On Wednesday, Joelle Anderson ’17 was selected in the third round (26th overall) by the Houston Dash in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) draft.
Anderson was a stellar player during her time at Harker. She was a two-time Forward of the Year in the WBAL and led the CCS in goals and points her senior year.
Continuing her amazing play in college, Anderson was a three-time All-West Conference selection and a two-time United Soccer Coaches All-West Region selection. The college soccer season was postponed until February because of COVID, so Anderson will still be able to finish her senior season.
Anderson comes from a family of athletes. Older brother Jeremiah ’15 played soccer at Westmont College and younger brother Jarrett ’19 is a standout volleyball player at Springfield College. Her parents also teach at Harker. Her mom Michelle teaches kindergarten and dad Pete is a middle school PE teacher.
Over the past month, three Harker student athletes were recognized on the 49ers Cal-Hi Sports TV show for their excellence on and off the field. Natalie Vo, grade 12, was featured for her outstanding Harker golf career and her bright future; Vayun Tiwari, grade 11, showed off his award-winning talent for bird photography; and Ashley Barth, grade 11, shared her inspiring story of battling cancer and her relationship with Camp Okizu. Check out all the stories of these outstanding Eagles below:
Anna Weirich, grade 12, traveled to San Tan Valley, Ariz., last week to compete in the 14th annual Desert Twilight meet. Weirich was not representing Harker, but rather raced as an “unattached” competitor to stay compliant with CCS rules in representing one’s school out of season. More than 100 schools from across the nation competed in the two-day event, which saw temperatures hit triple digits for the 5K race. Weirich took 12th out of 110 runners in the Unattached-Club Girls Sweepstakes.
Weirich is the reigning CCS D4 champ and is looking for another great season once the COVID-19 delayed year gets going in December.
Alexa Lowe, grade 11, was recently interviewed by the Presque Isle High School newspaper in Maine about the uncertainty of the 2020-21 athletic season due to COVID 19. Lowe shared how she has coped without sports, but also shared her optimism that student athletes will get a chance to compete this year.
Lowe was introduced to Presque Isle High journalism student Cameron Levasseur by her friend Nilisha Baid, grade 12, who met him at a journalism conference.
As of the latest CIF press release on Sept. 17, California sports will begin in mid-December.
The American Junior Golf Association and the USGA recently announced the nine finalists for the 2020 USGA-AJGA Presidents’ Leadership Award, with three being Harker Eagles! This national award recognizes elite junior golfers for their aspirations and work to give back to their communities. Gabriel Yang, grade 12, and Esther Wu and Sophie Zhang-Murphy, both grade 11, each play at top levels, but also pour hours into organizations and issues that mean a lot to them. Check out the full list of finalists and where Yang, Wu and Zhang-Murphy give their time: https://www.ajga.org/2020-usga-ajga-presidents-leadership-award-finalists-and-honorable-mentions
Even though he missed out on his senior season, Ethan Hu, grade 12, continues to rack up the accolades. SportsStars Magazine is in the midst of publishing its top 10 athletes in each high school sport from the last decade. When the list of top boys swimmers was released last week, Hu was an obvious choice. Check out Hu’s write up, along with the rest of the top 10:
Natalie Vo, grade 11, and Claire Chen, grade 9, represented the Eagles this week at the state girls golf finals at Poppy Hills. Vo finished 46th and Chen competed for the top spot all day, finishing in a tie for seventh shooting a 2-over-par 73. Great job ladies!
Cross Country
Good luck to Anna Weirich, grade 11, who will compete at the state cross country finals in Fresno on Nov. 30.
WINTER SPORTS
Girls/Boys Basketball
The girls and boys basketball teams will open their 2019-20 season on the road – in Hawaii! The Eagle teams each have three games scheduled during the Thanksgiving week on the island of Maui. Both teams have their home opener on Dec. 11 as the girls take on Pioneer and the boys face off with St. Thomas More.
Girls Soccer
The girls soccer team opens its season on Monday at Lynbrook. The first home game of the year is on Dec. 4 against Harbor.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team travels to Saratoga on Tuesday to open its season with the first home game on Dec. 5 against Santa Clara.
The CCS cross country finals were held this weekend, and Harker was represented by the girls cross country team and Rigo Gonzales, grade 9. Gonzales finished 61 out of 119 Division 4 boys runners, and the girls team ended the season with a sixth place finish in D4. But the story of the day was Anna Weirich, grade 11, who took first place in the D4 girls race, bringing home the first girls CCS cross country title in school history. Weirich finished 47 seconds ahead of the second place runner and will travel to Fresno on Nov. 30 for the state championships.
Girls Tennis
Last week, the girls tennis team finished its season with an amazing CCS run. The Eagles defeated Salinas 6-1, No. 3 seed Cupertino 4-3 and No. 6 seed Menlo Atherton 4-3 to make it further in CCS than any other Harker tennis team (boys or girls) in school history. The girls eventually fell to St. Francis 2-5 in the semis, but had an amazing year finishing with a 15-3 record.
Girls Volleyball
The historic girls volleyball season came to an end last week as the team was defeated in the first round of NorCals 0-3 by Central Catholic. Congrats on a great season Eagles!
Girls Golf
Natalie Vo, grade 11, and Claire Chen, grade 9, will travel to Poppy Hills on Tuesday to compete at the state championships. Good luck ladies!
Harker’s year-old Athletic Hall of Fame doubled in size tonight, when four new inductees were presented with their awards and formally entered as hall of famers.
Adhir Ravipati ’05 was inducted for his multisport prowess at Harker and his stellar coaching record as the Menlo High School football coach. Kristina Bither Gurney ’09 was a member of the state finalist volleyball team in 2007 and played a wicked game of soccer, as well. Maverick McNealy ’13 has been a household name – at least in golfing households – for years as he contributed heavily to the many fine finishes of Harker golf teams, and now he has gone pro. Former athletic department staffer Chris Collins was a critical part of the department team as Harker ramped up its athletic offerings, and a friend to all students needing help.
Following deeply heartfelt speeches by athletic directors Dan Molin (upper school), and Theresa “Smitty” Smith (lower and middle school), each inductee was presented with a beautiful crystal award (Butch Keller, upper school head, accepted for McNealy as he is currently on the PGA tour). The ceremony was very well attended by friends and family of the other inductees, including a large contingent celebrating with Collins.
There was a reception prior to the induction in the athletic center’s multipurpose room for the inductees and family, where past acquaintances were renewed with fellow alumni, coaches, teachers and administrators.
Read a bit about them on our webpage, which has links to summaries of their athletic careers. Huge congrats to these four! https://www.harker.org/halloffame
To celebrate her dedication and hard work, Chris Collins, athletic department stalwart, will be inducted into Harker’s Athletic Hall of Fame this Saturday before the Homecoming game. Collins started with Harker in 2001 as assistant to the dean of students and the athletic director. After a brief hiatus in 2004, she returned to support the academic dean in 2005 and, in 2007, again added support for the upper school athletic director to her duties. In 2008 Collins moved exclusively to the athletic department. Seven busy years later, in December 2015, much to her regret, Collins had to leave Harker due to several serious health issues, and her loss was deeply felt.
“Chris is a true Eagle,” said Dan Molin, the upper school athletic director since 2005. “She gave her heart and soul to Harker, and the kids and coaches. Her behind-the-scenes work was a major reason for our and our students’ success over the years of her tenure. She was very responsive and responsible. She did everything for us, and would never leave a task undone.”
Collins held down a desk in the main academic hall before the new athletic center was built, and was accessible to anyone passing by. “Chris is very caring; she has a very maternal aura about her and that reflected very positively,” added Molin. “People gravitated to her and people trusted her. The athletic office can be quite busy at times, but she would always stop what she was doing to answer any question from an athlete, coach, parent or teacher, making them aware that their question was of the utmost importance and deserved her undivided attention.”
Over and above her regular duties, “Chris also, on her own, took on the task of selling athletic logo wear at football games and other big events we hosted,” Molin said. “She would lug all the boxes out there with a cart and set up a little logo wear table at football games on Friday nights. That is something she didn’t have to do; she just did it to get the spirit wear out there. She was always at games, always supporting the kids.”
Collins noted she loved giving out uniforms to the kids at the beginning of each season and seeing how excited they were when they received their uniforms. Another high point was getting flowers for seniors and their parents on each sport’s Senior Day.
“I was surprised and very happy to be selected to the Harker Athletic Hall of Fame,” said Collins. “To be given this honor for doing a job I truly loved is a blessing. Dan Molin was a fantastic boss. I felt like Dan and I were a wonderful team and I hope I helped him as much as he helped me! I loved the whole Harker family, administrators, teachers and the kids who made it an awesome place to work and I miss everyone so much!”
Molin noted Collins brought calm to the busy athletics office throughout her time at Harker. “She never got rattled, no matter how crazy and hectic things could get,” he concluded. “She was always very even-keeled about things – the calm in the eye of the storm. She cared for and loved the kids and enjoyed seeing them compete. She’s phenomenal.”
Founded in 2018, The Harker School Athletic Hall of Fame honors those who have made outstanding contributions to its athletic program. Candidates for selection exemplified desirable character traits during their years at Harker and beyond, and have distinguished themselves in competition representing Harker, their college or at the professional level. Candidates may also be non-graduates who, through long service to Harker, have distinguished themselves in the field of athletics.