The Harker faculty continued their softball winning streak with a third consecutive win, 7-3, against the US varsity team in the annual faculty/student game. Recently graduated Sarah Christiano, Shelby Drabman, Sammi Lowe, Candace Silva-Martin and Andrea Thomas returned to play in an attempt to break the faculty’s streak, and faculty and staff players came from all divisions and many departments.
Following the game, Drabman was recognized as team MVP and as first team all-league for the third year in a row. She was not only Harker’s starting pitcher, but had the highest batting average in the WBAL. Thomas was recognized for her selection to the second team all-league for the second year in a row, and honorable mentions for all-league went to Christiano and Silva-Martin. Amal Asghar was the team’s most improved player.
In a late season win against Mercy San Francisco (10-1) seniors Andy Thomas and Shelby Drabman hit back-to-back home runs! Our softball girls finished their season with a victory on senior day defeating ICA 15- 0. Drabman had 12 strikeouts and we had hits from Thomas and fellow seniors Candace Silva-Martin, Sammi Lowe and Sarah Christiano. The girls ended up 9-13 overall and 7-9 in league. For the third year in a row, Drabman made first team All League, finishing with the best batting average in the league of .540. With five home runs, she tied for first in the league; she also pitched eight wins this year. Thomas, who according to coach Raul Rios, “developed into one of the best, if not the best, shortstops in our league,” made second team All League. Christiano and Silva-Martin received honorable mentions.
Golf
The boys golf team completed its league season with a 7-3 record. The team finished in third place in league finals, narrowly losing to Menlo School by eight points (out of over 400 scored by each team). Juniors James Feng and Yash Khandwala qualified for the CCS tournament in Carmel, where they gained some valuable experience and represented Harker admirably. Congratulations on a great season, boys!
Lacrosse
The girls lacrosse team was 3-15 this year, winning their third game with a 16-9 victory over Woodside High School. The team set a goal for winning at least two games this season and surpassed that goal with previous wins over Notre Dame and an earlier win against Woodside. Coach Dawn Clark was pleased with the tremendous progress the team has made in the past few years.
Leading scorers for the season were Clara Lyashevsky, Gr. 12, with 33 goals and Monisha Appalaraju, Gr. 10, with 18 goals. Michelle Lin, Gr. 12, had 15 goals, Elaine Song, Gr. 11, had 11, and Alyssa Boyle, Gr. 12 and Julia Shim, Gr. 11, each had nine goals. Additional scorers were Priya Thumma, Gr. 12, with three goals; Shreya Nathan, Gr. 10 and juniors Manasa Reddy, Connie Lu and Tamara Kawadri with one goal each.
In goal, Pratusha Erraballi, Gr. 12, had 94 goalie saves and Ruhi Kumbhani, Gr. 10, had 95. Leading defenders at mid-field were Kelly Chen, Gr. 11 and Lu; at low defense were Prachi Sharma, Gr. 12, Carissa Jansen, Gr. 11 and Reddy.
Girls Swimming
The girls ended the season 8-0 in league, and won the league championship meet held at Harker, therefore becoming league champions outright. Dan Molin, athletic director reported, “Despite an early relay team disqualification in Wednesday’s trials, our girls swim team was able to overcome and win their first league championship. The title was in question until the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay.” The girls not only won the event, but smashed the league record by three seconds with a time of 3:46.68.
Harker event winners were: 50 & 100 free – Jessica Khojasteh, Gr. 10; 100 breaststroke – Vivian Wong, Gr. 11; 200 free relay – Katie Siegel, Gr. 9, Tiffany Wong, Gr. 9, V. Wong and Khojasteh; and 400 free relay – Khojasteh, Siegel, V. Wong and Tina Ma, Gr. 11. All were won in league record time except the 100 free. New CCS qualifications were achieved by T. Wong (200 IM and 100 backstroke) and Lucy Cheng, Gr. 9 (200 IM).
Earlier in the season, in a 109-54 defeat of Mills, Khojasteh set a new school record in the 100 backstroke of 1:02.37.
At CCS the girls had their best finish ever, placing tenth with 75 points. Harker was led by Khojasteh, who placed sixth in both the 50 and 100 freestyle, earning All-American honors. Also earning All-American honors was the 200 medley relay team of Siegel, Ma, V. Wong and Khojasteh, which placed eighth. Other points were scored by Siegel placing 11th in the 100 fly (just missing All-American), Wong placing 11th in the 100 breaststroke, Sabrina Paseman, Gr. 12, placing 10th in the 1-meter diving, and the 200 freestyle relay that placed 13th.
Boys Swimming
The boys were 3-1 in league and came in second in the league championship meet. In that meet, event winners were: 50 & 100 free – Cole Davis, Gr. 11; 100 butterfly – Andrew Chin, Gr. 12; 200 IM – Kevin Khojasteh, Gr. 9; 200 free relay – Khojasteh, Chin, Daryl Neubieser, Gr. 9 and Davis. CCS qualifiers were Chin, Davis, Michael Clifford, Gr. 11, Stefan Schwartz, Gr. 11, Darren Syu, Gr. 11, Hassaan Ebrahim, Gr. 10, Khojasteh and Neubieser.
On senior day for Chin, he finished his high school dual meet career winning both of his individual events and both of his relays.
At the CCS match, despite being disqualified in the opening relay of the meet, which was by far their strongest relay, the boys swim team also had its best finish in the history of the team, placing sixth with 104 points. The team was led by Chin, Davis and Khojasteh, all of whom had two top-eight performances and two All-American selections. Chin placed seventh in the 200 IM and, despite an extremely fast field this year, placed fourth in the 100 fly. Davis placed third in the 50 free and fourth in the 100 free. Khojasteh took eighth in the 200 IM, and in the last individual event of the meet, led from the start but got touched out by two tenths of a second in the 100 breaststroke, finishing second. The Harker 200 free relay team of Khojasteh, Chin, Neubieser and Davis also earned All-American honors, placing ninth.
Track and Field
Coach Terrell Davis reported that the track and field team has been making strong improvements in every event this season. For the boys we have had standout performances by Vladimir Sepetov, Gr. 10, Kevin Fu, Gr. 11, Proteek Biswas, Gr. 9, Charles Levine, Gr. 9, Thomas Enzminger, Gr. 11, Kevin Xu, Gr. 12, and the 4 x 400 meter relay team of Biswas, Levine, Bogdan Botcharov, Gr. 11 and Sepetov. On the girls’ side, Kristie Sanchez, Gr. 10, Tara Hansen, Gr. 11, Sonya Chalaka, Gr. 9, Priyanka Mody, Gr. 9 and the crew of lady throwers have laid the foundations for success for many years to come.
In an early season meet at Leland High, several of our runners set personal records in their events. Sepetov set a personal record of 2:05.77 in the 800 meters, Chalaka ran a record 14.02 in the 100 meters, Tanya Rai, Gr. 10, ran the 100 in a personal best 14.62, and Fu ran the 100 in 11.72.
Although they didn’t qualify for CCS, the young Harker track team showed impressive results at the track and field league championship on May 14. Results were highlighted with new personal records for Sanchez (2:33.10) and Sepetov (2:04.46) both in the 800 meter; Biswas (55.18) in the 400 meter, and the 4 x 400 meter relay team (3:44.06).
Qualifiers for the league championships included the girls 4 x 100 meter relay team of Neha Kumar, Gr. 9, Hansen, Rai and Chalaka; Hansen also qualified for the 100 meter high hurdles, as did Sarah Teplitsky, Gr. 11. The 4 x 400 girls team of Rai, Sanchez, Jennifer Dai, Gr. 10 and Chalaka, as well as the boys 4 x 400 team and boys 4 x 100 team of Fu, Botcharov, Angad Randhawa, Gr. 9 and Sean Morgan, Gr. 11, also qualified. In addition, Sanchez qualified in the 800 meter for the girls, and Sepetov in the same event for the boys; Levine and Biswas qualified in the 400 meter; discus qualifiers included Carolyn Kuo, Gr. 12, Enzminger, Patrick Campbell, Gr. 11 and Mark Roh, Gr. 11. Enzminger also participated in the shot put. Longer distance runners Xu and Anne West, Gr. 10, competed in the boys and girls 3,200 meter, respectively, while Xu also ran the 1,600 meter. In addition to her relay teams, Chalaka also jumped in both the long jump and triple jump. Fu also ran the 100 meter for the boys.
This track and field team has a very bright future!
Boys Volleyball
The boys varsity volleyball team finished the season 26-8 overall and 10-2 in league play. In their last regular-season game, the team defeated fourth-ranked Homestead 16-25, 28-26, 25-22, 25-23 in front of a large, supportive senior night crowd. The win earned Harker a second place league finish, a #3 CCS seed, and the right to host a CCS quarterfinal game on May 14 at Blackford vs. Sacred Heart Cathedral. Earlier in the season, they took first place in the silver division at the Aptos Tournament and lost an intense, close match to Leigh in the finals of the Harker Tournament. The team was led by seniors Matt Gehm and Daniel Tien; juniors Chad Gordon, Eugene Huang, Kevin Liu, Jeffrey Tan and sophomore Jacob Chappell. The JV squad made the gold bracket in a tournament for the first time ever at Los Gatos in April.
After the boys volleyball team won their CCS quarterfinal match in front of more than 300 fans at Blackford in three short games of 25-12, 25-12 and 25-21, they moved on to the semifinals against Willow Glen. Unfortunately, they lost that match in four games, 25-17, 22-25, 23- 25, 25-27. Coach and US athletic director Dan Molin stated, “The team would like to thank everyone for their support during the playoffs and the entire season.” He added proudly, “The boys represented our school admirably.”
Boys Tennis
The tennis team finished their regular season with a loss to league champion Menlo School. Since the team graduated seven seniors from last year’s squad, it was a rebuilding year for the program. Despite the loss of last year’s leadership, the boys finished with a 12-6 record, third place in the WBAL, and made a record sixth straight CCS tournament appearance! They lost their first round CCS match to Monta Vista 4-3. Congratulations on a great season.
The team was led this year by captain Aadithya Prakash, Gr. 12 (ranked first in doubles and singles), along with sophomores Karthik Dhore (first in singles), Adarsh Ranganathan (second and third in singles), and senior Harry Schwartz (number one in doubles and singles). Since the team is only losing two seniors this year, look for them to continue as one of the top CCS teams in the future.
Players who participated in the WBAL tournament at Menlo School were Schwartz, Dhore, Nikhil Parthasarathy, Gr. 10 and Ranganathan, and freshmen Sam Gurevich and Nikhil Narayen.
Baseball
The varsity baseball team had big wins against Willow Glen, Evergreen, Cuper tino and Washington. The team has been led by the strong play of seniors Barrett Glasauer and Taylor Martin, who lead the team in most of the offensive categories, and have contributed six pitching victories between them. Junior Greg Plauck has five wins pitching, and a .340 hitting average; junior Stefan Eckhardt has an average over .400 with 19 RBI, plus outstanding defense at shor tstop. Both juniors have been key players this year. Senior Evan Maynard and junior Alex Ringold have been excellent role players in helping Harker to its best season.
The team defeated Crystal Springs 10-3 to secure their first ever co-league championship! The win also gave Harker the automatic league berth to the CCS tournament where they lost their first-round game against a tough Soquel High School team on May 20. All-League recipients were Glasauer, league MVP; Mar tin, Plauck and Eckhardt, first team; Jeff Mandell, Sean Mandell, both Gr. 12, Maynard, and Ringold, second team. Congratulations on a great season!
Berkeley-Bound Shah to Junior Olympics
Ankita Shah, Gr. 12, recently participated in the Junior Olympics (JOs) National Gymnastics competition in Seattle. According to her father, Nilesh Shah, Shah was one of seven to qualify based on her all-around score of 37.2.
She represented region one, which includes the states of California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Region one and five are among the most competitive in the nation. At the event, Shah earned 9.325 on the vault, 8.8 on bars, 8.9 on beam and 9.475 on the floor.
Competing in the JOs was, according to Mr. Shah, “one of her dreams.” Congratulations, and good luck at Cal!
In late May, at the US athletics awards ceremony, awards were announced for outstanding athletes in all sports. Some awards were voted on by students and some determined by coaches. The Super Eagle award is awarded to the athlete who has participated in three competitive sports at Harker during one school year. Awardees for 2009 were seniors Barrett Glasauer, Kevin Laymoun, Harry Schwartz, and Candace Silva-Martin; juniors Jose Costa, Kyle Drummer, Stefan Eckhardt, Kevin Fu, Tara Hansen, Sean Morgan, Aadithya Prakash, Mark Roh and Rohan Shah. For the sophomores, Monisha Appalaraju, Rex Chen and Baran Ozdemir all were three-sport athletes, as were freshmen Saira Ahuja, Shivani Bigler, Proteek Biswas, Neda Ghaffarian and Rahul Madduluri.
The Eagle Award is voted on by the team members of each sport. The winning athlete displays enthusiasm at all times, support for the team and individuals throughout the season, hustle in every task, is a positive role model and has a selfless giving approach to the athletic program. For fall sports, the following students earned this award: David Belogolovsky, Gr. 12, football; Christy Emery, Gr. 12, volleyball; Lauren Moser, Gr. 12, tennis; Michael Clifford, Gr. 11, boys water polo; Angeli Agrawal, Gr. 12, girls water polo; Andrea Kim, Gr. 12, golf; Elena Madan and Sam Levine, Gr. 12, cross country; John Ammatuna, Gr. 10, cheerleading. Winter sport Eagle Awards went to Alex Abarca, Gr. 12, boys basketball; Nafeesa Laiwalla, Gr. 12, girls basketball; Sean Mandell, Gr. 12, boys soccer; Esther Belogolovsky, Gr. 11, girls soccer; Shirley Galbiati, Gr. 12, wrestling. The spring Eagle Awards were won by Bogdan Botcharov, Gr. 11 and Kristie Sanchez, Gr. 10, for track and field; Daniel Tien, Gr. 12, volleyball; Stefan Eckhardt, Gr. 11, baseball; Jeremy Whang, Gr. 11, golf; Alyssa Boyle, Gr. 12, lacrosse; Sammi Lowe, Gr. 12, softball; Vivian Wong, Gr. 1, and Darren Syu, Gr. 11, swimming; Harry Schwartz, Gr. 12, tennis.
The Coaches’ Award is given to senior athletes who have given tremendous effort and have contributed greatly to the athletic program. This is a high honor voted on by the head coaches. Boys receiving this honor were Levine, Glasauer, Tien, Schwartz, Julian Stahl, Ian Hoffman, Taylor Martin and Andrew Chin. Female honorees were Agarwal, Emery, Madan, Alyssa Boyle, Clara Lyashevsky, Michelle Lin, Dominique Dabija, Tara Panu, Sarah Christiano and Kaytee Comee.
The criteria for the Athlete of the Year award is similar to the Coaches’ Award with more of an emphasis on athletic drive, desire, and ability. These individuals are chosen regardless of grade. They are the students who the coaches feel are the representatives of Eagle athletics from Gr. 9-12. The awards for both male and female athlete of the year was shared this year, with the male award going to seniors Alex Abarca and Arman Gupta, and the female award to seniors Kristina Bither and Silva-Martin.
At the WBAL track meet, Gr. 4-8 boys and girls represented Harker well.
Boys
For the Gr. 4 boys, Evan Dorrian took second in the 100 and sixth in the 200 meters; Arben Gutierrez-Bujari was fourth in the 200 meters, sixth in the 400, and sixth in the 800. Eric Pei also took second in the 800, and the Gr. 4 relay team took third place in the 4 x 100.
These Gr. 5 boys also did well. Johnathon Keller was third in the 50 meters, fourth in the 100 and sixth in the 400. Noko Stearns placed sixth in the 50 and fifth in the 100 meters. Jonathan Yiu took sixth in the 100 meters, Calvin Kocienda was second in both the 200 and 400 meters, Nick LaBruna took fourth in both the 200 and 800 meters, Trevor Lee was sixth in the 800 meters, and the 4 x 100 relay team placed third.
Gr. 6 students continued the success with Corey Gonzales placing fourth in the 400 and winning the 800 meters. Avik Wadhwa was fifth in the 400 meters, Vedant Thyagaraj placed third in the 800 meters and Nikhil Kishore took sixth in the 800 meters. Arjun Ashok took fourth place in the softball throw and Jeremiah Anderson was third in the long jump. The sixth graders also showed their teamwork in the 4 x 100 with the A team taking third and the B team taking fifth.
Adarsh Battu, Gr. 7, placed fifth in the 50 meters, fourth in the 100, third in the 200 and fourth in the softball throw. Classmate Ravi Bhandia was fifth in the 200 meters, and the Gr. 7 relay team took third place in the 4 x 100 relay.
Eighth graders were also well represented. Michael Chen took third place in the 50 meters and second place in the long jump; David Lindars was sixth in both the 200 and 800 meters. Sumit Minocha placed sixth in the 50 meters, second in the 100, and third in the 200, 400, and 800 meters. Ramakrishnan Menon was fourth in the 400 and fifth in the 800 meters, and J.P. Doherty placed fourth in the softball throw. Displaying strong teamwork, the A relay team took second and the B team took sixth in the 4 x 100.
Girls
Gr. 4 girls results were as follows. Sarah Baz won the 400 meters, placed sixth in the 50, third in the 100 and fourth in the 800. Joelle Anderson took fourth place in the 100 meters, second in the 200 and third in the 800 meters, while Meilan Steimle was fifth in the 400 and second in the 800. The relay team finished fifth place in the 4 X 100.
The Gr. 5 girls spread the wins around more than some of the other grades, with Nadia Palte taking fourth place, Panny Shan placing fifth and Shannon Richardson coming in fifth in the 50 meters. Lauren Speckman was sixth in the 100, Regan Heslop won the softball throw and Valerie Wang placed second in the softball throw. The relay team took fourth place in the 4 x 100.
Sixth grade girls also demonstrated a large group of contenders, as Michelle Stack took fifth place in both the 100 and the softball throw; Diba Massihpour placed fourth in both the 200 and 800 and second in the 400 meters, and Alyssa Amick placed fourth in the 400 and third in the 800. Julia Wang was fifth in the 400 meters, Katie Sanchez took fifth in the 800, Safia Khouja took fourth place and Gillian Wallin tied for fifth in the softball throw. The A and B relay teams took fourth and fifth places, respectively, in the 4 x 100.
Our Gr. 7 girls didn’t place in any events, but Roshmi Bhattacharya, Gr. 8, won the 800 and 1200, and placed fourth in the 400. Jacqueline Jordan, Gr. 8, came in second in both the softball throw and the long jump, and placed sixth in the 800 meters. The Gr. 8 relay team placed sixth in the 4 x 100.
With all these impressive results, Harker’s future in track and field looks bright indeed!
Even while school’s out, MS and US student athletes can work on athletic conditioning. Two options for incoming Gr. 7-12 students are the Eagle Iron conditioning program and a strength training program.
Eagle Iron, a tough, well-rounded workout for incoming Gr. 7-12 Harker student-athletes, is Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. June 15 to July 30. Paperwork must be completed in advance, but attendance is optional.
Participants should eat a nutritious carb-heavy breakfast, wear workout clothes and bring a water bottle. In addition to this conditioning program, Jaron Olson, US athletic trainer, will provide ongoing treatment of athletic injuries as well as strength training instruction. Students who need attention outside of Eagle Iron hours can schedule appointments.
For more information on the Eagle Iron program, please contact Coach Theresa Smith at theresas@harker.org or coach Karriem Stinson at karriems@harker.org. To contact Olson about strength training or treatment of athletic injuries, please call 408-345-9245, or e-mail him at jarono@harker.org.
Coach Jim McGovern reports, “The Gr. 4 baseball team has been steadily adding to their experience and knowledge. Fielding, hitting and running the bases have all improved due to the dedication and determination of this group of players.” Game situations, stealing bases and pitching were the focus over the final few weeks of the season. Standout performances have included the power hitting of Alex Youn, Edward Tischler, Alex Mo and Brandon Stoll as well as the stellar fielding and catching of Alexander Lam, Brandon Chow, Aashish Jain and Varun Baldwa. McGovern added, “They have relished the chance to put their skills to the test and play games with and against the fifth graders.” The enthusiasm and overall excitement of the fourth graders this year can be summed up by the cheer written by Nikhil Manglik and Alexander Lam: “Our pitcher, he is great with a ball, when he throws, he never hits the wall. Our batters are the very best, they put the defense to the test! Our base runners go with lightning speed, you’ll never know when they’ll take a lead! Harker, Harker, yes we rule! The other teams – they simply drool.”
The Gr. 5 baseball team has showed great determination in staying focused throughout the season. The Eagles only had one game this year, but have been preparing with intrasquad exhibition games as well as challenging our fourth graders to some games. The team is led by Trevor Lee, who has shown a tremendous amount of talent at any position. Coach Walid Fahmy was looking forward to the big bat of Kevin Wang and the speed of Jonathan Yiu and Suraj Jagadeesh helping the boys to be competitive. Fahmy was extremely happy with the outlook of the team and was looking forward to finishing up with a strong season.
JV A baseball started the season with a close game (2-3) against Priory, and faced a tough schedule this season. They had an 0-3 record at press time, and were continuing to develop their skills.
The varsity A baseball team, coached by Joe Mentillo and Manny Martinez, is out to gain the respect of the league and is playing some fundamentally sound and competitive baseball. The squad is led by eighth graders Kevin Cali (shortstop/pitcher), Drew Goldstein (catcher/shortstop), J.P. Doherty (center field) and Oliver Chen (pitcher). Matt Harris (catcher) is off to a sizzling start leading the team in hits and playing solidly at catcher.
Volleyball
The Gr. 4 volleyball girls have been learning the fundamentals, including the bump, set and spike. They have also practiced footwork and timing of hitting the ball. Coach Tomas Thompson reports, “They have shown enthusiasm, positive sportsmanship and are eager to learn more about the game. The team has demonstrated consistent improvement and team play this season.” Outstanding effort and attitudes have been shown by Chetana Kalidindi, LeAnn Nguyen, Lindsey Trinh and Ankita Uppugunduri.
The Gr. 5 JV B5 volleyball team was 4-0, despite playing against only Gr. 6 teams. Coach Michelle Hopkins commented, “The girls are all doing an excellent job. Lauren Speckman has an awesome serve and is a positive influence on the rest of the team. All the other girls are playing great. I think volleyball is the sport at Harker!”
The JV B6 volleyball girls improved tremendously over the course of the season and their game scores are getting closer and closer. Coach Loreen Talagtag states, “Leeza Kuo and Helen Wu are key players on the team as they have fantastic serves! Simran Singh has improved tremendously over the course of the season.”
The varsity B2 girls have won two games, which pleased Coach Talagtag because they have had some really tough teams in their division. All the games have been really close but the girls lost by a couple of points. Talagtag reports, “Christina Wong and Manini Desai are key players to look out for. Also Callie Ding has improved so much in the small period of time that we’ve had. These girls are so talented and I’m very proud of how far they’ve come.”
The junior varsity A girls team had a 2-1 record at press time; varsity B girls were 4-2.
The varsity A girls volleyball team is having another phenomenal season. Under the direction of coach Michael Leonard ’04 and assistant coach Christine Emery, Gr. 12, the girls had lost only one game this season at press time, with a 3-1 record. The team is undefeated in league play and is in pursuit of the league championship. The coaches have been getting outstanding contributions from everyone, most notably Amie Chien, Gr. 8, Mercedes Chien, Gr. 7 and Paulomi Bhattacharya, Gr. 8. Leonard states, “The team bonding activities we take part in throughout the season have really helped this team come together. The team is united in pursuit of our goal, which is the league title. I could not be more proud of what these girls have accomplished as a team!”
The varsity B boys team was undefeated at 4-0 for the season. Great job, boys! The varsity A boys volleyball team, coached by Pete Anderson, finished the season with a 9-5 record. The team was led by eighth graders Michael Chen, David Lindars, Bobby Kahlon and Josh Tien.
Tennis
The MS tennis team, comprising 18 players in Gr. 6-8 with USTA ranking, finished the season 17-2 overall. The team was led by eighth graders Jenny Chen and Niki Bedekar and sixth graders Vikram Chari and Deepa Dhore, who are all top-ranked in their respective age groups. Coach Ganesh Vaidya’s hope for continued success was achieved as the girls defeated Bret Harte 7-2 to win the MTP championship!
Harker teams have won two state academic team championships, the California Interscholastic Federation announced June 8. Harker’s boys tennis and baseball cumulative team GPAs, 3.7960 and 3.64 respectively, won state and section honors. Harker won five North Coast Section academic championships in 2008-09. Along with baseball and boys tennis, Harker earned top honors in boys volleyball, 3.6340; boys soccer, 3.6520; and wrestling, 3.6080. The school will receive a banner for display recognizing the accomplishment. The academic championships were initiated in 1996 to reward teams with the highest collective grade-point averages, based on an unweighted 4.0 scale. The program now encompasses 17 sports and 27 teams.
Keeping with Harker tradition, senior athletes were recognized at the last home games for each sport. Congratulations to all of our senior athletes. For softball, they were Sarah Christiano, Shelby Drabman, Deniz Ilgen, Samantha Lowe, Candace Silva-Martin and Andrea Thomas; cheerleaders were Noel Duan and Samantha Ipser. Senior boys volleyball players were Matthew Gehm and Daniel Tien; baseball players were Barrett Glasauer, David Kastelman, Kevin Laymoun, Taylor Martin, Jeff Mandell, Sean Mandell and Evan Maynard. Lacrosse players were Alyssa Boyle, Jia Jun Chia, Courtney Dellar, Pratusha Erraballi, Michelle Lin, Clara Lyashevsky, Prachi Sharma, and Priya Thumma; Borys Aptekar, Brian Chao and Harry Schwartz were the tennis players. Female swimmers were Kaytee Comee, Dominique Dabija andJenna Glasa; Sabrina Paseman was our diver; the male swimmer was Andrew Chin. Golfers were Sean Doherty, Kyle Hall, Aaron Lin and Paul Paik; track and field females were Carolyn Kuo, Diana Lai, Elena Madan, Susan Wang, Amanda Wong and Christine Yu. Males for track and field were Eugene Dao, Ryan Tam and Kevin Xu. Thank you to all of our seniors for representing our school, and best of luck to you as you move on to college!
In addition to the five Harker students who committed to collegiate sports competition last month, three more seniors have also committed to play at the college level next year. They are Alex Abarca, basketball at UC Santa Cruz; Candace Silva-Martin, volleyball at George Washington University; and Sam Levine, cross country at Pomona Pitzer College.
Despite an early relay team disqualification in Wednesday’s trials, Harker’s girls swim team was able to overcome and win their first league championship. The title was in question until the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. The girls not only won the event, but smashed the league record by 3 seconds with a time of 3:46.68.
Harker event winners were: 50 & 100 Free – Jessica Khojasteh, 100 Breast – Vivian Wong, 200 Free Relay – Katie Siegel, Tiffany Wong, Vivian Wong, Jessica Khojasteh, and 400 Free Relay – Jessica Khojasteh, Katie Siegel, Vivian Wong, Tina Ma. All were won in league record time except the 100 free. New CCS qualifications were achieved by Tiffany Wong in 200 IM and 100 Back, and Lucy Cheng in 200 IM. Next Friday and Saturday, May 15-16, the team of Sabrina Paseman, Vivian Wong, Tina Ma, Jeanette Chin, Jessica Khojasteh, Katie Siegel, Tiffany Wong, Lucy Cheng, and Rachelle Koch will be representing Harker at the CCS Championships.
The boys team also had a great meet, finishing second behind a tough Menlo squad. Event winners were: 50 & 100 Free – Cole Davis, 100 Fly – Andrew Chin, 200 IM – Kevin Khojasteh, 200 Free Relay – Kevin Khojasteh, Andrew Chin, Daryl Neubieser, Cole Davis. The team of Andrew Chin, Cole Davis, Michael Clifford, Stefan Schwartz, Darren Syu, Hassaan Ebrahim, Kevin Khojasteh, and Daryl Neubieser will represent Harker at the CCS Championships.
Final girls scores were:
Harker School – 74
King’s Academy – 63.5
Castilleja – 61
Menlo School – 41
Notre Dame – San Jose 29
Pinewood – 20
Priory – 14.5
Mercy Burlingame – 3
Mercy SF – 2
Final team scores were:
Menlo School – 109
Harker School – 91
King’s Academy – 31
Pinewood – 23
Priory – 22