The San Jose Mercury News announced their boys tennis and volleyball all-stars today and Harker is well represented. Karthik Dhore, just graduated, was named to the First Team All Mercury News Boys Tennis.
Grade 5 fencer Jerrica Liao has once again found success, this time in Portland, Ore. In late April, Liao competed at the USFA North American Cup and finished third in Girls Foil. This excellent result is very likely to improve her national ranking, which is currently 10th. She continues to learn from every match and hopes to take her improvement into Y12 and Y14 competitions.
Panny Shan, grade 7, and Carlie Ding, grade 9, skated at the fourth National Theater on Ice Championship in Cape Cod, Mass., in early April. The two compete for the San Francisco Ice Theater team, which finished sixth in Choreographic Exercise and seventh in Free Skate in the Senior Division. They will look to build on their current performances over the course of the year and compete again in 2012 when the competition is held in Ohio.
This past week Harker had some outstanding Central Coast Section (CCS) performances. “CCS comprises over 100 schools and to compete and especially make finals puts these athletes in an elite category,” said Dan Molin, athletic director.
Swimming
Harker girls swimming placed seventh at CCS this past weekend, May 21-22, having a great meet in the process. Continuing its tradition of improving its placement every season, Harker girls had four individual swims in the top eight and two top-eight relay swims. Jessica Khojasteh, grade 12, was fifth in the 200 IM, sixth in the 100 breaststroke and set a school record of 1:05.90; Katie Siegel, grade 11, was eighth in the 100-yard butterfly (57.04) and third in the 100-backstroke (57.40) and both those times are both school records; the 200-yard freestyle relay of Khojasteh, Siegel, Tiffany Wong, grade 11, and Amie Chien, grade 10, was sixth, setting a school record of 1:40.17; in the 400-yard freestyle relay Khojasteh, Siegel, Rachelle Koch, grade 11, and Manon Audebert, grade 9, placed seventh and set yet another school record with their time of 3:37.78. The squad was also recognized prior to the meet for their CCS scholastic championship.
Harker boys swimming placed 14th at CCS this weekend, also having a great meet. Having placed fourth last year at CCS, this year the boys had a strong rebuilding year. The 200-yard medley relay of Hassaan Ebrahim, grade 12 and Kevin Khojasteh, Jason Yu and Daryl Neubieser, all grade 11, started out the finals session with a 16th place finish. Khojasteh then placed fifth in the 200-yard IM with a new school record of 1:51.10. Neubieser then tied for sixth in the 50-yard freestyle, following with a third place finish in the 100-yard freestyle. Khojasteh finished off the meet for the boys in the 100-yard breaststroke which turned out to be the race of the meet: four swimmers swimming very fast with less than four-tenths of a second separating the four. Khojasteh placed fourth and set a new school record of 56.94.
Track and Field
In CCS track and field semifinals, Claudia Tischler, grade 9, ran a blazing fast 5:08 in the 1600m (1 mile). Please support her as she prepares for CCS finals this Friday as one of only two freshmen in the 12-girl field of runners. She competes in Gilroy this Friday night, May 27. Isabelle Connell, grade 10, sprinted the 200m (half lap) in 26.64 seconds, taking 16th place and Sonya Chalaka, grade 11, triple-jumped 32 feet and 6.5 inches, taking 23rd place.
Golf
Golfer Maverick McNealy, grade 10, shot an 82 at the CCS championship placing 44th out of 64 golfers who qualified for the high-caliber field. Please congratulate him on an outstanding season.
Softball
Softball’s historic season came to a close last week with a 4-0 loss to Notre Dame-Belmont in the first round of CCS. Please congratulate them on an outstanding season.
Tennis
Boys tennis also has been awarded the CCS scholastic championship! Tennis player Karthik Dhore, grade 12, is seeded #2 in the CCS Individual Tournament in Aptos May 24 and 26, so best of luck to him!
Girls swimming and boys tennis teams were named 2011 Spring Scholastic Champions by the Central Coast Section. The girls swimming team came in with an average GPA of 3.8330 and boys tennis members averaged out 3.8450 to take the titles. Harker had five teams in second place: golf, lacrosse, boys swimming, boys volleyball and boys track and field, all behind the leaders by less than 1/10 of a point. There were three more teams, baseball,softball and girls track and field, in the top five lists of additional contenders, giving Harker placement in 10 of the 13 sports. GO EAGLES!
Softball has advanced to CCS finals for the first time — read all about it!
In the WBAL track & field championships, varsity girls took fourth place overall with Isabelle Connell, grade 10, placing second in the 200m (half lap), and third in the 400m (1 lap), scoring the most points for Harker. Isabelle has qualified for CCS trials in the 200m. Sonya Chalaka, grade 11, triple jumped her way into second place, and has also qualified for CCS trials. Claudia Tischler, grasde 9, placed third in both the 1600m (1 mile) and the 3200m (2 mile). Her time alone in the 1600m qualified her for CCS trials. On the boys side, Charles Levine, grade 11, placed third in the 400m, and Proteek Biswas, grade 11, placed third in the 3200m. Results.
Golfer Maverick McNealy, grade 10, qualified for the CCS championships next Tuesday with his score of 75 in the Regionals May 11. This marks the second year in a row McNealy made it this far. Top finishers next week then qualify for NorCals May 23 in Chico. Results.
Harker girls swimming placed second at the WBAL swimming championships. Among the top performances were senior Jessica Khojasteh’s victory in the 100 breaststroke and junior Katie Siegel’s victory in the 100 backstroke,and the Harker victory in the 400 free relay. Second place finishes were by Khojasteh in the 200 IM, Siegel in the 100 butterfly, the 200 medley relay of Siegel; Lucy Cheng, grade 11; Khojasteh; and Amie Chien, grade 10, and the 200 free relay of Chien; Rachelle Koch, grade 11; Tiffany Wong, grade 11; and Manon Audebert, grade 9. Third place finishes were Audebert in the 100 freestyle and 500 freestyle, and Koch in the 100 breaststroke. New CCS qualifying times were gained by Audebert in the 100 freestyle, Cheng in the 100 breaststroke, and Koch in the 100 breaststroke. New WBAL championship records were set by Siegel in the 100 backstroke (57.77), and the 400 free relay team of Siegel, Audebert, Koch, and Khojasteh (3:41.41). Those two swims, plus Siegel’s second place finish in the 100 butterfly (57.42) were Harker school records. Harker girls are in good position for next week’s CCS championships.
Harker boys swimming placed fourth at the WBAL swimming championships. Among the top performances were Daryl Neubieser, grade 11, winning both the 50 and 100 freestyle; and Kevin Khojasteh, grade 11, placing second in both the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke. A new CCS qualifying time was gained by the 200 free relay of Khojasteh; Jason Yu, grade 11; Chris Ng, grade 12; and Neubieser. Harker will compete in the CCS championships at the end of May.
Last week, for the first time ever, varsity tennis advanced to the quarterfinals of the CCS team championships. At the quarters, the boys faced a familiar opponent, Bellarmine, who they have met in three of their last four CCS appearances. This time, the boys lost to a closely matched Bellarmine squad. Senior Karthik Dhore was the lone Eagle standout.By advancing to the quarters, Harker has now made it to the CCS team championships for its eighth straight appearance and solidified its stature as one of top tennis HS tennis programs in the area. Harker finished the season with a record of 14-5. WBAL MVP and Dhore, will represent Harker in the CCS individual rournament, May 24 and 26, at Imperial Courts in Aptos.
Baseball finished their season with three straight victories and a third place league finish at 5-5. They defeated Pinewood 12-6 and Crystal Springs 8-3. Against Crystal, Noah Levy, grade 11, went 2-for-3 with three RBI’s, and Ben Tien, grade 12, was 2-for-3 and two RBI’s. Kevin Cali, grade 10, pitched and earned the victory with 10 strikeouts. Congratulations boys on a solid season.
The boys volleyball season came to a close May 12 in the CCS quarterfinals at second-seeded St. Ignatius. The boys had a great season finishing 19-14 overall for a fourth place league finish in what some people consider the toughest league in CCS.
The grade 6-8 tennis team, although still competing in playoffs, went a combined 10-4 this season in two separate leagues. The team went 5-2 in the WBAL and took third place in the final tournament. The team went 5-2 in the MTP and are currently in the quarterfinals of the final tournament. The team is led by Sophia Luo and Vikram Vasan, grade 7, and Srivinay Irrinki, grade 8.
The grade 6-8 water polo team finished off the season in fine fashion this past weekend with convincing victories over Terman 22-4 and Castilleja 20-0. They finished the season with a combined record of 6-3. The team was led by Billy Bloomquist, Delaney Martin, Ryan Palmer and Darby Millard, all grade 8; Shivali Minocha, grade 7; and Harry Xu and Pooja Kini, grade 6.
The grade 5 girls JVB1 girls volleyball team won the WBAL title with a record of 6-0! Key players were Satchi Thockchom, Aria Coalson and Sameep Mangat. Key players for the JVB2 team were Julia Amick and Jennifer Hayashi, grade 4 and Sanjana Avula, grade 5.
The grade 6 girls JVA girls volleyball team were tri-champions of the WBAL with a record of 6-1! Key players were Lindsey Trinh, Rachel Cheng and Joelle Anderson. Key players for the JVB6 team, who finished in a three-way tie for second in the WBAL, were Priyanka Chilukuri, Priyanka Taneja and Sarah Tien.
The grade 7-8 girls were combined into three teams. The varsity A team went 9-0 to take first place in the WBAL! The team was led by Shannon Richardson, Jacqueline Chen and Doreene Kang, all grade 7. The varsity B team went 8-1 to take second place in the WBAL. The team was led by Leeza Kuo, Hannah Bollar and Allison Kiang, all grade 8. The varsity B2 team went 7-2 for a two-way tie for second place in the WBAL. The team was led by Kelly Wang, Neha Sunil and Archana Podury, all grade 8.
The grade 6-8 boys volleyball teams went a combined 15-0 this season! The varsity A team was led by Matt Ho, Justin Lee and Richard Gu, all grade 8. The varsity B team was led by Austin Tuan, Alex Youn and Andrew Gu, all grade 6. The junior varsity A team was led by Justin Xie, Albert Xu and Shekar Ramaswamy, all grade 6.
The grade 5-8 baseball program continues to develop and there were some exciting games with Crystal Springs and Sacred Heart, and of course, the close game between the Harker grade 5 and 6 teams where the fifth graders took home the victory this year. The lower school team was led by Michael Sikand, grade 7 and Tanay Kamat and Will Holaday, both grade 5. The middle school team was led by Logan Drazovich, grade 7 and Karan Walia and Alex Lam, both grade 6.
Softball history! For the first time in Harker history our softball team qualified for CCS with a 10-0 victory over Alma Heights Saturday, solidifying third place in league and the last automatic league berth. The girls travel to Notre Dame-Belmont Wednesday for their first-round game. Please congratulate the girls and their coaches, Raul Rios, Dan Hudkins and Ray Fowler, for this outstanding accomplishment. Bracketdirections from the Saratoga campus As with all CCS games, there is an entry fee. For softball first-round games entry is $5 for all, children under 12 are free.
Here are details of the game from a message Dan Hudkins sent to team families:
“Wow! What a game! By defeating Alma Heights Christian (10-0 in 6 innings) we received an ‘automatic qualification’ for the Central Coast Sectional (CCS) softball tournament. This is a first for Harker’s softball program, and speaking as someone who was also an assistant coach in 2004 when we went 0-15, we’ve come a long, long way. Your daughter and her teammates did it by their continuous, enthusiastic support of each other.
“Coach Rios and I just got back from the tournament seeding meeting at the CCS office. We received the 12th of 13 seeds in Division III (smaller schools). This means the first round game will be played against the number five seed, Notre Dame High School – Belmont, at Belmont on Wed., May 18 at 4 p.m. Coach Rios will let everyone know departure time for the game on Wednesday; I suspect that it will between 2 and 2:30. The school’s address is 1540 Ralston Ave., Belmont, CA 94002. With any luck we’ll be back in time to participate in the sports award ceremonies that begin at 6:30 p.m. on the Saratoga campus (parents are welcome to that as well). CCS is single elimination. If we win, we continue, if we lose, it’s the end of the season. We hope that you can come out and support the team either at the CCS round 1 game, the sports award ceremonies, or both! It’s been a great season and a privilege to have been a part of it.”
Pat Walsh, lower school math teacher, took an enthusiastic group of about 40 lower school students to the San Francisco Giants game, where, coincidentally, music teacher Jennifer Cowgill was directing a boys choir who sang the national anthem before the game.
Although the Giants lost the game, the students remained hopeful and in great spirits throughout. “They screamed , danced and rallied for a come-from-behind win, but it just wasn’t going to happen,” Walsh said. The students even received compliments from other fans on how well-behaved and spirited they were.
Several parents wrote in to show their appreciation. “It’s a good experience that Michael will never forget,” said parent Sara Chan (Michael Kwan, grade 5). “I still can’t stop him from talking about it all day long.”
“It was Christopher’s first game at AT&T Park and he had a great time!” wrote Maria Gong of her grade 4 son. Gita Banga (Anika, grade 5; Anvi, grade 3) said, “It is experiences like this which the kids treasure and remember, making learning fun and enthusiastic. This spirit amazes us. Anika had a wonderful time today, and an experience which she will not forget.”
Update:
April 19, 2011
Swimming
Boys swimming had their first meet of the season last week, a 90-64 loss to Menlo School. Harker won six of 11 events but Menlo’s depth out-paced Harker. Kevin Khojasteh and Daryl Neubieser, both grade 11, each won two events, and Chris Ng, grade 12, won one event. Also, the 200-relay team of Khojasteh, Ng, Neubieser and Hassaan Ebrahim, grade 12, won the 200-freestyle relay. CCS qualifications were made by Khojasteh in the 200-IM and 100-breaststroke and by Neubieser in the 50-freestyle and 500-freestyle. Also, the 200-medley relay and the 200-freestyle relay teams both qualified for CCS.
April 15, 2011
Track
Early in the season, at Leland’s Quicksilver Classic, Claudia Tischler, grade 9, galloped into third place for the two-mile race (3,200), running a 12:04. At the Del Mar Classic Invitational, Tischler took first place in the girls varsity two-mile, running a 12:09. Michael Chen, grade 10, placed third in both freshman/sophomore discus and shot put, throwing 86 ft. 4 in. and 38 ft. 10 in., respectively.
At WBAL 2, at the end of March, Ragini Bhattacharya, grade 10, took first place in both the one-mile and the two-mile, running a 5:52 and 12:48, respectively. Tyler Yeats, grade 10, took second in a photo finish two-mile running an 11:33.88, missing first place by .04 seconds. Isabelle Connell, grade 10, ran the 400-meter in 1:00.25, taking second place. Puneet Sidhu, grade 12, triple jumped her way into second place at 28 ft. 10 in. Matthew Giammona, grade 10, threw the discus 95 ft. 3.5 in. placing second; his classmate Chen threw the shot put 38 ft. 5.5 in., taking third in that event.
Prior to that, at the St. Francis Invitational, Connell placed third in the JV 400-meter, breaking one minute with a lightning fast 59.80, and setting a personal record!
Tennis
Harker defeated Mission Trail Athletic League leader Carmel High (13-5) this week at Blackford. Despite losing our No. 2 singles player, Derek Tzeng, grade 11, to illness, the team was forced to ‘play up’ and the singles players played out of position. Singles players Karthik Dhore, grade 12, Chris Chang, grade 10 and Justin Yang, grade 10, were all victorious. Equally impressive were Harker’s doubles teams, who all won in straight sets, particularly No. 2 doubles Nikhil Narayen and Sachin Jain, both grade 11 (6-2, 6-0), and No. 3 team of Simar Mangat and Nikhil Panu, both grade 10, (6-1, 6-1). With the victory, Harker’s overall record stands at 9-3.
Earlier week, the boys tennis team turned things around to beat Sacred Heart Prep (SHP) at their second meeting by the same score by which SHP had defeated them in March. This time, things were different as Harker had all three of its top singles players in the match. Only second and third doubles lost, both in close third set tiebreakers. With the win, Harker improves to an overall record of 8-3 and is 7-2 in the WBAL, tied with SHP. However, we hold the tiebreaker advantage over SHP by virtue of a slim 17-15 overall set advantage.
Softball
The softball team had five wins in a row between mid-March and early April, before losing a close one this week, 4-3 to Notre Dame-San Jose. Victoria Liang, grade 12, was two for four batting and Alison Rugar, grade 10, pitched 10 strikeouts. The loss puts them in a tie for first place in league at 3-1. In early April the girls defeated King’s Academy 4-2. Rugar pitched 16 strikeouts to seal the victory. A few days prior, for the first time ever, our softball team defeated rival Castilleja 8-3; Rugar pitched 10 strikeouts and went two for three batting with a triple, double and three RBIs. Hits were also recorded from Liang, Tracey Chan, Aileen Wen, all seniors; Ashley Del Alto, grade 10; and Nithya Vemireddy, grade 9.
Baseball
Baseball lost a close one in mid-April to Woodside 2-1. Amir Mortazavi, grade 12, pitched six solid innings in the loss. A few days before, the team had a dramatic come-from-behind victory against league foe Crystal Springs. Nate Hoffman, grade 11, had a clutch bases loaded double with two outs and a 3-2 count to lead a five-run sixth inning for the 8-7 victory. In early April the team lost to Capuchino 10-4, despite a triple and a run scored by Greg Cox, grade 12.
Golf
After four straight wins early in the season, boys golf broke rhythm when the rains hit, and in early April lost to SHP 214-221, though Maverick McNealy, grade 10, earned medalist honors shooting a 37. The boys are now 4-3 in league. In an earlier match against Menlo, freshman Vik Bhagat was Harker’s low man, shooting a 39.
Volleyball
Boys volleyball went 6-0 on April 9, the second day of the Bellarmine Tournament, earning the Bronze Division Championship by defeating Serra, Leland and Valley Christian to seal the title. The week before, the team defeated King’s Academy behind 22 kills from Jacob Chappell, grade 12. Classmate Zach Mank contributed with nine blocks. At the Watsonville Tournament, the team was named silver division champs; the boys lost to Pajaro Valley before defeating Palma, Watsonville and San Benito.
Lacrosse
The girls lacrosse team’s skills are building, said coach Andrew Irvine. They beat Woodside 18-13, though the game was forfeited in the end. Woodside was short players so had to forfeit, but the teams played a 10-on-10 game (instead of the 12 players per side required) for fun. Michelle Douglas, grade 10, had 10 goals; Sam Hoffman, grade 10, had one; Jessica Son, grade 10, had one, and since she normally plays defense, scoring a goal was a rare treat; Julia Fink, grade 9, had four goals, one of which was an amazing quick stick shot; and Tiphaine Delepine, grade 10, had two goals.
Swimming
This week, girls swimming continued their dominating season in the WBAL with a 136-28 win over Menlo School. Harker won all eleven events, including one-two-three finishes in seven of the eleven events. Individual event winners were Jessica Khojasteh, grade 12 (two events); Rachelle Koch, Katie Siegel and Lucy Cheng, grade 11; Amie Chien, grade 10; and Manon Audebert and Kimberly Ma, grade 9. Audebert, Harker’s newest CCS qualifier, made the cut for the 200-meter freestyle by .08 of a second. Harker is now 4-0.
In late March, the girls swimming won their third straight meet at Castilleja, 121-49, winning 10 of 11 events. Double event winners were Khojasteh and Audebert. Other winners were Cheng, Siegel and Ma, as well as all three relays. Harker had one-two-three finishes in both the 500-free and the 100-breaststroke, and one-two finishes in both free relays.
This article was originally published in the Harker Quarterly Spring 2011 Edition
Experienced and aspiring tennis players aged 7 to 15 can choose from two Harker summer programs directed by varsity tennis coach Craig Pasqua.
In both programs, professional coaches combine on-court technique instruction with ball machine drills, video self-analysis and tactical strategy. Harker’s facilities partner, The Oakwood Tennis Center, provides five beautiful and well maintained courts for the programs on Saratoga Avenue, just minutes from the upper school campus.
Harker Summer Tennis Camp (HSTC) offers weekly sessions for players entering grades 2-8 who have an interest in improving their tennis knowledge and skill base, whatever their starting level.
The schedule includes daily strength and endurance training, as well as instruction in tennis rules, terminology, customs and history. Players are divided into three skill levels to ensure an appropriate learning environment and just-right challenges for each player. Intermediate and advanced players participate in match play.
Harker Oakwood Tennis Training System (HOTTS) is a minimum four-week program that offers competitive tennis players the opportunity to combine regular team practice with weekly matches against local tennis clubs.
Players learn advanced technical strokes, footwork and sports psychology through a regimen of match-tested drills, exercises and learning sessions geared toward the competitive player.
Whether you want to focus on school or sports, or a little of both, this summer, you can feed your passion at Harker! Please see www.summer.harker.org for more details.