Boys Volleyball
Varsity had a 15-5 overall record as we went to press. In an early season tournament at Aptos, they won the silver division championship (fifth place out of 16 teams), with their only loss coming against eventual gold division champion Mountain View. In a repeat match when they opened league play against Mountain View, they won in an exciting victor y in four games. The team also hosted their fourth-annual 12-team tournament and took second place, losing to Leigh High School in the finals, 29-27, in the third game. Chad Gordon, Gr. 11 and Matt Gehm, Gr. 12, made the all-tournament team.
Softball
At press time, the softball team was 5-6 overall and 3-4 in league. The girls are led by the strong pitching of senior Shelby Drabman and sophomore Tracey Chan, as well as by strong hitting from Drabman, Chan and senior Sarah Christiano. Outstanding defensive players include shortstop Andrea Thomas and catcher Candace Silva-Martin, both seniors. The girls have defeated Yerba Buena High 13-8, Menlo 13-5, Pinewood 13-5, and Mercy- San Francisco 8-5. Even in losses to Santa Catalina, King’s Academy, Mercy Burlingame and Castilleja, the team played very hard and kept the score respectable. Coach Raul Rios reports that the team goal this year is to make CCS for the first time in school history. He proudly states, “Our motto is, ‘In order to achieve you must believe.’” He is proud of the girls for bringing a “refuse to lose” attitude and for having the most energy of all the teams they have played against, win or lose. “The team is very supportive of one another, almost like a family atmosphere,” Rios explained.
Boys Golf
The golf team is continuing to experience success, with its only two losses to Sacred Heart Prep and Menlo, two of the top teams in the CCS. The golf team also set a school record with its score of 200 against Sacred Heart. Juniors James Feng, Yash Khandwala and Jeremy Whang, along with seniors Kyle Hall, Aaron Lin and Sean Doherty and sophomore Ram Seeni are leading the team, with Feng ranked one of the top players in the league. They are coached by John Zetterquist.
Lacrosse
The Harker lacrosse team recently won their first game since becoming a varsity program, defeating Woodside High School 15-9. Their league record stands at 1-3 and overall at 1-4. The team’s leading scorer is senior Clara Lyashevsky with 11 goals, including six goals against Los Gatos. Players scoring in the Woodside game included seniors Lyashevsky, Priya Thumma, Michelle Lin and Alyssa Boyle; juniors Julia Shim and Manasa Reddy, and sophomores Monisha Appalaraju and Shreya Nathan.
Tennis
Boys varsity tennis began with a 3-1 preseason, notching wins against CCS powerhouses Mitty and Aragon. They lost their first WBAL match to a stubborn Sacred Hear t Prep squad, and stood at 9-2 at the end of March. According to coach Craig Pasqua, “It will take some work, but look for them as they continue their quest for a record sixth-consecutive CCS appearance.” The team is led by Karthik Dhore, Gr. 10, Adarsh Ranganathan, Gr. 10, Harrison Schwartz, Gr. 12 and captain Aadithya Prakash, Gr. 11.
Baseball
At the end of March, varsity baseball was 7-6 overall, with a 1- 1 league record. The team has been led by the strong pitching of Greg Plauck, Gr. 11 and Barrett Glasauer, Gr. 12. Of fensively, the team has been led by Glasauer, Stefan Eckhardt, Gr. 11 and Jeff Mandell, Gr. 12. All three lead the team in batting average, hits, stolen bases and on-base percentage. Senior Taylor Martin has done an outstanding job on defense, pitching and being a team leader. The J.V. was 1-5, losing a tough game to Monta Vista 14-13 and Milpitas 2-4. The team has been led by sophomores Greg Cox and Amir Mortazavi, and freshman Noah Levy. Mortazavi leads the team in hits and batting average; Cox has the team’s only win, and Levy has done a good job at the plate, as well as behind it as the catcher. Ben Tien, Gr. 10, has also done a good job on the mound, at the plate and in the field for the team, reports coach C.J. Cali.
Swimming
The girls swim team is showing much strength this season, with a 6-0 league record at press time and two more league meets to go. CCS qualifiers so far are Vivian Wong, Gr. 11, Jessica Khojasteh, Gr. 10, Katie Siegel, Gr. 9, Tina Ma, Gr. 11 and Tiffany Wong, Gr. 9. Coach Barton Wells looks for the girls be in the top five at CCS this year. The boys swim team is 3-1 in league so far this season, and Wells is looking to win the league championship and place in the top five at CCS. At the first meet of the season, Kevin Khojasteh, Gr. 9, smashed the school record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.88. CCS qualifiers so far are Khojasteh, Andrew Chin, Gr. 12, Cole Davis, Gr. 11, Daryl Neubieser, Gr. 9 and Michael Clifford, Gr. 11.
There is lots to report on the MS sports front following the end of the late winter sports season.
MS Girls Basketball
According to coach Tang Kitporka, the Gr. 8 girls varsity A team had lots of fun this season, playing their best to a 3-7 overall record. Priscilla Auyeung, Jacqueline Jordan and Shreya Vemuri were key players throughout the great season.
The Gr. 7 girls of the varsity B team, coached by Loreen Talagtag and Joe Mentillo, went undefeated with a record of 10-0 this season. They took first place in the WBAL league season and won the WBAL tournament, defeating Woodland School in the finals! Standout players included Regina Chen, Nithya Vemireddy and Mercedes Chien.
MS Boys Soccer
The Gr. 8 varsity A soccer team, coached by Manny Martinez, ended their season undefeated with a record of 9-0-1 this season. They took first place in the WBAL league and even beat a tough St. Joseph’s Sacred Heart team, who has not lost a match in years, 1-0. Their combined scoring total was 47 goals to 12 for their opponents. The team was led by Andy Perez, Michael Amick, Baris Demirlioglu and Kiran Arimilli.
The Gr. 7 varsity B boys, coached by Chris Fanara, had a respectable season at 4-4 overall. All of their games were close games and they did not lose any match by more than one goal. They finished the season with a convincing victory over non-league opponent San Jose Christian, 4-1. The team was led by Kevin Mohanram, Jeffrey Hanke and Kevin Moss.
Coach Cyrus Merrill reported, ”The sixth grade boys junior varsity A team scored more total goals this year than in both prior seasons!” Nikhil Kishore scored three goals in just one game. The team also received strong play from the defensive midfield play of Rishabh Jain and the vocal leadership of sweeper Allen Huang. The boys really began incorporating their one-touch passing and foot skills, focal points of Merrill’s training, into their play, even eliciting a compliment from a referee who commented on their improvement in play from the beginning up until the end of the season. Merrill summarized, “Although they ended up with a losing record, they did defeat a traditionally strong team from up the peninsula and they scored three goals against perennial soccer power Menlo. Although they lost the game they put a considerable scare into the opposition!”
MS Wrestling
Although wrestling is an early winter sport, the short season finished too late for last month’s issue. Coaches Karriem Stinson and James Arballo are excited about the progress of this year’s wrestlers. In two back-to-back weekends of impressive wrestling, the boys indicated the strong future of Harker wrestling. At the Mission Hills tournament Harker took fifth out of 16 teams with only 11 wrestlers. Baris Demirlioglu and Michael Chen, Gr. 8, and Koshu Takatsuji, Gr. 7, went undefeated at 5-0. At the New Brighton Classic, Harker had four second place finishers (Demirlioglu, Nikhil Baradwaj, Canaan Linder and Christian Lantzsch, all Gr. 8); Daniel Wang, both Gr. 8, took third place, with Corey Gonzales, Gr. 6 and Chen both placing fourth.
LS Girls Basketball
Coach Tomas Thompson reported that the Gr. 4 girls of the junior varsity C team had a stellar season. They were undefeated for the majority of the season, beating most teams by 20 points. The girls finished 6-2 overall, losing only to Pinewood twice. Their last loss to Pinewood was by one basket in their final game of the season. Standout players included Joelle Anderson, Jordan Thompson and Lauren Trihy.
LS Soccer
The Gr. 5 junior varsity B boys, under the coaching of Walid Fahmy, went 2-1-3 in league. They finished with a tied score in their first three league matches against Keys, Pinewood and St. Joseph’s Sacred Hear t and then went on to beat Keys 3-2 and St. Joseph’s 5-4 by the end of the season. Standout players included Nathaniel Stearns, Ryan Fernandes and Nicholas LaBruna.
Two Harker teams have won 2009 winter scholastic championship team awards. These awards recognize the varsity team from each CCS sport with the highest collective GPA of all teams competing that season. Both boys soccer (average GPA 3.6520) and the Harker wrestling team (3.6080) came in first in their sports. Hearty congratulations to the brainy athletes!
US faculty took to the court on March 25 for a basketball game. Playing for the red team were chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine, history teacher Mai Nguyen, coach Raul Rios, math teacher Evan Barth and biology teacher Matthew Harley. The green team comprised math teacher Victor Adler, history teacher Ramsay Westgate, athletic director Dan Molin, Mandarin and ethics teacher Shaun Jahshan and biology teacher Nicole VanderSal. US division head Butch Keller acted as referee during the game, which came down to the wire, with the red team winning by just one point.
Cheerleading duties were handled by Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of school for academic affairs, English teachers Erin Redfern and Jennifer Siraganian and history teacher Carol Zink.
The game was one of several fundraisers held by the National Honor Society that week. Bins for each faculty member were set up just outside the Edge for donations. The 10 faculty members with the most money in their bins were chosen to play, while the runners-up went on to act as cheerleaders.
In addition to the faculty basketball game, the NHS also raised money that week by holding a bake sale and selling teacher appreciation ‘grams, special student-written notes that were delivered to teachers along with a small bundle of chocolate. Funds were donated to a local underprivileged charter school.
US volleyball coach Theresa “Smitty” Smith – and The Harker School – can now let the world know she’s a Positive Coach Alliance Double-Goal Coach Award Winner with the winner’s logo she recently received. Smith received the award in 2008 for her commitment to using positive coaching to teach life lessons. Read more about the award here–look near the bottom for Smitty’s comments!
Swimmer Andrew Chin, Gr. 12, was honored on his very own Senior Night in early April for his great participation on Harker’s swim team. Chin, who will swim at the University of Pennsylvania next year, has shown dedication to the sport, and Harker honors his contribution, as well as all other senior athletes this year.
A select group of Harker athletes gathered in mid-April to celebrate their step up to college athletics as Kristina Bither signed her papers to compete in volleyball for Villanova University. Joining Bither were four others who have already committed: Andrew Chin, swimming at the University of Pennsylvania; Sabrina Paseman, diving at Cornell; Tara Panu, tennis at Pepperdine; and Ankita Shah, gymnastics at UC Berkeley.
Alumnus and San Jose State University baseball player Jason Martin ’07 was recognized at the annual Santa Clara County Hot Stove Banquet on Jan. 27 for his standout performance on the diamond. In late January, Martin was named one of the winners of the Loyd Christopher Award, given each year to a single member of the San Jose State, Stanford and Santa Clara University baseball programs. Martin also earned a $500 scholarship for being nominated to receive the award.
Jason Martin ’07, was mentioned in the online recap of the San Jose State University baseball team vs. Spartan Alumni game, November 2. The story noted, “Offensively, sophomore centerfielder Jason Martin reached base in all five of his plate appearances from the leadoff position, finishing 2-for-3 with two hit-by-pitches, his trademark. He also reached (base) on one of six Alumni errors, in the third inning. The San Jose native scored three times and (drove) in a pair. His final hit was a two-run triple in the big eighth inning, with Martin coming all the way around to score on a throwing miscue.” For the whole story, http://www.sjsuspartans.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=34974&SPID=2729&DB_OEM_ID=5600&ATCLID=1616526