The girls junior varsity volleyball team recently participated in the 23rd annual JV Spikefest Volleyball Tournament, held at Milpitas and Independence high schools. Each team played a total of five matches, in addition to refereeing five matches. The teams are assigned to divisions based on a variety of factors and compete within their division. The result of each game helps to determine the next game’s match-up, making each contest that much more important.
The Eagles were among 33 teams at this year’s tournament and managed to finish at the top of their division. This earned them 17th place out of all 33 teams. Their record was an impressive 4-1 and they came back strong after losing their first match of the day.
In early September, linksman Maverick McNealy, grade 10, won the Stanford Men’s Golf Club Championship, finishing one under par when the match ended on the 12th hole. This is the second time McNealy, who also plays for Harker, has won the tournament, which is open to all ages. His win last year made him the youngest winner of the event at 13 years, 9 months. In addition, on Sept. 18 he took the Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club Junior Club Championship (ages 15-17) by 17 strokes, shooting a 72. “From previous experience, I knew that, especially in match play, you cannot ease up and play conservatively or you give the other player opportunities to get back into the match; I kept shooting at the flags until the match was over,” said McNealy.
Jerrica Liao, grade 5, brought home two medals from the first Regional Youth Circuit in Northern California, held in Half Moon Bay in late September. Liao, who fences foil for California Fencing Academy, took second in the Youth-10 girls category and third in the Y-12 girls category.
Cross Country The cross country team started their season recently with a match at Blach Intermediate School. Because the meet was non-league our runners did not officially place, but several did very well unofficially. The meet consisted of six races, all one-and-a-quarter miles in length, with athletes competing against only students of their gender and grade level. Corey Gonzales, grade 8, posted the team’s fastest time at 7:56, which earned him 15th place. Grade 8 students Alyssa Amick, 8:13, and Diba Massihpour, 8:16, placed fourth and fifth respectively. Alex Dellar, grade 7, took tenth place with a time of 9:05 and Joelle Anderson, grade 6, took the highest place for the team at third with a time of 8:35. The squad is looking forward to their first official meet this week.
Flag Football
Varsity A football lost a close match to Menlo, 20-6, last week. The team’s defense was strong with the exception of two big plays where they got beat long for touchdowns. The team is looking to rebound at additional games this week.
Varsity B has their season opener this week; check back next week for results.
Junior varsity A had a big opening victory at home against the King’s Academy. The team is relying on their dominant offensive power to get them a lot of victories this season.
Coming Soon
Both softball and swimming have their season openers this week, so check back next week.
UpperSchool
Football The varsity football team is also off to an excellent start with two big victories. The first came at the season opener at Davis Field on Sept. 3. The Eagles defeated San Jose High 14-6 with big plays by several key players. Middle linebacker Greg Cox, grade 12, had 18 tackles and sealed the win with a late interception. Meanwhile, quarterback Rishi Bhatia, grade 12, threw for 150 yards and two scores, one to Danish Jamal, grade 11, on the first play of the game and one to Gautam Krishnamurthi, grade 12.
Their second game was a stunning 34-0 victory at Marina High on Sept. 11. Touchdowns were scored by a slew of Eagles. They were Chris McCallaCreary, grade 12; Krishnamurthi; Bhatia; Ejaz Haque, grade 12; and Cox.
The team looks forward to their next game, a non-league match, against Soledad High.
Volleyball The girls varsity volleyball team is currently 4-0 with victories over Mt. Pleasant (3-0), Westmont (3-2), Evergreen Valley (3-0) and Santa Teresa (3-1). They are led by their senior captains, Shireen Moshkelani, who has 100 digs in just four matches, and Henna Mishra, as well as seniors Christine Chien and Ava Rezvani. They are also led by the amazing play of Julia Lambertz, grade 11, who currently leads the team in kills with 60 in just four matches!
The JV volleyball team is 7-2 after competing in the JV Spikefest over the weekend, where they took first place in the Red Division. They also have victories over Mt. Pleasant (2-0), Evergreen Valley (2-0) and Santa Teresa (2-0). The team is led on defense by Lucy Xu, grade 11, and on offense and serving by Divya Kalidindi, grade 9.
For the first time ever Harker is also able to field a freshman team which is coming together nicely. The coaches were very pleased when they started tryouts this fall to find so many girls interested in playing. These 11 girls have been working very hard to improve their skills and have their first game on Sept. 17. The team has been led by Christine Lee and Sapna Suresh.
The Harker volleyball coaching staff has been happy with the efforts of all the girls in the program. Look for them this Thursday and Friday in home games against Saratoga and Leigh respectively.
Water Polo The boys team has competed strongly in two tournaments already this season. Currently their record is 4-2 with victories over Monterey, San Lorenzo Valley, Mt. Pleasant and Terra Nova. Chris Ng, grade 12, leads the team with 23 goals.
Both the boys and girls teams open league play Wednesday at home against Wilcox.
Coming Soon This week is a big week for Harker sports as many of our teams have games scheduled. Girls golf has their first test this week at the Fall Classic Invitational at Monarch Bay Golf Club. Girls tennis also opens their season this week with back-to-back matches Tuesday and Wednesday. The cross country team starts their season off with a meet this Saturday in Salinas.
As summer drew to a close, Craig Pasqua, Harker tennis director, traveled to Flushing, N.Y., to volunteer at Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day 2010, held Aug. 28 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. According to Pasqua, who was attending the event for the third straight year, more than 30,000 children and adults used the 18 available tennis courts, which included Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Pasqua was busy giving lessons for the United States Tennis Association Serves Foundation, a charitable corporation that offers support to programs that serve at-risk children and people with disabilities.
While in New York, Pasqua also attended the USTA Tennis Teachers Conference, which took place during the U.S. Open. He attended speaking engagements with several well-known tennis coaches, including Tom Gullikson, Jose Higueras, Oscar Wegner, Mary Joe Fernandez, Tracy Austin, Cliff Drysdale and Billie Jean King. In addition, he was able to meet a number of young rising stars, such as Melanie Oudin and Coco Vandeweghe. He even had a chance meeting with alumna and former varsity tennis player Brittany Chu ’10, who was preparing for her first year at Columbia University.
Pasqua announced during the conference that he would be stepping down as the chairman of the USTA diversity committee in November, but said he looked forward “to joining the USTA’s community tennis committee, as my own nonprofit, Standing Tall Tennis, will begin serving the San Jose American Indian community this fall.”
Finally, besides getting to view the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Pasqua was also able to attend a taping of “Late Night With David Letterman.”
In May, alumnus Jason Martin ’07 was one of two players on the San Jose State University baseball team to land a spot on the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII Baseball First Team. Martin, a psychology major, is one of five student athletes in the Western Athletic Conference to be honored for his achievements both in the classroom and on the diamond. According to sjsuspartans.com, Martin boasts a college career batting average of .348, ranking 12th all-time in the Spartan baseball record book.
[Update] Shannon Richardson, grade 7, took a silver medal in the 2010 USA Volleyball Beach Junior Tour Championships – Open Division in the Girls U12 Category Aug. 22 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Richardson’s usual teammate, Selin Ekici, also grade 7 (both girls played for Harker’s undefeated grade 5 and 6 teams), was unable to attend, so Richardson teamed up with another girl for the event. Congrats Shannon!
Sept. 3, 1020
Middle school students Selin Ekici and Shannon Richardson, both grade 7, competed in several beach volleyball competitions as a team this summer and earned a chance to compete in the USAV Beach Volleyball Junior Tour. The pair placed third at the NoCal Open in Santa Cruz on Aug. 7, and secured a trip to the Junior Tour Championships, which were held Aug. 22 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Over the summer, Christopher Sund, grade 8, was accepted to the THINK Summer Institute, which provides a comprehensive college experience to 60 gifted students around the country. The program also offers the opportunity to earn college credit by taking courses from university faculty members.
Maverick McNealy, grade 10, made headway in the youth golf world during the summer, winning the Ray Anderson Memorial Junior Golf – Tournament in Milpitas, and finished 12th at the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships in San Diego, which featured 152 players from across the country.
Both boys and girls swim teams came in second in the league championships, where our swimmers set WBAL records in many events. At the CCS finals, the boys team was recognized as the CCS scholastic team champions; both boys and girls teams went on to place the highest in Harker history. The boys team placed fourth and girls placed eighth – a huge contrast to five years ago, when the teams had never scored at CCS.
Jessica Khojasteh, Gr. 11, won the 200 individual medley in 2:03:11, which is the first-ever CCS title in any sport for Harker. Khojasteh is also Harker’s female athlete of the year. The boys 200 medley relay team of Kevin Khojasteh, Gr. 10, Michael Clifford, Gr. 12, Daryl Neubieser, Gr. 10 and Cole Davis, Gr. 12, finished second at CCS with Davis also taking second in both the 50 and 100 free. Kevin Khojasteh also took second in the 100 breaststroke.
Golf
The boys golf team qualified for CCS regionals for the first time in school history as an at-large bid, where the boys placed eighth. Individually, Maverick McNealy, Gr. 9, qualified for the CCS finals by shooting a 75, once again making Harker history. McNealy shot a 73 for a top ten finish at CCS, one short of qualifying for the Nor Cal tournament. His score made him first alternate for that tournament. James Feng, Gr. 12, just missed qualifying for CCS, eagling the final hole for a 76. Yash Khandwala, Gr. 12, Jeremy Whang, Gr. 12, Ram Seeni, Gr. 11 and Kyle Roter, Gr. 9, also played very well.
Boys Volleyball
The boys volleyball team ended their regular season by defeating both King’s Academy and Saratoga. The playoff season came to a close May 13 at Mitty in the CCS quarterfinals. Despite the huge, supportive crowd cheering for Harker, the Monarchs defeated the Eagles 18-25, 22-25, 25-23, 18-25. The boys ended their season 25-10 overall with a third place finish in league.
Girls Lacrosse
Girls lacrosse defeated Woodside 13-8 on senior day to earn their fifth win of the season, which is a program record! Michelle Douglas, Gr. 9, scored five goals and Monisha Appalaraju, Gr. 11, scored three. The team ended with a 5-4 league record.
Tennis
The boys tennis season came to a close May 14 as they lost 6-1 to Bellarmine in the second round of CCS. The team finished second place in league behind Menlo.
Softball
Softball ended their season with victories over Mercy-San Francisco, 13-3 and Pinewood, 6-1. Arthi Padmanabhan and Shizuka Tiernan, both Gr. 12, were both three for four batting against Mercy. The team ended with a 4-10 league record.
Baseball
Baseball ended its season May 14 with a 9-5 loss against league champion Sacred Heart Prep. Stefan Eckhardt, Gr. 12, had two hits and Greg Plauck, Gr. 12, had two RBIs. The boys finished their season with an 11-15-1 overall record and 5-5 in league for a third place finish.
Track and Field
The boys took third out of nine teams at league finals, with three seniors qualifying for CCS. Thomas Enzminger threw for
first in the discus and second in shot put, qualifying in both events. Scott Underwood took second in the discus and qualified for CCS and Aadithya Prakash took first in the 3,200. Michael Chen, Gr. 9, also qualified in the shot put and was the only freshman to participate in this event at CCS.
The varsity A team finished second place in the WBAL at 7-1, making them 14-1 over the past two seasons! Key players were Michelle Pagnon, Mercedes Chien and Nithya Vemireddy, all Gr. 8.
The varsity B team ended the season 9-1, taking second place in league. Key players were Jordan Peetz, Gr. 7, Saachi Jain, Gr. 8 and Savi Joshi, Gr. 7.
The varsity B2 team finished 7-3 in league, tying for second place. Christina Wong, Gr. 8, Leeza Kuo, Gr. 7 and Pooja Chirala, Gr. 8, were all key players.
The junior varsity A team, Gr. 6, went undefeated for the second year in a row, accumulating a record of 15-0 over the past two seasons. Coach Vonda Reid reported that the team’s outstanding ball control and tough serving helped them with this impressive record, including their easy defeat of Pinewood in their last match to win the league championship. The girls finished in first place in the WBAL at 6-0. Thanks to some great passing from the back row, Alex Dellar put up good sets and Doreene Kang, Shannon Richardson and Lauren Speckman were able to take some solid swings at the net to give the team an aggressive front row attack. Coach Reid continued, “They were a fun and hard-working group and one of the most talented sixth grade teams that I have coached here at Harker.”
The JV B6 team ended 5-2, which placed them second in league.
The JV B1 team finished in first place in the WBAL at 7-1! This is the third league championship for the Gr. 5 girls this year, having also won the league in softball and soccer; they missed the basketball league championship by one basket. Key players were Stefanie Ting, Joelle Anderson and Chetana Kalidindi.
The JV B2 girls ended the season 0-7 in league. They showed vast improvement in their skills throughout the season with fifth grader Tara Parimi’s excellent serving skills scoring many points and Surabhi Rao, Gr. 5, being the most improved of the team. Coach Casey Henderson enjoyed working with the team, reporting that the girls have been very positive and fun to practice with.
The intramural volleyball team, Gr. 4, learned important skills that were built on throughout the season. Coach Tobias Wade reported, “We practiced our serving techniques with games like ‘dead fish’ and contests against the fifth grade teams.” The girls worked hard on their footwork bumping and setting and made great strides in their skills. Wade added, “I am proud of the effort they put forth. The girls will be great assets to future Harker volleyball teams.
Boys Volleyball
The varsity A team was 5-1, playing an out-of-league schedule. Key players were Andrew Zhu, Kevin Moss and Jithin Vellian, all Gr. 8.
The varsity B boys ended the season 6-0 playing an out-of-league schedule.
The junior varsity A team finished 3-2, also playing an out-of-league schedule. Key players were Kurt Schwartz, Spencer Powers and Connor Powers, all Gr. 6.
Baseball
The junior varsity A team finished at 1-5 in league. Key players were Trevor Lee, Suraj Jagadeesh and Kevin Wang, all Gr. 6.
The JV B team ended the season 0-5 in league. Despite the season record, the boys had some close battles with St. Joe’s and the Harker Gr. 6 team. Nicolas Bean, Gr. 5, led the team with his athleticism, leadership and knowledge of the game. Other key players included Andrew Gu and Alex Youn, both Gr. 5. Overall, reports coach Walid Fahmy, “The season was a great success with the boys learning how to work together and really understanding the team concept.”
The Gr. 4 intramural baseball team began the season with a couple of students with Little League experience. The team moved forward from that point and progressively learned the rules, the art of hitting, proper fielding techniques and base running. The season finished with many spirited games where the players put their individual skills to the test while helping their team compete. Coaches Tomas Thompson and Jim McGovern commended the sportsmanship and strong play of Nirban Bhatia, Will Holaday, Sunny Jayam, Michael Kwan, Brando Pakel, Aadith Srinivasan, Vince Vu and Maxwell Woehrmann.
Tennis
Varsity A tennis finished in a three-way tie for first place in the WBAL with a record of 7-1. They also participated in the MTP league where they ended 5-1. The team qualified for the playoffs in both leagues! Key players were Katia Mironova, Gr. 8, Kilian Burke, Gr. 8, Srivinay Irrinki, Gr. 7, Andy Wang, Gr. 8 and Andrew Jin, Gr. 7.
Water Polo
Both boys and girls water polo teams showed improvement all season. The boys had some very close games against some very good teams, with top players being Charles Manchester, Gr. 8 and Eric Holt, Gr. 7.
Key water polo players on the girls team were Anna Levine, Gr. 8, Lea Daran, Gr. 8, Sadhika Malladi, Gr. 6 and Emma Malysz, Gr. 7.
Some like it HOTTS: The Harker/Oakwood Tennis Training System, geared toward high-level players, is the perfect next step for students with good fundamentals who are preparing for competitive play.
HOTTS and tennis camp are both offered in Harker’s tennis program. The camp, which began in 2002, focuses on skills for beginning and intermediate players. In 2004, HOTTS was founded as an additional offering. Both operate at the Oakwood tennis courts located less than a block from Blackford. 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.
The Camp
The goal of tennis camp is to give athletes a strong foundation in the fundamentals of the game. Each camp runs every weekday for one week. Students begin the day learning skills and follow up with games and competitions that emphasize the techniques they’ve learned.
Craig Pasqua, tennis program director, explains that the first day of camp is spent talking about backhand and forehand, and showing participants how to stroke the ball. “They use low compression balls–softer tennis balls that are much more forgiving, allowing beginning and intermediate players to play a competitive game while working on skills,” he says.
HOTTS
The HOTTS program is for more advanced students, and this year there were around 30 students each week, elementary through high school. They filled all five courts and had the advantage of a wide range of competitors and plenty of court time.
Because HOTTS is aimed at higher-level players, a typical day involves complex drills and games, following a weekly cycle of instruction and drills three days and competitions on Thursday (boys) and Friday (girls). By devoting an entire day to matches with clubs from around the area, players have a chance to gain valuable competition experience “that can be hard to obtain outside of extremely competitive tournaments,” says Pasqua. “For many of the kids in the HOTTS program, this is the first time they have ever played a competitive match.”
Elizabeth Schick, Gr. 5, chose HOTTS to give her a competitive edge. “I just started playing tournaments and I’ve been playing a lot of people who have lots of experience, so I just wanted to get some more match experience,” she says. Her sentiment was seconded by Niel Movva, Gr. 8, who has been attending the HOTTS program, with his brother, for three years.
Every year the HOTTS group goes on a field trip in addition to their weekly practices. This year students attended a special daylong program at the Bank of the West Tennis Classic, a Women’s Tennis Association tournament held at Stanford. Approximately 600 students from around the Bay Area, including the Harker group, spent the day playing tennis-style games, meeting players, getting autographs and watching the matches. In addition, explains Pasqua, “students got to sit down and talk with a pro or some other tennis leader.” Last year that leader was Pasqua himself, who graduated from Stanford after playing tennis there.
Harker enlists top coaches to run their tennis programs. Pasqua currently coaches both girls and boys varsity tennis at the upper school. He is supported at the camp and at HOTTS by coaches Adam Lucero and Seydou Traore, both of whom are also accomplished competitors. Lucero, who has been coaching for three years, recently graduated from UC-Santa Cruz, where he played tennis. He will join Harker as JV girls tennis coach for the 2010-11 school year. Traore, a professional player from France who is Harker’s JV boys coach, is acquainted with many of the French professional players and has even played in tournaments with internationally known Rafael Nadal.
As always with Harker’s summer sports programs, emphasis is on gaining solid skills while providing a learning-friendly environment. To that, end Coach Pasqua and his staff bring their best game!
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) recently released its list of Academic Team Champions for the 2009-10 school year, and Harker’s upper school football, wrestling and boys swimming squads were all named state champions for their exceptional GPAs. Harker tied with San Diego County’s La Costa Canyon High School for the highest number of teams to win the honor.