The football team picked up a well-earned 27-25 victory over Santa Cruz High last Friday. Will Park, grade 12, rushed for 118 yards and Nate Kelly, grade 11, threw three touchdown passes, including two to Anthony Contreras, grade 11. The defense also stepped up as it forced six Santa Cruz turnovers, three interceptions and three fumbles. Check out some of the game highlights here: http://www.hudl.com/v/krSEW
Next up for the Eagles is a trip to Vallejo this Friday for a matchup with St. Patrick-St. Vincent.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team has stayed very busy, competing in four matches over the past week. Last week, the Eagles fell to Menlo by just nine strokes, but rebounded with convincing victories over Mercy Burlingame and Sacred Heart Prep. In the victory over the SHP Gators, the girls golf team set the school record for the lowest score ever shot by a girls team (183). On Monday, the Eagles also defeated Castilleja, their first victory over the defending league champions since 2008. Katherine Zhu, grade 11, and Katelyn Vo, grade 9, continue to lead the Eagles. The girls golf team will rest up this week and return to action next week against Notre Dame San Jose and Menlo.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team continued its difficult schedule against some of the best teams in the Bay Area last week. The Eagles fell to Menlo in three games, then dropped a tough five-game battle with Sacred Heart Prep. Lindsey Trinh and Rachel Cheng, both grade 12, led the Eagles with six kills each in the Menlo loss. Lauren Napier, grade 11, led Harker with 15 kills in the loss to SHP. On Tuesday, the Eagles travel to Mercy San Francisco.
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team continued its winning ways as it picked up a 15-3 win over Cupertino and a 13-3 win over Milpitas. The Eagles are now 9-4 on the season. This week, the Eagles face off with Fremont High on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. at Harker.
Girls Tennis
The girls tennis team opened its league season with a 6-1 loss to Menlo. Rachel Broweleit, grade 9, picked up a win at No. 3 singles. Later in the week, the Eagles defeated Crystal Springs Uplands 4-3. This week, the girls tennis team will face Castilleja on Tuesday and Pinewood on Thursday.
Girls Water Polo
Last week, the girls water polo team fell 7-3 against Wilcox, getting two goals from Meghana Karinthi, grade 11. Later in the week, the Eagles defeated Milpitas 12-2, with Karinthi, Alicia Xu, grade 9, Nina Levy, grade 12, and Cas Ruedy, grade 9 each scoring two goals. Finally, over the weekend the Eagles went 1-3 at the Watsonville Tournament led by four goals each from Xu and Karinthi. The girls water polo team plays at home twice this week: Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Homestead and Thursday at 4:30 p.m. against Monta Vista.
Cross Country
The cross country team returns to action this weekend as it competes in the Stanford Invitational.
The girls tennis team opened its season this weekend in Clovis at the California Tennis Classic, and dominated the competition on the way to a Division 6 championship. Over the two-day tournament, the Eagles went 5-0 with an unbelievable 353 games won to only 66 games lost. Even more impressive, the Eagles won 59 sets and only lost one, and in that case rebounded by winning the 10-point third-set tiebreaker. The Eagles did all this with only 10 players, seven of them freshmen. Congratulations ladies! Next up for the Eagles is their league opener against Menlo on Sept. 20.
Football
The varsity football team looks to bounce back from a 48-0 loss to Menlo last Friday as it hosts Encinal this Friday at 7:30 p.m. It’s also Teacher Appreciation Night, so come out to support the football team as well as our awesome Harker teachers.
Girls Golf
It’s a busy week for the girls golf team! Today the Eagles travel to Poplar Creek Golf Course for the Helen Lengfeld Memorial Tournament, followed by a home match against Palo Alto High on Tuesday and a league match against Notre Dame Belmont on Wednesday.
Cross Country
The Harker cross country team opened its season and turned in some impressive performances at the Lowell Invitational in Golden Gate Park. Rishi Dange, grade 9, led the Eagles with a top 25 finish as the boys freshman team finished seventh out of 40 teams. Anika Rajamani, grade 10, led the frosh-soph girls team to a 13th-place finish out of 40 schools. Finally, Niki Iyer, grade 12, opened her final Harker season with a second-place finish in the 2.93-mile race, posting the fastest CCS time. Check out an interview with Iyer after the race!
Next up for the XC Eagles is the De La Salle Invitational in Concord on Saturday.
Girls Water Polo
The girls water polo team fell 11-5 to Monta Vista last week before going 2-2 at the Charger Varsity Invitational at Wilcox High School over the weekend. Abigail Wisdom, grade 10, led the Eagles with 10 goals during the tournament. The girls will host Santa Clara on Tuesday and travel to Saratoga on Thursday.
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team defeated Fremont High 16-3 last week before going 2-2 at the Connolly Invitational Tournament over the weekend. The Eagles are now 5-4 for the season.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team continued its brutal schedule, taking on some of the best teams in the Bay Area. They lost to Valley Christian in three games last week and will face off with a tough Saint Francis on Wednesday in Mountain View. Go Eagles!
Fall sports are in progress and although some starts have been rough, teams are pulling together to put their best efforts forth as the season matures!
Boys Water Polo
The boys water polo team dropped its home opener to Lynbrook 12-11 in a heartbreaking overtime loss on Tuesday. Next up for the Eagles is a trip to Fremont High on Thursday, followed by the Connolly Tournament this weekend.
Girls Water Polo
Playing under the lights for its home opener, the girls water polo team fell 6-4 to visiting Lynbrook. Abigail Wisdom, grade 10, led the Eagles with two goals. Harker travels to Monta Vista on Thursday, then competes in the Charger Varsity Invitational at Wilcox on Friday.
Girls Golf
The girls golf team lost in its season opener to Valley Christian last week, but Katherine Zhu, grade 11, was the medalist shooting an even 36. Katelyn Vo, grade 9, was also outstanding, shooting a 2-over-par 38. On Tuesday, the Eagles bounced back with a convincing 203-301 league victory over Notre Dame San Jose. The Eagles were led once again by Zhu and Vo, each shooting a 1-under to tie for medalist honors. The girls golf team will compete next at the Helen Lengfeld Memorial Tournament at Poplar Creek Golf Course on Monday.
Football
The Eagles suffered a tough 17-14 loss at Prospect last Friday. Will Park, grade 12, led the way for Harker with 63-yards rushing and a TD. Come support the Eagles this Friday as they play their home opener against Menlo at 7 p.m.
Girls Volleyball
The girls volleyball team dropped a pair of matches last week bringing the team record to 2-6 in this early season. The Eagles fell to Monte Vista Christian and Presentation, both in three games. Harker travels to Valley Christian this Thursday.
Girls Tennis
Making the trip into the Central Valley, the girls tennis team opens its season this weekend at the California Girls Tennis Classic in Clovis.
Cross Country
The cross country team will officially start its season this Saturday at the Lowell Invitational in Golden Gate Park.
Congratulations to Maile Chung, grade 12, who is a finalist for a Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) Triple-Impact Competitor Scholarship. Chung is one of 20 Bay Area high school student athletes vying for a scholarship, out of 3,200 applicants.
PCA awards scholarships of up to $2,000 based on essays in which applicants explain how they have met the standards of personal mastery, leadership and honoring the game, as defined by PCA founder Jim Thompson in his book, “Elevating Your Game.” Winners will be selected and announced at a local awards ceremony in the fall or winter.
Chung, who earned a WBAL honorable mention in girls soccer as a junior, is also a talented musician and a member of school leadership. Good luck, Maile!
Rising senior Niki Iyer won the women’s age 17-18 3000-meter race in 10:05.08 at the USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships at Sacramento State University in late July! Check out this great interview with her as she recaps her motivation for the race and talks about her upcoming season at with the Harker team.
Four members of Harker’s girls lacrosse team were recently named Academic All-Americans by TopLaxRecruits.com. Taylor Iantosca, Aditi Maheshwari, Alayna Richmond and Priyanka Taneja, all rising seniors, earned the title after an impressive season on the field and in the classroom.
It’s summer break for Harker students, but two Eagle athletes are still competing at a high level.
This past season, Niki Iyer, grade 12, was the WBAL and CCS champion in the 3200-meter run, before finishing third in state. This past week she added another title to her impressive resume. On Saturday, Iyer won the Junior Olympic 17-18-year-old 3000m in Sacramento. The win qualifies her for the National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships in July, also in Sacramento. Congrats and good luck, Niki!
Davis Dunaway, grade 12, was a WBAL champion in the pole vault and finished second in the 300m hurdles to earn a ticket to CCS last year. This weekend he will compete in his first decathlon. Dunaway will participate in the 100m, 110m hurdles, 400m, 1500m, shotput, high jump, long jump, discus, pole vault and javelin. Good luck, Davis!
Also this week, the boys water polo team was named as the CIF State Academic Team Champion. Teams with the highest collective grade point average in their respective sport are rewarded with a CIF State Academic Team Champion banner. The Eagles led all boys water polo teams in California with a 3.77 GPA.
The boys volleyball team started off the season losing eight of its first 10 nonleague games, but dramatically turned things around when they started league play, winning a league title with a perfect 10-0 record and qualifying for CCS. It was the fourth league title for the boys volleyball program in school history, and the first since 2009.
In the first round of CCS, the Eagles hosted Westmont in a five-game battle that eventually went to the Warriors. All told, they ended their season with a 16-12 record.
Luke Wu, grade 12, thinks this team is only going to get better. “Next year, I know they will go to greater heights! With so much raw talent and such young players, I know that they will only get better and improve in skill,” he said.
Playing in the SCVAL, Andrew Gu, grade 11, was named league MVP; Ray Song was named Junior of the Year; Chris Gong and Charlie Molin were co-Freshman of the Year; Song, Gong, Molin and Jonathan Schwartz, grade 11, were named to the first team; Wu, Jarrett Anderson, grade 9, and Kurt Schwartz, grade 12, were named to the second team. In addition, the team was a CCS scholastic champion with a 3.6760 GPA.
Boys Tennis
It was an exciting year for the boys tennis program. Competing at the California Tennis Classic in Fresno early in the season, the Eagles went 1-2, but there was more to this weekend than just numbers. After winning the division 4 championship in the tournament last year, the Eagles were moved up two divisions to face some of the best teams in the state. Their sole victory came against defending section champ Clovis West, proving that they could play with the big boys.
The team then finished the season in third place in the WBAL, which produced a CCS berth. In their first-round matchup, the Eagles were able to defeat Santa Cruz 5-2. However, their season ended in the next round of CCS as Gunn High defeated Harker 5-2.
Claiming All-League honors were Ronak Baldua, grade 12, and David Wen, grade 10, making the first team; Edward Tischler, grade 11, and Gary Tsai, grade 10, earning second team honors; and Randy Zhao, grade 10, earning an honorable mention. Coach John Fruttero was enthusiastic about this group, calling them “the closest and hardest-working team that I have coached at the upper school.”
Swimming
The 2016 swim season was full of amazing individual and team achievements. Jack Farnham, grade 11, was the league champ in the 100 backstroke; the girls 200 medley relay and 400 free relay team of sophomores Taylor Kohlmann and Vivian Wang, and seniors Grace Guan and Angela Huang took second at the league finals; Guan took third in the girls 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke; Michael Auld, grade 11, was third in the boys 500 freestyle; and the boys 400 free relay team of Farnham, Auld, Justin Culpepper, grade 11, and Alex Yu, grade 9, was third in league.
And then there was Vivian Wang! Wang was the league champion in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke, as well as second in CCS in the 200 individual medley (IM) and 100 freestyle, which sent her to the state finals, where she placed fourth in the 200 IM and seventh in the 100 freestyle! Swimming at state was “such an experience to remember because it was both exhilarating and nerve-wracking,” said Wang. “I made so many new friends and created so many fun memories that I will never forget.”
All these amazing performances led to many All-League selections as well. Wang was named WBAL Girls Most Outstanding Swimmer, Guan was a first team selection, and Huang and Kohlmann earned second team honors. On the boys side, Auld and Farnham were named to the first team, Yu to the second team and Culpepper received an honorable mention. In addition to their prowess in the pool, both the boys and girls swim teams were CCS scholastic champions with a 3.5441 and 3.8451 GPA, respectively. “We had a very committed core who were encouraged by their improvements,” said coach Tania Chadwick. “By the end of the season it was great to see swimmers come together showing their team unity and camaraderie as they supported each other during practice and meets.”
Softball
The Harker softball team started the year on fire as it went 4-0 in its first four games, winning each game by an average of nine runs! The Eagles would finish the season tied for fourth in the WBAL with a 6-10 overall record. Leading the team offensively were Grace Park, grade 11, and Kristin LeBlanc, grade 10. Park led the Eagles in RBIs (15), doubles (6) and home runs (2). LeBlanc led the team in hits (22), runs (17) and batting average (.537). “I’m already excited for next year and I think that we have a very good shot of making CCS,” said LeBlanc.
Harker softball was well represented on the WBAL All-League Team as LeBlanc and Anika Rajamani, grade 9, were named to the first team, Park and Marti Sutton, grade 11, to the second team, and Alisa Wakita, grade 12, received an honorable mention.
Girls Lacrosse
It was a tough season for the girls lacrosse team as team members played their hearts out through a 2-18 season. After coaching the team for nine years, Andrew Irvine took on an assistant coach role with the birth of his daughter. “I am so proud of the all the girls for pulling the team together during this transition and keeping the program moving forward,” said Irvine.
In addition to being a CCS scholastic champion, leading all CCS girls lacrosse teams with a 3.9098 GPA, the team also received many All-League awards. Alayna Richmond, grade 11, was the Defender of the Year in the WBAL Skyline Division; Elise Mayer, grade 9, received second team honors; and Taylor Iantosca, grade 11, and Natasha Mayor, grade 12, received honorable mentions.
Baseball
The varsity baseball team ended its season with a 9-13 record, but the future looks promising for this team. With only three graduating seniors on a 19-man roster, a solid core of players will return next year. “Even though we will only have one senior next year, we’ll have eight to nine juniors, all of whom will be beginning their third year on varsity,” said coach Mike Delfino. “So, we’re definitely optimistic about the next few years.” Miles DeWitt is one of the seniors leaving the team this year. He led the team in RBIs. “I would always give an extra effort because I knew I wanted to finish my last year playing hard,” said DeWitt.
The team was a CCS scholastic champion this year, leading all CCS baseball teams with a 3.7519 GPA. Also, there were many Eagles on the PAL All-League team. Nate Kelly, grade 10, and DeWitt were first team selections, while Dominic Cea, grade 10, Varun Haltore, grade 11, and Matt Kennedy, grade 10, were named to the second team. “I am proud of the efforts each of the players put into the season,” said Delfino. “These guys worked hard and steadily improved as the season went along.”
Track and Field
It was one of the best years in Harker history for the track and field team! Every meet seemed to produce multiple personal and/or school records. At the WBAL finals, the Eagles had 14 season bests, and five athletes earned trips to the CCS championships. Davis Dunaway, grade 11, took first in the pole vault and second in the 300-meter hurdles in the WBAL finals. At CCS, Dunaway cleared his opening vault and placed seventh in his 300-meter hurdle heat. Demonte Aleem, grade 9, took first in the WBAL in the shot put and was the only freshman thrower at CCS, where he finished 28 out of 34 athletes, setting the school record in the process. Kevin Wang, grade 12, finished second in the WBAL in the discus, earning a trip to CCS. Anthony Contreras, grade 10, finished second in both the 200 and 400 at the league finals, and placed fifth and sixth respectively in his heats in each event, but did not make the cut for the finals. The boys team finished the year with a 3.4807 GPA, making it a top five scholastic champion. Finally, Niki Iyer, grade 11, continued her amazing career as she won both the 1600 and 3200 league finals. She went on to compete in the 3200 at CCS and the state finals, winning at CCS and placing third at state.
Iyer was named the WBAL Girls Track MVP and a first team selection. Dunaway and Aleem also were first team selections, with Wang and Contreras earning second team honors.
Boys Golf
What a year for the boys golf team! They were WBAL champs for the third consecutive year and enjoyed a second-straight undefeated season, which included 22 consecutive league wins. They had a second place finish at CCS, third place finish at NorCals, and sixth place at state. As for individual honors, Ryan Vaughan, grade 11, was named WBAL player of the year; Avi Khemani, grade 11, was named to the WBAL first team; and Dakota McNealy, grade 12, Colt McNealy, grade 11, Scout McNealy, grade 9, and Sandip Nirmel, grade 11, were all named to the second team.