At the Central Coast Section cross country meet on Nov. 12, individual runner Kara Kister, grade 12, finished 36th among 101 runners in girls division 4. Boys cross country finished a respectable seventh place, with junior Veyd Patil finishing in seventh individually, posting a personal best time of 16:15 and qualifying for the state championship on Nov. 26. Junior Andrew Smith and freshman Robinson Xiang also had strong performances, as Xiang posted the best time of any competing ninth grader.
Girls water polo came up short against Stevenson in the division 2 final this past weekend, which ended with a score of 12-15. The team nevertheless had a historically strong season, going 22-8 overall. Congratulations!
Another Harker season came to an end on Saturday, as girls tennis was defeated in the CCS semifinals 2-5 by Monta Vista, which would go on to be the CCS champions. The team finished another stellar season with its third consecutive league title and an overall record of 10-2.
Football’s season opener at Harbor High on Friday ended with a 44-27 loss. Touchdowns were scored by senior Zeke Weng, senior Rohan Gorti, sophomore Rayan Arya and junior Ryan Barth, who ran back a blocked field goal attempt for his first career touchdown. They face Swett High School Friday.
Girls varsity volleyball lost a tough season opener 3-0 to Branham High on Thursday, while JV was victorious in its match against Branham. The varsity team be at Harbor High tomorrow and compete this Saturday in the Spikefest tournament.
Upcoming games:
The Singh Aquatic Center will be the place to see boys water polo’s season opener on Friday against Skyline High from Utah. JV will play at 6 p.m. and varsity is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
Girls golf’s season opener is today, facing Notre Dame at Moffett Field. The team will face Sacred Heart Prep and Mercy in tri-match this Thursday.
With preparations to defend its titles league and section titles ongoing, the girls tennis team will not compete until Sept. 27.
Girls water polo opened its season on Sept. 6, while girls cross country is set to start competition on Sept. 17.
Last week, senior Ishaan Mantripragada was named the Central Coast Section Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The four-year soccer player was named WBAL All-League and WBAL Forward of the Year and was a valued member of the 2020 CCS championship team. He was also recognized for volunteering for Kicks Against Cancer, participating in the Synopsys Science & Technology Championship and receiving a 2020 President’s Gold Volunteer Service Award, all while maintaining strong academic performance. Mantripragada was one of several athletes honored at a special luncheon on Tuesday.
In other CCS news, six Harker athletics teams were named winners of 2021-22 Spring Season Scholastic Championship Team Awards last week. These awards recognize the top five varsity teams from each sport that have maintained the highest collective GPA in their respect sports during the spring athletic season. The boys baseball, boys volleyball, girls swimming, boys tennis, boys track and field and girls track and field teams were all selected to receive this award.
The American Volleyball Coaches Association named Jarrett Anderson ’19, who currently plays for Springfield College, their NCAA Division III Men’s National Player of the Year last week. A first-team NVA/AVCA All-American for three straight seasons, Anderson was a major factor in Springfield’s appearance in the NCAA Division III National Championship semifinals this year. This season he recorded 264 kills, 107 digs, 78 aces and 46 blocks.
Congratulations to girls varsity basketball on their historic season, in which they saw their first-ever league title win, an appearance in the CCS finals and first-round win in the CIF NorCal tournament. Though their season ended last Thursday against Argonaut High (with a final score of 66-53), the girls went 25-3 overall and were 10-0 in league play. They will play in the WBAL Foothill division next year.
Harker varsity baseball won 14-3 last Thursday against Overfelt, coasting on great performances by seniors Mark Hu, Austin Wang and Aaron Lo, who each had a single homerun and a combined 10 RBIs. Pitcher Drew Diffenderfer, grade 9, struck out 12 batters in six innings in his first win as a high schooler. They fell to Harbor High 1-9 on Saturday, and are hoping to bounce back Thursday at home against Rancho San Juan.
Track and field opened their season on Saturday in Willow Glen. Junior Andrew Fu took first in the long jump with a distance of 21 feet, 10 inches, as well as first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11 seconds. Sophomore Veyd Patil also took first in two events with a 5:01.17 run in the 1,600-meter event and a 2:14.36 run in the 800-meter event. In discus, senior Kai Burich placed second with a throw of 123 feet, 3 inches. Juniors Rigo Gonzales, Pranav Mullappalli, Zain Vakath and Andrew Fu placed third in the 4×100 relay. Finally, junior Kara Kister finished 10th in the 800 meters and 14th in 1,600 meters.
Following Friday’s loss to Leland High in the fifth set, boys varsity volleyball is hopeful for a win this Friday against Saratoga High.
Boys tennis won 6-1 yesterday against Sacred Heart following Monday’s loss to a very strong Menlo team. They have a busy schedule this week, as they face Crystal Springs today and Pinewood on Thursday, both at home.
Boys varsity water polo made history this past weekend with the program’s first-ever CCS championship, defeating Archbishop Mitty 9-5. Girls tennis also had a landmark moment, defeating Menlo to become CCS champions for the second consecutive year. With these wins, Harker has a total of 10 CCS championships across all participating sports. Both teams also advanced to their respective CIF Northern California championships. Boys water polo will face Dixon High at the Singh Aquatic Center at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, while girls tennis heads to Sacramento this Friday and Saturday as the top seed for their matches.
Tennis players also will be in CCS competition this week as Audrey Feng, grade 9, participates in singles, and the duo of Rachel Hernandez, grade 10, and Olivia Guo, grade 9, compete in doubles.
Cross country runners Veyd Patil, grade 10, and juniors Rupert Chen, Rigo Gonzales and Kara Kister finished their seasons at Saturday’s CCS championships, with all running well. Patil, Chen and Gonzales placed 31st, 35th and 48th, respectively, out of 93 runners.
Yesterday, senior Tara Ozdemir signed a letter of intent to compete in Division I beach volleyball at Stetson University. A four-year varsity player, Ozdemir was a member of the 2018 team that reached the CCS finals and the 2019 team that won the CCS championship. She was also named to the WBAL’s 2021 first team all-league and had a team-leading 243 digs this season. Congratulations!
Varsity boys and girls water polo have had historic seasons, with both teams recording their first-ever CCS wins. The boys are still in contention after Wednesday’s 13-10 win over Leland in the CCS semifinals. They will face Archbishop Mitty on Saturday in the CCS finals, which will be held at San Benito High School. The girls, meanwhile, are out of the playoffs following Tuesday’s loss to Santa Cruz. Congratulations to them on a great season!
Girls tennis’ success in CCS continued on Tuesday with a 7-0 win over Lynbrook in the second round. They are in action against Monta Vista today in the quarterfinal round. Should they win, they will play in Saturday’s semifinals.
Cross country runners Rupert Chen, Rigo Gonzales and Kara Kister, all juniors, and sophomore Veyd Patil will be competing in CCS this Saturday at Crystal Springs-Hallmark Park. Best of luck!
As one Harker team celebrates a big win, several others look ahead to Harker Day, during which no fewer than six Harker teams will be competing.
In a highly anticipated contest, Harker girls tennis defeated Menlo 5-2 on Tuesday to improve to 5-0 in league play. The team will host Sacred Heart Prep on Tuesday.
Cross country headed to Half Moon Bay High School last Saturday for a successful meet that saw the boys varsity team finish sixth on the strength of runs by junior Rigo Gonzales (13:42) and sophomore Veyd Patil (13:22). The JV team, led by junior Dawson Chen’s 15:50 run, finished fifth. On the varsity girls squad, junior Kara Kister ran for a time of 16:00 to help her team place sixth. The grade 9 team finished in ninth place, with Harris Miller being the team’s top runner with a time of 15:02. Of particular note was sophomore Ethan Liu, who participated in his first-ever cross country race and finished in the top 50.
In an important league match, girls volleyball triumphed over Notre Dame-San Jose last Thursday, improving their record to 6-13.
Football lost a hard-fought game against Priory last Friday that ended in a 44-38 score and saw frequent lead changes. Currently 2-3, the Eagles look to even their record against Marina High at Saturday’s Homecoming game, which will be streamed live on Harker’s YouTube channel.
On Monday, girls golf lost to Los Altos 214-224 in a non-league match, in which senior Tina Xu shot an impressive 39. The team, still undefeated in league play at 7-0, will face another undefeated team, the 8-0 Castilleja, on Monday.
Varsity boys and girls water polo each lost close games to Gunn High on Monday. At press time, both teams still have winning records, with the boys sitting at second place in league play with a record of 6-2 and the girls currently ranking fourth with a record of 5-4. The girls host Castilleja on Thursday evening and Menlo-Atherton on Saturday. The boys, meanwhile, will play Palo Alto High at home on Saturday. Both Saturday games will be streamed live.
In addition to the already mentioned games, JV boys water polo’s matchup against Palo Alto High, JV and varsity volleyball’s games against Castilleja will also be streamed on YouTube. Be sure to catch the action if you’re unable to attend Harker Day!
Harker football won its season opener against San Jose High in a thriller that went into overtime. The Eagles were down by 8 in the third quarter before tying the score at 14, sending the game into overtime, where senior Aaditya Gulati kicked the game-winning field goal. Harker will meet Lynnbrook at Davis Field this Friday.
Girls golf fell to a strong Palo Alto team in non-league play on Thursday, but rebounded to win its league opener against Notre Dame-San Jose the following day.
In its Thursday season opener, girls volleyball lost to Branham High and had a 2-3 record in Saturday’s Spikefest Tournament, defeating Silver Creek and Christopher. The team faces Harbor at home on Tuesday and will host Santa Cruz on Friday.
Several Harker teams have upcoming season openers. Boys water polo will open its season in a Wednesday away game at Valley Christian, while girls water polo starts its season Sept. 7 against Los Altos High. Opening its season that same day will be girls tennis, which will face Monta Vista. Cross country is hard at work preparing for its Sept. 11 start at the Lowell Invitational, held at Golden Gate Park.
After over a year without sports, our Harker Eagles returned to the fields, courts, pools and tracks to compete in a historic season. Five varsity teams won CCS championships, four of which were firsts in school history. Varsity baseball performed an upset for the ages, coming back from a 14-5 deficit against Stevenson to win it all with an 11-run comeback. The varsity boys and girls golf teams swept the CCS tournament, each winning their first titles, while varsity girls tennis battled through a difficult season, first by upsetting Menlo’s 24-year league win streak, then by beating Menlo at home to win its first CCS championship. Last but not least, varsity boys volleyball won its second CCS title with a victory over Prospect High.
This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the incredible individual accomplishments by Harker athletes. With an impressive display of resilience and perseverance, track and field long jumper and rising junior Andrew Fu battled through a foot injury to win CCS with a jump of 21’ 8.25”. Varsity swimmer and recent graduate Matthew Chung won CCS in both the 100-meter butterfly and 200 IM. Varsity baseball pitcher and rising senior Mark Hu threw the first perfect game in school history, tying the CCS record of 18 strikeouts.
Take a scroll through this selection of the past year’s best athletics photos.
Harker girls tennis made history over Memorial Day weekend, winning its first-ever Central Coast Section championship with a 6-1 win over Menlo School. It was the fourth team CCS championship in school history.
Harker swimming also had a successful weekend at the CCS Swimming Championships, as Matthew Chung ‘21 became the CCS champion in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard butterfly.
