Two recent Harker graduates attending local schools were recently recognized for their hard work. Alisha Tolani ’06, now at Stanford University, and Tanya Schmidt ’08, now at Santa Clara University, were featured in their schools’ online news publications for their contributions to quality of life and athletics, respectively.
Tolani received the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for distinctive contributions to undergraduate education. This award is given to students who do impressive work with the goal of improving the quality of life for undergraduate students. She earned this accolade in part because of the many activities she is involved in. These include “serving as the ASSU executive co-chair of undergraduate health and wellness, resident assistant at West Florence Moore Hall, research assistant at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and peer counselor at the Bridge,” according to the award. She was also cited for her role in founding Stanford’s coalition to end violence against women. The award thanked Tolani “for making Stanford a safer and more comfortable home for all students.”
Schmidt, a junior, was lauded for her excellent play on the Santa Clara women’s volleyball team. In a recent game the Broncos, 11-7 on the season at press time, defeated Idaho 3-1 and Schmidt was the star player. She posted a season-high 17 kills with an over-500 average. Head coach Jon Wallace had this to say of her performance: “Tanya had a great night. She was unbelievable tonight. She was quick, moving the ball around and competing extremely well.” Currently she is fourth on the team in kills with an impressive 129 and continues to play a big role in the Broncos’ success.
Football
The football team continues to break records advancing to 6-0 on the year and setting the record for the best start in Harker history with their 27-6 win over Capuchino High School. Quarterback Rishi Bhatia, grade 12, had a hand in all 27 points, accumulating 228 yards passing and 117 yards rushing. Senior Gautam Krishnamurthi pulled in 150 yards receiving, while Eagles’ sophomore Michael Chen had 10 tackles.
This night was special for another reason as well; Senior Appreciation. The Eagles will graduate 14 seniors this year and sent them off in style. They are Rishi Bhatia, Greg Cox, Karthik Dhore, Ejaz Haque, Alex Kablanian, Gautam Krishamurthi, Isaac Madan, Chris McCallaCreary, Jason Mendel, Arko Mukherjee, Troy Sambyal, Justin Shamlou, Jeremiah Shteynberg, and David Wu.
Tennis
The girls posted two victories last week both in impressive fashion. The girls beat Castilleja 6-1 and Notre Dame 7-0 bringing them to 4-0 in league play.
Water Polo
The boys split their week last week going 2-2. This included an intense triple overtime victory over Fremont High school. The Eagles also competed at the Live Oak Tournament over the weekend where they went 1-2. Karan Das-Grande, grade 10, had seven goals and Cole Manaster, grade 11, had four.
The girls also posted a win over Fremont this week, 8-7, avenging a loss from earlier in the season.
Volleyball
The girls have had a tough start in league play this year but have been very competitive overall. Their losses to Castilleja and Menlo both went to five sets with several sets being decided by only two points. The girls are in an especially tough league this year as Castilleja is ranked 15th and Sacred Heart Prep 12th. While their league record is 0-3 their overall record is still a commendable 13-5.
The junior varsity squad took second place in the Del Mar Tournament going an impressive 4-1 on the day.
The freshman team has come back strong after their initial two game losing streak and is currently on a three game winner. The girls had two home games last week posting big wins over Immaculate Conception Academy and Castilleja. The girls won 2-0 and 2-1 respectively.
Golf
The girls lost two tough matches last week to Castilleja and Sacred Heart. Kristine Lin, grade 9, had a notable performance in the match against Castilleja shooting a 44. The team’s record is holding strong at 3-3 and they hope to improve with matches against Notre Dame and Menlo this week.
Cross Country
Cross country ran against some of the top schools in the area last week at the Crystal Springs Invitational. The girls placed an impressive 13th overall and the boys came in at 20th. Sophomores Ragini Bhattacharya and Tyler Yates were the top runners for Harker in the girls and boys races respectively. Go Eagles!
[Football Update]
The Eagles triumphed, again, Friday evening, over Capuchino this time, 27-6, making them 6-0! Quarterback Rishi Bhatia, grade 12, had a hand in all 27 points, accumulating 228 yards passing and 117 yards rushing. Senior Gautam Krishnamurthi pulled in 150 yards receiving, while Eagles sophomore Michael Chen had 10 tackles. Go Eagles!
Football
Harker varsity football cleaned up California School for the Deaf 23-0 Oct. 1 and set a school record by going 5-0 to start the season. Linebacker Greg Cox, grade 12, intercepted a tipped pass in the first half, and classmate cornerback Alex Kablanian returned another interception 26 yards for a touchdown. Safety Gautam Krishnamurthi, grade 12, had three interceptions and took one back 55 yards for a score. The Tri-City Voice published more details.
The week before, in pre-league play, the team topped Lynbrook 19-6 with quarterback Rishi Bhatia, grade 12, running for one touchdown and throwing for another to Cox. Krishnamurthi sealed the victory with a 53-yard interception return for a touchdown in the final minute of the game. The boys have their last home game before homecoming this Friday, Oct. 8, against Capuchino High. Senior Appreciation Night for football will take place prior to the contest.
Volleyball
Varsity volleyball continued their impressive season with victories over San Lorenzo Valley and Silver Creek, along with strong play at the Cupertino Classic Tournament. At the tournament the girls won their pool and advanced to the Gold Division. They posted victories over Mills, Sobrato and Fremont, with their only losses coming to eventual tournament champion Burlingame and Valley Christian. Their record is now 13-2.
Cross Country
The team competed last weekend at the Stanford Invitational, one of the largest cross country races in the country. The boys placed 30th and the girls 23rd. Tyler Yeats, grade 10, ran the team’s fastest time at 18:36 and Claudia Tischler, grade 9, was the fastest girl, finishing at 20:52. In their first league meet last week at San Bruno Mountain Park, the girls team placed third, with Ragini Bhattacharya, grade 10, running 18:59 and placing fourth in the league. The boys team took fourth at the meet and Yeats ran 16:59. Their next event is this Saturday at the Crystal Springs Invitational.
Golf
The girls have had five matches in the last two weeks, starting and finishing with losses, but with three straight wins in between. Starting with a tough loss to Castilleja School and a big win over Notre Dame San Jose 247-271, they were led by Katie Liang, grade 12, who shot an impressive 46. The squad went on to beat Menlo and Mercy before dropping to Sacred Heart Prep. The next games are rematches against Castilleja on Wed., Oct. 6, and Notre Dame next Tuesday. The girls have important matches this week against Menlo and Mercy Burlingame.
Water Polo
Girls water polo last week earned their first victory of the season, defeating Cupertino in a league match 12-5. Keri Clifford, grade 10 and Cindy Shwe, grade 12, looked impressive with four goals apiece. The team was blanked 0-3 in some close games last weekend at the Carmel Invitational, though Clifford had seven goals and Sierra Lincoln had 22 goal saves. The girls JV team traveled to Monte Vista for a tournament last weekend and went 3-0. They won big games over Valley Christian, Castilleja and Homestead.
The boys water polo team improved to 7-5 after two huge victories over Cupertino and Santa Clara and a loss to Lynbrook. In the Cupertino match, Chris Ng, grade 12, led the team with four goals. Against Santa Clara, Ng again led the team with six goals, supported by Rex Chen, grade 12, with three and Gilad Nilo, grade 10, with one.
Tennis
The girls tennis team has had a busy schedule, winning four and losing two in the last 10 days. The victories came over Presentation and Priory, both 7-0, and Pinewood and Sacred Heart Prep, both 5-2, with tough losses to Archbishop Mitty High School 2-5 and Monta Vista High School 0-7. Now 6-2 as of this week, the team is at home against Castilleja and visiting at Notre Dame. Go Eagles!
This story was originally published in the Fall 2010 issue of Harker Quarterly
Harker Athletes Excel at Summer Sports
For Harker athletes who wanted to stay in shape during the summer there was a plethora of options. These ranged from sportspecific camps and practices to the Eagle Iron program, which is open to all students. The goal of these offerings is not only to help athletes stay in peak physical condition but to prepare them for the upcoming seasons so that they are ready to compete at the top of their game.
Eagle Iron
Every year upper school athletes participate in the Eagle Iron summer training program.This year, Theresa Smith, middle school athletic director, ran the program with the help of coaches Karriem Stinson and Ron Forbes.
The group met every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from mid-June to the end of July, 9 a.m. to noon. Almost 100 athletes attended at least once over the summer, with most participating on a regular basis.
It’s a demanding program. “The athletes were put through an extensive dynamic warm-up to get ready, and then we’d break into three groups and work on specific drills,” said Smith. “Those drills were focused on developing speed, agility, quickness, jumping ability and conditioning.”
After drills, volleyball players did sport-specific training with Smith, and the rest of the athletes lifted weights with Forbes and Stinson.
Tara Rezvani, grade 10, attended every session to prepare for this year’s volleyball season. She felt the coaches were essential to her success throughout the summer. “They focused on mixing it up a lot so the drills would not become monotonous,” she said. “They also paid attention to each individual athlete and gave us personal advice on how to get the most out of each exercise.”
“It is great the school has a program that allows athletes to get and stay in shape over the long summer,” said Gautam Krishnamurthi, grade 12. “I encourage every athlete to come for this program as it really works wonders.”
Wrestling
Jason Mendel and Chris McCallaCreary, both grade 12, competed extensively throughout the summer. At the state finals McCallaCreary took fifth in Greco- Roman and was in the top 10 in freestyle. Mendel placed fourth in freestyle. Both qualified for the California team this summer and, as a result, went to Fargo, N.D., to compete in the national tournament, where McCallaCreary got his first win at the national level.
Football
The football team was especially busy this summer with a camp, a passing league and double days. Since football began soon after the first day of school, it was important that the players started getting ready for the season during the summer.
The team continued the tradition of attending a weeklong camp at Oregon’s Willamette University in June. Head coach Karriem Stinson stated that the reason they have attended this camp year after year is that Willamette uses the same offense as Harker. This similarity allows players to work at college-level facilities with the accompanying level of instruction and apply it directly to their play in the coming season. Harker was joined at this camp by the Alaskan state champion football team as well as some tough teams from Sacramento and Sacred Heart Prep, making it an extremely competitive environment.
At the end of the camp several athletes were presented awards in recognition of their excellent performances throughout the week in their positions. Four Harker seniors were recognized: David Wu, sweeper; Jerry Shteynberg, lineman; Gautam Krishnamurthi, wide receiver; and Rishi Bhatia, quarterback.
Harker also started a summer passing league for schools in the area. Some of the teams who participated were Cupertino, Archbishop Mitty, Los Altos and Serra. Teams played each other in seven-on-seven matches throughout the summer to work on plays and stay in shape. Harker ended the summer with a 13-3 record, which is impressive considering their competition was some of the best in the area.
The team also competed in a passing tournament at Stanford University where they took the Consolation B championship.
At the end of the summer the team had mandatory practices twice a day, really gearing up to prepare for the school season.
Basketball
The boys and girls basketball teams worked hard this summer in order to stay in top form. Both teams madehuge strides in their skills and abilities.
The varsity boys team, which includes students in grades 9-12, competed in a number of tournaments as well as the William C. Overfelt summer league. Their record was an impressive 7-3 in league play and 15-7 overall.
They had an especially impressive showing at the San Jose State University summer tournament, with wins over South San Francisco, James Lick, Menlo Atherton, Los Altos and James Logan. Their only loss was to Archbishop Mitty in the semifinals. The team ended up in third place, an impressive finale considering that most of the schools they were competing against have between 1,500 and 3,500 students.
The frosh-soph team gained a great deal of experience in practices and games while playing in the Los Gatos league.
The girls team held open gyms throughout the beginning of the summer. These practices were open to all interested students. Though their numbers may have been small, this gave each player a lot of face time with coaches and opportunities to work on their skills.
In addition to open gym the girls team participated in a summer league for the first time. They played two games a week, and coach Alfredo Alves was excited that it gave them a chance “to build chemistry and tune up for the upcoming 2010-11 season.” They also played against teams that they had never seen before. In their third to last game of the season they lost a nail biter to one of the best teams in the league. This was not all bad news as the loss inspired them to do better, and they finished off the summer with two big wins.
Michelle Markiewicz, grade 12, said, “It felt really good to have the team practically all together again and gave us each opportunities to improve on our skills and teamwork overall.”
Volleyball
This year marked the 13th summer that open gym volleyball has been offered. This year’s coed open gym volleyball was held every Monday and Wednesday night.
The gym was open to athletes ranging from those entering grade 6 to alumni.
Each night three courts were open with players divided based on their abilities. On most nights each court had more than 50 players, leading to a lot of fun for everybody.
Open gym began with warm-ups and proceeded to “a variety of scrimmagetype games, including six-on-six,” said coach Theresa Smith.
Cheerleading
For the first time, several of Harker’s cheerleaders attended a United Cheer Association camp this summer at U.C. Davis. The camp ran from August 14-17 and was a great way for the cheerleaders to get ready for the upcoming year.
A typical day at the camp included “jump classes, stunt classes, learning dance routines and cheers, dance/cheer/sideline evaluations, cheerrelated games, private coaching, jump and cheer competitions, and team bonding activities,” according to captain Saira Ahuja, grade 11.
While only three Harker students attended, they were honored with a host of awards. Jessica Lin, grade 11, “tried out for the All-American Cheer team and made it, which means that she received a medal as well as the opportunity to cheer in Europe over Christmas break,” said Ahuja. Ahuja, along with co-captain Amanda King, grade 12, was offered the opportunity to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. As a group Harker’s cheer team was awarded the superior award and the spirit award at the end of camp in recognition of their performance.
Soccer
Coach Troy Thiele held open field soccer practices for the girls soccer team. As a team they decided to focus on three areas this summer: speed, strength and soccer-specific skills.
They were aided in this endeavor twice a week by Ron Forbes, who gave them specific tips to improve the mechanics of their running. The open field was a place “where players who were available could play soccer [and] bond before the season starts in the winter,” according to Monisha Appalaraju, grade 12.
Golf
Maverick McNealy, grade 10, did well this summer representing Harker’s golf program. Not only did he win a Junior Golf tournament, but he also tied for 12th in the Junior World Championships.
More Sports News
It was recently announced that Harker was awarded state academic championships in football, boys wrestling and boys swimming. Harker and a school in Southern California were the only three-team winners in the state!
At press time the varsity football team is 1-0 having won/lost their home opener against San Jose High on Sept. 3 14-6. Boys water polo was 2-1 after their tournament in Monterey on Sept. 4, and girls water polo to date has had victories over Evergreen Valley (3-0) and Santa Teresa (3-1). Girls volleyball won their season opener at Mount Pleasant in three sets and is currently 1-0.
Harker is extremely proud of all of the athletes who trained and competed this summer. We would like to give special recognition to Gautam Krishnamurthi, football and basketball player, and Tara Rezvani, volleyball, who have the honor of being Harker’s official “athletes of the summer.” They were nominated based on their work at Eagle Iron, where neither missed a single day, and the summer’s various open gyms and camps. Congratulations to them and good luck to all our athletes in the coming year.
This story was originally published in the Fall 2010 issue of Harker Quarterly
This year Harker offered a triple treat for athletes: soccer, swim and tennis camps all ran throughout the summer, and campers of all ages and skill levels attended. Each camp was handcrafted by its director and offered goals tailored to the athletes’ needs.
Soccer
This dynamic camp was directed by upper school boys varsity soccer coach Shaun Tsakiris, a UCLA MVP nominee and national champion team member.
Each camp ran for a week, 9 a.m. to noon, and gave kids a chance to work on virtually all aspects of their game. Tsakiris worked hard to ensure that the athletes stayed focused on soccer.
He said the goal was to hold “an active, soccer-specific camp.” The highlight of the June camp came when Joe Cannon, goalkeeper for the San Jose Earthquakes, visited the group. He talked soccer to the campers, signed autographs and presented a banner to the player of the week.
“It was a good experience to talk to a guy who plays professional soccer,” said Alex Courdillon, a grade 8 student at Miller Middle School. “You learn a little bit more about how you can prepare to become a great soccer player. It’s really inspirational.”
Swimming
This year’s Harker Summer Aquatic Program was a hit with kids and parents alike. Offerings included swim lessons and a swim camp, with enough free swim time to keep the spirit of summer going. Over half the participants were from schools other than Harker, and meeting new swimmers was one of the highlights for campers.
The lessons were 30 minutes long, scheduled a week at a time. Students chose individual, semiprivate or group lessons, but lessons weren’t all work. “Having my free time and playing in the water,” was great, said Terman Middle School grade 6 student Leonard Wong, “and swimming [lessons are] also good. My mom says I’m getting a lot of exercise.”
The swim camp was a two-week program aimed at middle school students and focused on fitness and water safety. It included physical training, classroom learning and skills instruction. In the classroom, the kids learned part of the American Red Cross GuardStart program, covering topics such as responding in an emergency and the prevention of aquatic accidents.
Tennis
The Harker/Oakwood Tennis Training System (HOTTS) and Harker Tennis Camp are taught by Harker’s varsity coach Craig Pasqua. The tennis camp focuses on skills for beginning and intermediate players, while the HOTTS camp is geared more towards higher level players. Both operate at the Oakwood tennis courts located less than a block from the Blackford campus. With the two programs, Harker is able to offer a summer tennis experience to players of all skill levels that is both challenging and fun.
This year, there were about 30 HOTTS students each week, ages 10-18, filling all five courts and giving athletes a wide range of competitors and plenty of court time. A typical day involved complex drills and games, following a weekly cycle with instruction and drills three days a week and competitions on Thursday (boys) and Friday (girls).
By devoting an entire day to matches with clubs from around the area, players had a chance to gain valuable competition experience “that can be hard to obtain outside of extremely competitive tournaments,” said Pasqua. “For many of the kids in the HOTTS program this is the first time they have ever played a competitive match.”
All three camps aim to help students become athletes and develop sportsmanship skills in a fun, challenging environment, and, as usual, mission accomplished!
Softball
Softball continued their undefeated streak with two big victories in late September, boosting their record to an impressive 4-0. In their 12-3 victory over Sacred Heart Prep, Regan Heslop, grade 7, had an excellent day on the mound, throwing 12 strikeouts. She also hit a home run. The offense was helped by Safia Kouja, grade 8; Jordan Thompson, grade 6; and Gillian Wallin, grade 8. The Eagles had a home game against Woodside Priory, winning 10-2. Marita Del Alto, grade 7, pitched a complete game and gave up only two runs. Regan contributed again on offense with another home run. Ankita Sharma and Tong Wu, both grade 7, also turned in hits while Alisa Wakita, grade 7, got on base three times and stole three bases.
Cross Country
The cross country team ran at their third meet of the season at John D. Morgan Park in late September. The race was the longest of the year at just over 1.5 miles. Corey Gonzales, grade 8, posted the fastest time and placed eighth. Gabi Gupta, grade 8, earned the team’s highest place, finishing seventh in her race. Rounding out the places were Mary Najibi, grade 7, finishing tenth, and grade 6 students Meilan Steimle and Stephanie Scaglia finishing at 13 and 14, respectively. For the first time this year, Harker placed as a team, taking fourth in the grade 6 girls race.
The team competed last week in their toughest race of the season at C.T. English. The course, while not the longest, is in the Santa Cruz Mountains and is the hilliest race of the year. This didn’t deter Alex Deller, grade 7, from continuing her tradition of excellence by taking third place. In the grade 8 races, Alyssa Amick finished sixth, Thomas Doyle, grade 8, took eighth and Gonzales placed 11th. Rounding out the Eagles’ top placers was Najibi, who finished 12th. Congratulations to all the runners and good luck in future races!
Football
Junior varsity A continues their undefeated streak, as well, compiling a 5-0 record to date. In late September, they showed solid defense with a 20-0 shutout over Woodside Priory. Last week the streak continued with big wins over Menlo and Valley Christian San Jose. The Menlo game was an offensive shootout, with both teams scoring over 25 points. The Eagles emerged victorious 33-26 and were led by Alex Yuan and Nick Bean, both grade 6. Nick Weisbloom, grade 6, also added impressive rushing. In their game against Valley Christian the Eagles showed that they don’t lack defensive skills, holding the Warriors to only 12 points. The Eagles, on the other hand, scored an impressive 33 points and soundly defeated their opponent. Sandip Nirmel, grade 6, returned an interception for a touchdown and Varun Baldwa, grade 6, had two sacks while putting intense pressure on the Warriors’ offense throughout the game.
Varsity A football posted two big wins in late September, bringing them to 2-2 in league play. The Eagles defeated Crystal Springs 40-27 in an important league away game. At home, the team beat a tough King’s Academy squad 19-12. The offense has been led by quarterback and running back Allan Huang, grade 8. He is supported by Erick Holt and Billy Bloomquest, both grade 8. Srivinay Irrinki, grade 8, has been solid on the line, providing critical support for the rest of the team. Last week, they posted a victory over league opponent Pinewood 35-13. In their second contest of the week the Eagles had an extremely close game with King’s Academy, which ended in a 12-12 tie.
Varsity B football is 3-1-1 after their league win over Menlo School in late September. The score was a nail-biting 9-7. The team’s defense has been key to their success this year, and played a huge part in both of their victories. Last week they posted a big win over league opponent Crystal Springs. Coach Manny Martinez attributed the 26-12 outcome to a solid defensive effort by the Eagles. The team also competed in the West Valley Middle School Tournament, where they went 2-1-1 and took an impressive second place. Their performance was due in large part to excellent play by the offensive line. Vishal Vaidya, grade 8, played especially well in this respect.
Swim
The combined lower and middle school swim had their first competition of the year at Castilleja in early September. The team did quite well, with 33 students earning medals. Jeremy Binkley, grade 8, took first in both the 50 freestyle and 200 freestyle races in his class. Seventh-graders Justin Su and Peter Wu won their 50 flystroke and 50 backstroke races, respectively. Justin Culpepper, grade 6, and Mason Menaker, grade 5, won separate 5/6th 25 freestyle races while Swetha Tummala, grade 6, took first in girls freestyle. Mason also won the boys 100 freestyle. In the 25 flystroke, Kayvon Solaimanpour, grade 6, took first while Kendall Ka, grade 6, and Swetha won their 25 backstroke races. Rounding out the Eagles’ top finishers were Eddie Shiang, grade 6, and Kai- Sang Ang, grade 6, who both won their 25-breaststroke races.
San Jose Mercury News, Sept. 28 – Raghav Sehtia, grade 10, in the “School Scene or Honors” section for his two-year appointment to the San Jose Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
The New York Times, Sept. 5 – Alexander Wang MS ’98 is mentioned in a story about the rise of Asian-American fashion designers.
San Jose Mercury News, Sept. 4 – The box score of Harker’s 14-6 win over San Jose appears in the “High School Football Roundup.”
As fall sports ramp up teams are building skills and garnering wins!
Volleyball
Varsity volleyball continued their undefeated season with wins over Del Mar, Saratoga and Leigh high schools, making them 7-0. All three victories were achieved in three sets in a best of five series, illustrating the Eagles’ dominance on the court. The girls face Silver Creek at home this Friday and will attend the Cupertino classic this weekend.
Junior varsity also posted three wins last week, improving their record to 10-2 on the season, and spent a weekend honing skills at a Spikefest tourney.
The freshmen team had their first game ever last week against Sacred Heart. Though the game ended in defeat, the girls put on an impressive show. The girls have been working hard all season; look for them to improve as the year progresses.
Football
Football continued their winning streak last week, now 3-0, with a 36-20 victory over Soledad last Friday. Quarterback Rishi Bhatia, grade 12, passed for over 200 yards and four touchdowns including two to Gautam Krishnamurthi, grade12; one to Daanish Jamal, grade 11; and one to Greg Cox, grade 12. Jamal also scored an additional touchdown on an interception return. Come show your support this Friday as the Eagles face Lynbrook in a contest of undefeated teams.
Cross Country
Last Saturday the team competed in the Chieftain Classic in Salinas. Tyler Yeats, grade 10, ran an impressive 18:26 which earned him 16th place in the boys race. In the girls race, Ragini Bhattacharya, grade 10, finished in 11th place with a time of 21:09. The team will travel to Stanford for their invitational this Saturday.
Girls Tennis
For the second year in a row our girls tennis team placed a strong second behind St. Francis Sacramento at last week’s Santa Catalina Tournament in Monterey. Sophomore Jenny Chen became the third Harker player to win the number one singles flight while Shwetha Bharadwaj, grade 9, won the number two singles. Sophomores Daria Karakoulka and Chau Nguyen in addition to Jaya Chandra, grade 11 and Sylvie Dobrota, grade 10, almost won their doubles flights, finishing as runners-up.
Harker’s number one doubles team, Tanya Piskun, grade 11 and Katia Mironova, grade 9, made it to the semifinals, and Harker’s number two doubles team, Sahithya Prakash, grade 9 and Aranshi Kumar, grade 11, made it to the second round. The girls have a big week with matches against Presentation, Mitty and Priory, all at Blackford.
Water Polo
Both the boys and girls teams fell to tough Wilcox teams last week. They look to rebound this week with two home games. The boys will face Cupertino and Saratoga, and the girls will face Mountain View and Cupertino.
Golf
The girls golf team opens league play this week with matches against Castilleja and Notre Dame.
Softball
The junior varsity B volleyball team, composed of fourth and fifth grade students, is currently undefeated after a 12-7 victory over Sacred Heart. Key players included Alyssa Whitman, grade 4; Kayla Dominguez, grade 4; and Satchi Thockchom, grade 5.
Football
Junior varsity B football is 1-1 on the season after a huge win over St Matthews. The victory was made especially sweet by the close nature of the game; the final score was 20-19. The team is lead by fifth graders Rohit Shah, Justin Su, Brando Pakel and Michael Kwan.
Swim
The Swim team has their first meet later this week, so check back next week for results.
Softball
Softball is currently undefeated, with two big wins last week. Their first game was an 8-3 victory over a tough Valley Christian team. The Eagles started things off right with a seven-run first inning. Big players included lead-off hitter Alisa Watika, grade 7, catcher Gillian Wallin, grade 8, and pitcher Regan Heslop, grade 7. Even though the offense was impressive, Coach CJ Cali said it was the defense that sealed the deal. In their first league game the team defeated Menlo 10-4. Heslop, Marita Del Alto, grade 7, and Safia Khouja, grade 8, all played exceptionally well in this victory. The team as a whole has had zero errors so far this season, which explains how the Eagles have outscored their opponents more than two to one.
Flag Football
Varsity A had two games last week, which they split. They lost a close game to the much larger St. Joseph’s 6-0 despite great play by quarterback Allen Huang, grade 8. Their second game was a come-from-behind victory over Valley Christian. The final score was 39-27 but at one point the Eagles were down by 18 points.
Varsity B also split their games last week with a tough loss to Valley Christian and a big win over cross-town rival St Joseph’s. In the latter game the Eagles were down 18-0 but mounted a huge comeback to tie the score. As the clock wound down Andrew Kirshner, grade 7, had a game-changing interception that gave the Eagles one last chance for victory. Shannon Richardson, grade 7, had the game-winning touchdown reception. St Joesph’s responded with a hail Mary pass that was caught and run almost to the end zone. Luckily, Nick Labruna, grade 7, was there to make the tackle that sealed the Eagles’ victory. The offense is led by the stylish play of Jonathan Keller and Nathanal “Noko” Sterns, both grade 7.
Junior Varsity A is undefeated with a win over Crystal Springs last week, 25-7. Quarterback Alex Youn, grade 6, ran for two touchdowns and threw for one. The defense clinched the win with interceptions by sixth graders Sandie Nirmel, Ryan Vaughan and Edmond Wu.
Cross Country
The cross country team ran in its first league race last week at Rolling Hills Middle School. In the grade 8 boys race, Thomas Doyle took eighth place and Corey Gonzales took ninth. The boys had times of 7:19 and 7:41 respectively. Diba Massihpour and Gabi Gupta, both grade 8, took fourth and sixth in the girls race with times of 8:21 and 8:29. In the grade 7 race, Alexandra Dellar took the team’s highest place, third, with a time of 8:35, followed by Mary Najibi, who placed 10th, finishing at 9:05. Rounding out the team were grade 6 girls Meilan Steimle, 9:19, and Rachel Cheng, 9:42, who finished eighth and 13th in their grade’s race.