Last week, girls soccer won their season opener against Monta Vista with a score of 5-0. They’re headed to Andrew Hill on Tuesday and will return to Harker on Thursday against Del Mar.
Girls basketball won 44-31 over Sobrato on Tuesday in their home opener. Their schedule this week sees them facing Lincoln on Tuesday, Overfelt on Thursday and San Jose High on Saturday, all at home.
After last week’s loss to Monta Vista, boys basketball looks to bounce back on Tuesday against University Prep before heading to BASIS on Friday.
Boys water polo’s historic season ended the weekend before Thanksgiving break with a 13-7 loss to Gunn High. Their CIF Northern California Championship run included wins over Dixon and Ponderosa. Congratulations to the team on a fantastic season.
On Saturday, the girls tennis team defeated Menlo for the fourth time this season to become the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Northern California champion for the first time in the program’s history, capping off a massively successful run that also saw the team earn its region’s second consecutive CCS championship.
Displaying dominance for the entire season, the team went undefeated in league play and allowed just 7 points in 10 games. The girls also met division rival Menlo four times, winning every contest, and took second place at the Point Loma Invitational in San Diego, where they defeated CIF Southern California champions Westlake.
As an additional feather in the program’s cap, the duo of Rachel Hernandez, grade 10, and Olivia Guo, grade 9, reached the semifinals of the CCS doubles tournament and Audrey Feng, grade 9, won the individual league title.
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!
After Monday’s win over Sacred Heart, the girls golf team remains undefeated in league play and is currently in first place in the WBAL. The team’s next match is against a strong Castilleja team on Wednesday.
Following victories against Los Gatos last week, JV and varsity boys water polo are both in action tonight against Homestead. They will host Los Altos at the Singh Aquatic Center on Thursday. On Friday and Saturday, boys varsity will host the Silicon Valley Invitational.
Girls varsity water polo was defeated by Los Gatos last Tuesday, but rebounded on Thursday to take an 11-1 win over Palo Alto. The team faces Homestead today.
Girls tennis continued its hot streak with last week’s wins over Sacred Heart Prep and Notre Dame-Belmont. The team hopes to remain undefeated today as it faces Castilleja, and on Thursday will play Menlo in another highly anticipated match.
At a trial 5K race in Fresno, cross country athlete Veyd Patil, grade 10, placed in the top 50, running a time of 18:19. Alex Liou, grade 10, and Eric Zhang, grade 9, also had respectable performances, with respective times of 18:52 and 21:44. Junior Kara Kister’s time of 21:46 landed her in the top 40 of her race. In her first 5K, grade 9 runner Sophia Liu finished with a time of 23:56. Cross country’s second WBAL meet will take place Thursday.
JV and varsity girls volleyball, which lost to Sacred Heart Prep and Notre-Dame Belmont last week, play their final home games of the season this week, tonight against Menlo and Friday against Mercy High School.
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 baseball won a thriller on Saturday to take its first ever CCS title. The Eagles were trailing top-seeded Stevenson 14-5 with two outs in the final inning when a string of batters, 12 in all, reached the bases. The incredible 11-run comeback was “mainly walks and singles,” coach Mike Delfino told the Mercury News, with a two-run double from recent graduate Andrew Chavez giving Harker the lead. Pitcher Ian Williamson ’21 earned the winning strikeout after Stevenson rallied to within one run of Harker with the bases loaded.
Harker track and field athletes also had a great weekend. Long jumper Andrew Fu, grade 10, won the first place medal with a 21’ 8” jump on his final attempt, his first CCS title. In her final meet as a Harker competitor, Anna Weirich ’21 finished second in the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs, and the boys took fifth place in the 4×100 relay.
Harker’s sports successes continued on Tuesday and Wednesday, as the boys and girls golf teams both became CCS champions. The boys team scored 388 to defeat Mitty (393) and Bellarmine (394), while the girls scored 386 to put away Valley Christian (400) and St. Francis (427). Natalie Vo ’21, who committed to play golf for the University of Colorado Boulder, shot a 71 and was named the CCS girls golf individual champion.
Girls basketball made history with its narrow 54-53 win over Carmel High on Tuesday, advancing to the CCS semifinals, the furthest the team has gone in the history of the program. They will play top-seeded Half Moon Bay High School on Thursday.
The boys volleyball squad completed a mid-season turnaround to win its second-ever CCS championship against Prospect High on Saturday. Congratulations to recent graduates Billy Fan, Anish Kilaru, Deven Parikh, Brian Pinkston, Ethan Steeg and Avery Young; juniors Vishnu Kannan and Raymond Xu; sophomores Tyler Beede and Johnny Kuehnis; and freshmen Adrian Liu and Edis Mesic!
In its opening round CCS game, the boys basketball team defeated Monte Vista Christian 74-67 and is slated to face top-seeded Sacred Heart Prep on Tuesday in the quarterfinals. Good luck and go Eagles!
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.
