award winner Allison Cartee, and Coaches Award winner Alexandra Janssen.
Our grade 5 junior varsity B girls soccer team, coached by Anthony Wood and Jared Ramsey, finished the season just a game below .500 at 2-3. The team enjoyed victories over Castilleja and Girls Middle School; in the latter game, Harker won 5-3 in an exciting home win in front of a raucous crowd. Grace Hajjar and Dylan Williams captured Co-MVP honors from the team, while Grace F. Huang was presented with the Eagle Award and Carissa Nelson received the Coaches Award.
Middle School Basketball
Harker’s grade 7-8 boys basketball teams will resume their season after the close of the holiday break. The grade 8 varsity A team, coached by Joe Mentillo, is at the moment locked at .500 with a 4-4 record in league play. The grade 7-8 varsity B team, coached by Mike Delfino, is at present holding down first place in the league with a sterling 5-1 record. Even better, the team’s sole loss came in overtime in a 39-38 game, so grade 7-8 varsity B has not dropped a game in regulation so far this year. The grade 7 varsity B2 team, coached by Dan Pringle, is currently hanging in there at 3-3 in the league.
The grade 6 junior varsity A boys basketball team, coached by Greg Lawson, finished their year in second place in the league and then won second place a the WBAL tournament. Their final record was an amazing 9-2 with both losses coming at the hands of a tough Sacred Heart team. Over the entire season, Harker won most of its games in dominant fashion, winning by at least 20 points or more. Team MVP went to Jackson Williams. The Eagle Award went to Jason Peetz, and the Coaches Award to Zach Hoffman.
Harker’s grade 6 junior varsity B6 boys basketball team, coached by Steve Carroll, finished the season at 3-5 in league. The boys enjoyed exciting victories over Nueva, Keys and Crystal Springs, and gave well-deserved awards to Surya Gudapati (MVP), Carl Gross (Eagle Award) and Neil Ramaswamy (Coaches Award).
The grade 5 Junior Varsity B1 boys basketball team, coached by Terence Pellum, finished the season as league champs and WBAL Tournament champs with a final record of 9-0. The boys fought hard to win the league championship with a final league game victory over Sacred Heart by a score of 23-20. They played the very same Sacred Heart team in the finals of the WBAL tournament and won 26-21. The team awards went toAditya Gupta ( MVP), Jeffrey Liu (Eagle Award)and Asmit Kumar (Coaches Award).
The grade 5 Junior Varsity B2 boys basketball team, coached by Patrick Hightower, finished the season with a league record of 1-6. The boys had some very close games with Sacred Heart and Pinewood and steadily improved throughout the course of the season. The team awards went to Kevin Chen (MVP), Jai Bahri (Eagle Award ) and Kyle Li (Coaches Award ).
The grade 4 Junior Varsity C boys basketball team, coached by Jim McGovern, finished the season with a league record of 5-1, good enough to earn them Tri-Champions of the league! The boys enjoyed a very exciting season, only losing to a tough Pinewood team in their final game 19-25. The team awards went to Benjamin Soraire (MVP), Anmol Velagapudi (Eagle Award) and Andrew Chavez (Coaches Award).
Congratulations to all the LS/MS Early Winter sports teams for a phenomenal season and good luck to our G7 and G8 boys basketball players still in season!!
Two former Harker students suited up for Stanford’s Rose Bowl victory on New Year’s day, and Usua Amanam ’09, played a key role and was named MVP for defense. Amanan, who attended Harker’s lower and middle schools from 1996-2005, went on to a stellar career at Bellarmine (Harker had recently opened its upper school and the football program was still growing). In the Rose Bowl, Amanam was first tagged for roughing the kicker, but luckily the penalty was declined. Then, Amanam made his big play, intercepting a pass in Wisconsin’s final drive with two minutes remaining to lock down the game for Stanford.
Gautam Krishnamurthi ’11, a sophomore at Stanford, was suited up – number 38 – and ready to play. He joined the team during the off-season and is working towards a starting slot. Krishnamurthi earned two varsity letters as a wide receiver and safety and had a stellar, record-setting career with Harker, including being named an AP Scholar Athlete with Distinction. Read all about it in his Stanford team profile.
Congrats to both men and best of luck in future efforts!
Basketball The grade 5 junior varsity B1 boys basketball team beat Sacred Heart in the Championship game of the WBAL tournament 26-21 Wednesday. They won the league with a 7-0 record and also won the championship tournament to finish at 9-0 overall.
The JVA boys basketball team took second in their WBAL bracket, losing to Sacred Heart in the Championship game 10-18. They finished 8-1 in league play and second in the tournament to finish at 9-2.
Basketball Boys varsity basketball went 1-2 in the Lynbrook Tournament last week, scoring a blowout 72-28 victory over Lynbrook to salve the pain of two nail-biter losses to Mills and Santa Teresa; the boys fell to Santa Teresa 41-40 on a last-minute shot as time expired.
Girls varsity basketball opened their season by cruising to the finals of the King’s Academy Tournament with victories over Prospect 48-32 and Lincoln 61-31. In the final round, the girls fell to Burlingame High 85-52 despite senior Priscilla Auyeung’s 21 points.
Soccer Boys varsity soccer blanked Gunderson in their season opener last week, 3-0, behind goals from Omar Hamade, Oisin Coveney, both grade 9, and Sumit Minocha, grade 12. The JV squad defeated SLV 6-1 to even their record at 1-1, as Neil Kishore, grade 10, scored a goal and had four assists.
Girls soccer went 1-1 last week after picking up a 2-0 shutout victory over Pacific Collegiate, with goals by Nikita Parulkar, grade 10, and Sondra Leal Da Costa, grade 12. Days before, the girls had dropped their season opener by a margin of 2-1 against Notre Dame, with Parulkar scoring the lone goal for the Eagles on a Leal Da Costa assist. Next, the team faces Mills High this Saturday in the Burlingame Tournament.
Wrestling
At the Fremont High Tournament on Saturday, wrestlers Danny Wang, grade 12, and Darian Edvalson, grade 11, earned a victory and two losses apiece. They face Milpitas High next week.
Water Polo
Congratulations to water polo players Keri Clifford and Karan Das-Grande, both seniors. Clifford was selected as a first team, division II All-CCS honoree and a second team division I honoree. Das-Grande recieved honorable mention on the second team for the boys, division II. This is a tremendous honor and excellent way to cap off their Harker water polo careers.
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
Upper School
Football
The boys finished the season at 3-7 overall and 1-5 in league play despite an explosive offense that finished among the league’s leaders in scoring. Senior Spenser Quash earned all-league honors for most outstanding quarterback after posting 2,441 passing yards and 23 throwing touchdowns alongside 300 yards rushing and nine rushing touchdowns. Wide receivers Kevin Moss, grade 11, and Robert Deng, grade 12, and offensive lineman Darian Edvalson, grade 11, were named first team all-league. Deng led the team with 57 receptions for 734 yards, and his six touchdowns were just shy of the team record of seven set by Moss, who added 39 catches for 586 yards of his own.
Cross Country
While neither team qualified for the CCS championships, the girls missed qualifying by only 0.3 seconds and each team saw new school records set. For the girls, Ragini Bhattacharya, grade 12, achieved a new Harker record with a 19:24 run at the league championship meet at Crystal Springs Cross Country Park. On the boys’ side, Corey Gonzales, grade 10, was named league MVP for a season in which he posted the best time in Harker history – a 16:12 at the league championship.
Golf
It was a record-setting year for Harker in golf as Patricia Huang, grade 12, shot the best score any Harker golfer has ever achieved at CCS and Kristine Lin, grade 11, wrapped up the year as the league’s individual champion. The pair led Harker to a second-place finish in the league overall with a 7-3 record. At the CCS golf championships in Carmel, Huang ended her Harker golf career on a high note, shooting an 82 to finish in 30th place at Rancho Canada; she became the first Harker golfer to qualify for CCS as an individual all four years of her career. Her score of 82 represents the lowest score ever carded by a Harker girls golfer at CCS. At the same event, Lin followed up with an 85, placing 38th out of 90 participants, and became the first female Harker golfer to win the regular season individual title. To cap it off, she won the league championships with an impressive score of 73 at Poplar Creek.
Tennis
The girls tennis season came to a close as they lost to St. Francis 11-7 in the CCS quarterfinals. They finished with a 14-3 overall record and a second-place finish in the WBAL! Standout doubles team Daria Karakoulka, grade 12, and Katia Mironova, grade 11, won the WBAL doubles championship and represented Harker at the CCS individual tournament.
Volleyball
Congratulations to the varsity girls volleyball team, who won their league championship this year. They advanced to the CCS semifinals where, against top-seeded Harbor High School, the girls were able to take one game in the best of five match, ultimately losing 25-18, 21-25, 25-18, 25-14. The girls had won a nail-biter just to get to the semis when they made a dramatic comeback in the quarterfinals, winning three in a row to upset the fourth-seeded Soquel Knights. This was certainly one of the most exciting volleyball games in the program’s history! The girls finished the year with a 22-7 record overall and a 10-2 mark in league play. Shreya Dixit, grade 10, led the team with 183 kills, just above junior Divya Kalidindi’s 178, and Dixit’s kill percentage of 47.7 was just a few ticks shy of freshman Doreene Kang’s team-leading 49.2. On defense, Dixit and Kang shone as well, with 40 and 36 blocks, respectively, tying for a team lead in blocks-per-set with 0.6.
Water Polo
Girls water polo capped off a historic season with a league championship, defeating Mountain View 9-5 in the semifinal match of the league tournament, and their first-ever CCS appearance, finishing up the year with a 20-7 record. The team was led by league MVP Keri Clifford, grade 12, who racked up a gaudy stat line with 98 goals and 219 points. Congratulations, ladies, on your accomplishments and for making Harker history! The boys team finished 12-16 overall and 4-8 in league play but cruised into the offseason with some momentum for next year, having won their last two games to finish fourth in their league.
Lower School and Middle School
Football
Grade 8 varsity football finished in fifth place in their league, as did Grade 7 varsity football, but grade 6 football pulled off a perfect 9-0 season to capture their league championships, and grade 5 football secured an even record at 3-3 to finish in a tie for fourth place in their league.
Softball
Grade 6-8 varsity sluggers won second place in their league with a strong 5-1 season, while grade 4-5 softball ran the table with a 6-0 record and a league championship.
Cross Country
The team finished up their season with the WBAL cross country meet at Bayfront Park, where both the boys and girls teams finished in third place overall with a few standout individual performances. For the girls, Sarah Savage, grade 7, captured first place in her race with Niki Iyer, grade 8, just behind her for the second place finish. On the boys’ side, Arnav Tandon, grade 8, finished third to put Harker in the top three of both races.
Swimming
Harker swimmers concluded their fall with the WBAL swim meet at Sacred Heart Prep. In the grade 5-6 boys medley relay (MR), taking second place were Edwin Su, Arjun Kilaru, Stephan Sokolov and Krish Kapadia, all grade 6; and in third place, Noah Salisbury, Rohan Arora, Kai-Ming Ang and Cole Smitherman, all grade 5.
Further results were:
Grade 5-6 girls MR, third place: Angela Li, Sara Min, Anusha Kuppahally, Alexandra Janssen, all grade 6
Grade 5-6 girls Individual Medley (IM), first place: Angela Li
Grade 5-6 girls 25-back, first place: Angela Li
Grade 5-6 boys 100-free, third place: Arnav Jain, grade 5.
Grade 5-6 girls 25-breast, third place: Sara Min
Grade 7 boys MR, second place: Victor Shin, Jeffrey Ma, Alexander Wang, Derek Kuo
Grade 7 boys IM, first place and grade 7 boys 50-free, second place: Jeffrey Ma
Grade 7 boys 50-fly, third place: Adriano Hernandez
Grade 7 boys 50-breast, third place: Aadith Srinivisan
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
A clear but slightly chilly evening at the upper school campus was the setting for the 2013 Harker Homecoming, highlighted by a tense faceoff between the varsity football teams of Harker and Lynbrook High School at Davis Field.
Attendees had plenty of fun both before and during the game, with tailgate areas serving many varieties of snacks and drinks to the patrons. Meanwhile, Mrs. Carley’s Café served savory barbecue and upper school students sold hot pizza by the slice. Harker journalism students sold programs they had made to raise money to pay for equipment and publishing costs. A favorite attraction during the evening was a taped-off area where attendees could take turns bashing a car, spray-painted with the graduation years of the upper school classes, with a sledgehammer or baseball bat.
Prior to the start of the game, Harker performing arts groups kept the attendees entertained. After a rousing performance by the upper school’s Varsity Dance Troupe, the lower school’s junior cheer squad received an enthusiastic ovation for their spirited and well-executed routine, and the crowd was equally receptive for the Eaglets flyby, a longstanding homecoming tradition, directed by Gail Palmer. Dressed in their eagle costumes and dancing to the appropriately familiar strains of Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like an Eagle,” the grade 2 performers were, as always, a highlight of the pre-game festivities.
Out on Rosenthal Field, younger children had a blast playing in no fewer than three inflatable structures: a bounce house, a large slide and an elaborate playhouse. Others made their own fun by tossing a football or playing other schoolyard games.
Akshaya Premkumar, grade 9, enjoyed homecoming for the opportunity to bond with friends. She was also cheering hard for an Eagle win. “I like cheering. I’m a very spirited person!” she said. Her friend Caitlin Benge, also grade 9, was enjoying her 10th homecoming since kindergarten. “My favorite part is the tug of war,” she said.
Harker alumni, including several Palo Alto Military Academy graduates, were out in force to support their alma mater and reminisce with old friends and teachers. The special alumni area was busy for the entire event with returning graduates, faculty and current students enjoying food and good company.
“There’s always good food and good conversation,” Steven Brimm ’02 said of Harker community events such as homecoming. Although it had been years since he had visited Harker, he said, he enjoyed seeing his former classmates and teachers.
Ed Williams ’02 said “the friends” were what brought him to this year’s homecoming. “Here’s one right here!” he exclaimed, as he reunited with his former advisor, John Hawley, the upper school Latin teacher.
During halftime, Head of School Chris Nikoloff took time to recognize the three alumni who received awards at Harker’s Alumni Day in June. See page 45 for details.
Just before kickoff, vocal groups from all three campuses gathered to sing stirring renditions of “The Harker School Song” and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” directed by Susan Nace.
Halftime entertainment began with a performance by Harker’s upper school cheer squad, who impressed the crowd with a complex routine. The traditions continued with the conclusion of this year’s tug of war competition, as the Classes of 2013 and 2014 took to the center of Davis Field. The seniors took home this year’s tug of war trophy after a well-earned victory.
As the third quarter approached, this year’s homecoming court was brought onto the field, riding golf carts driven by their advisors. Performing arts teacher and class dean Jeffrey Draper then revealed Maverick McNealy and Akarsha Gulukota, both grade 12, as this year’s homecoming king and queen.
The football team then took the field in spectacular fashion by bursting through a massive paper sign to begin the second half. Although the Eagles lost the hard-fought contest 39-45, it was nevertheless a memorable event for all in attendance that surely already has the Harker community eager for next year.