When his final putt dropped, “I wasn’t sure where I stood with regard to the cut line,” said McNealy, but when I got to the scoring table and saw that I was two shots inside the projected cut with nobody who could realistically pass me, it hit me that I was going to be playing in the US Open.”
In an interview with the Northern California Golf Association, McNealy said about qualifying, “It’s awesome. It’s a great day. It’s something I’ve wanted to do my whole life. It’s still sinking in.”
Maverick will have his secret weapon along for the U.S. Open, too. “I am excited to have my dad caddying for me that week, and my three brothers (Scout, grade 7; Colt, grade 9; Dakota, grade 10) and mom will also be there cheering me on from the grandstands!”
At Stanford, McNealy was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and received an All-Pac-12 honorable mention. In his career at Harker, he twice earned the WBAL individual championship and was named to the WBAL All-League first team three times. McNealy is the Harker record holder for lowest nine-hole match score (-6) and most matches as medalist (nine of 10).
He noted, “at Harker I figured out that I wanted to pursue both golf and my academics seriously; hence, it was a pretty easy decision to choose Stanford. I plan on majoring in management science and engineering with a minor in computer science.”
In a 2013 Harker Quarterly article on Harker athletes playing in college, McNealy noted he was learning the game when he was learning how to walk and “loved to go outside and whack balls around with a plastic club.” Arriving at Harker in grade 9, McNealy immediately excelled on the links, but he believes that “until I shoot 18 in every round, there will always be room to get better.”
Given that drive, it is no wonder that McNealy is acutely aware of the life lessons golf provides: “Golf, to me, is the ultimate game of personal responsibility,” he said. “Your performance is a direct result of the time and effort you put into the game, and you take complete responsibility for your play. If you hit a bad shot, you can only blame yourself because you were the only one to swing the club. Conversely, if you make a hole in one, you can take complete pride in your accomplishment.”
Our boys, one of the top eight CCS teams, competed on Tuesday at the CCS Championships in Monterey, where they finished sixth, ahead of league archrival Sacred Heart Prep. This year marks the team’s first-ever appearance in the finals. The entire squad returns next year, so the future of Harker golf is exceptionally bright!
Volleyball
The No. 5-seeded boys headed to Sobrato High on Tuesday for a first-round matchup, where a victory would mean a trip to the quarterfinals at Soquel High on Thursday. Indeed, the boys won their game handily, 25-21, 25-17, 25-18. The win sets up a quarterfinal match today at Soquel High in Santa Cruz at 7 p.m. The boys are now 20-13. Fans are encouraged to trek to Santa Cruz for some coastal air and great volleyball! Tickets to CCS games are $8 for adults and $4 for students.
Lacrosse
The girls’ season came to a close with a victory last Friday as the team avenged an earlier loss to Sacred Heart Prep by blowing them out, 13-7. The girls finished in second place in the league with a 5-3 record.
Baseball
The boys won their final year with a triumphant 12-2 blowout of Trinity Christian. Freshman Nic Bean went 3-4 with an RBI, while senior Varun Kamat had two hits and pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts in the final game of his outstanding Harker career. Junior Keanu Forbes, freshman Alex Lam, and sophomore Arthur Wolff Goldstein also had hits to finish out the season.
Softball
The girls wrapped up their season this week as well, losing to Castilleja despite two hits from junior Vivian Isenberg and freshman Marti Sutton.
Swimming
The swim team competed at the league championships last Wednesday and Thursday, where it qualified for all the relays at the CCS Championships after excellent swims from both the boys and the girls.
Junior Aaron Huang is now league champion in both the 200mm IM and the 100m breaststroke. Senior Kimberly Ma is second in the 500m freestyle, behind only a member of the USA national team. She is also third in the 100m breaststroke. Despite an injured foot, sophomore Grace Guan finished sixth in the 100m backstroke and 100m fly. Freshman Jack Farnham competed in his first league championships and dropped his time to finish third in the 100m backstroke and fourth in the 500m freestyle. Senior Manon Audebert finished third in the 100m and 200m freestyle. Sophomore Sandhana Kanna was third in the 100m fly. Freshman Michael Auld finished third in the 100m freestyle and seventh in the 100m fly. Sophomore Angela Huang placed third in the 50m freestyle and, though she does not usually swim it, competed in the 200 IM and finished seventh.
A solid half of Harker’s swimmers and divers will be competing in the CCS Championships, including league finalists Audebert, Auld, Farnham, Guan, Angela Huang, Aaron Huang, Kanna and Ma, as well as freshman Justin Culpepper; sophomores Joshua Hung, Philip Krause and Karen Tu; juniors Stacey Chao, Leon Chin, Delaney Martin, Craig Neubieser, Ryan Palmer and Jackelyn Shen; and senior Kenny Zhang.
The CCS Championships are this Friday and Saturday at the Santa Clara International Swim Center. Come support the team!
Track and Field
The track and field finals are this Saturday at Gunn High School.
On Saturday, the track and field team competed in the WBAL league trial at Gunn High School. Freshman Niki Iyer won her heats in the 1600m and the 800m to advance to the league finals next Saturday, where she will decline to run the 800m in order to concentrate on preparing to win the 3200m. Sophomore Alex Dellar also made the finals by placing third in the 800m. Freshman Winnie Li finished second in the 100m hurdles with a new school record of 18.36, and qualified for the high jump final with a 4’4” leap. Senior Nithya Vemireddy and junior Julia Wang qualified in the shot put and discus, respectively, while senior Arjun Kumar qualified in the shot put. In the discus, Kumar, and seniors Rohan Kapatkar and Sean Murali all threw lifetime bests to advance. Junior Sriv Irrinki finished third in the 100m to make the finals.
At the junior varsity level, freshman Davis Dunaway put on a show, winning three field events: the high jump, long jump and triple jump. All three were finals for the junior varsity athletes. Freshman Misha Ivkov finished third in the high jump and sixth in the long jump, and advanced to the finals in the 100m. Freshman Lucas Wang finished second in the long jump, just behind Dunaway. Sophomore Jonathon Hochberg finished second in the shot put, while sophomores Lev Sepetov and Zeyad El-Arabaty qualified for the 800m final.
Golf
Last week, the upper school varsity golf team continued its history run in the CCS regional tournament with a third place team finish, making them the first team in Harker’s history to qualify for the CCS finals.
The future of Harker golf looks exceptionally bright as well, as the middle school golf team won its fifth consecutive WBAL tournament, shooting a team 143 to beat out Menlo’s 155. Katherine Zhu, grade 8, shot a 36. Scout McNealy, grade 7, shot a 35. Daniel Little, grade 8, shot a 40. Alex King, grade 6, shot a 42. Jin Kim, grade 8, shot a 37. Sahil Kapur, grade 8, shot a 37. Shaan Gagneja, grade 8, shot a 35. Josh Broweleit, grade 8, shot a 37.
Soccer
The Preppy Awards, which honor the finest high school athletes in the Bay Area, has nominated Harker soccer star Joelle Anderson as Female Breakthrough Athlete of the Year. The Preppy Awards, held by Prep2Prep, will take place on May 18 at Club Auto Sport in San Jose.
A huge congratulations to Harker’s boys cross country and boys water polo teams, who each earned the CCS Scholastic Championship Team award for the highest GPA! The award, which began in 1985, honors five varsity teams in each sport for their academic achievements. The boys cross country team’s 3.882 GPA and the boys water polo team’s 3.664 GPA topped the charts in their sport. Three more Harker teams also earned honors. The girls golf team came in third with a 3.744 GPA. The girls tennis team came in second with a 3.720 GPA. And the girls water polo team came in third with 3.615 GPA. Congratulations to all of Harker’s scholar-athletes!
Basketball
The varsity boys basketball team pulled out an impressive 52-40 win against Homestead in the Lynbrook Tournament, extending their winning streak to start the season to three games. Senior Will Deng had 8 points and 10 rebounds.
The varsity girls dropped their first round game of the Santa Clara High Tournament, 48-32. Freshman Jordan Thompson and senior Nithya Vemireddy led the team in scoring with nine and eight points, respectively. The loss dropped the team to 3-1 overall.
Soccer
Girls soccer crushed Pacific Collegiate 7-1, boosting their record to 3-1 overall. Juniors Nikita Parulkar and Safia Khouja both netted two goals, while junior Alyssa Amick, freshman Joelle Anderson, and senior Julia Fink each scored as well. Senior goalie Alicia Clark had eight saves.
The boys varsity soccer team is still undefeated after three games, thanks to wins against Saratoga High and Terra Nova High last week. Junior Felix Wu, sophomore Omar Hamade and senior Sravan Rajathilak all scored in the 3-1 victory against Terra Nova.
Coming Up:
After a few days without games, action resumes with big days Friday and Saturday. On Friday, varsity and junior varsity soccer each face off against Lynbrook High School at 3:30 p.m.; the varsity team plays at home, while JV plays on the road. Then, at 5 p.m., the freshman boys basketball team heads down the coastline to compete against Santa Cruz High School.
Saturday is a huge day for Harker basketball, with four games, all at home. The varsity girls team kicks off the action in the morning with a 10:30 a.m. game against Wallenberg High School. At noon, the JV boys play Westmont High School. At 1:30 p.m., the freshman boys take on Livermore Valley Prep. Then, at 3 p.m., the varsity boys have their shot at Livermore Valley Prep. Catch the quadruple-header!
Big news on all campuses in the world of sports today!
First off, lower school:
Our grade 5 JVB1 boys basketball team took the championship last night in what turned out to be a tight game. The boys led most of the game, but Pinewood closed the gap to three points near the finish. Harker pulled it out, though, winning 31-28. The team finished 8-0. Congrats to coach Walid Fahmy and players McCoy Buchsteiner, Brandon Coulter, Nicholas Coulter, Gowtham Irrinki, Michael Mitchell, Jr., James Pflaging, Srinath Somasundaram, Levi Sutton, Dario Tzeng and Eric Zhu.
Middle school:
The grade 6 JVB6 boys basketball team lost in the championship game last night to Sacred Heart after enjoying a fantastic season. The team finished as tri-league champs based on their regular season record of 7-1. The team finished with an overall record of 8-2.
Grade 6 JVA boys basketball team defeated Pinewood, 37-16, to finish the season as third place tournament champs. The team finished with an overall record of 5-5.
In the upper school, two cross country runners were honored by the San Jose Mercury News yesterday: freshman Niki Iyer made first team All-Mercury News for cross country and junior Corey Gonzales made All-Mercury News honorable mention for boys. This is one of the highest honors for high school athletes in CCS. Congratulations to both runners!
Freshman Niki Iyer became the highest-placing Harker runner ever this weekend, finishing seventh out of 207 runners in the state cross country championships in Fresno! She earned a medal by running the 5K course in 18:33. Her fantastic finish is the triumphant conclusion to a phenomenal rookie season, one that saw Iyer progressing from junior varsity to varsity, winning races and breaking records, capturing the adoration of the San Jose Mercury News, and now, finally, racking up a Harker history-making finish at state.
In the race, Iyer started fast, finished her first mile in 5:28 in fourth place, and passed the second mile in fifth place en route to her seventh-place finish. She became the first Eagle runner ever on the state meet podium, winning her medal for her first team all-state status.
Harker’s CCS Champion Corey Gonzales, grade 11, also competed in the state championships, finishing in the top half of the 200-runner field. Congratulations to both athletes on a spectacular, record-breaking season.
Volleyball
Before Thanksgiving break, the girls varsity volleyball team’s playoff run ended when it was defeated by third-ranked Menlo. Harker nearly pushed Menlo to a fifth game, finally falling 21-25, 25-23, 14-25, 22-25 in the CCS semifinal contest.
“I was most proud of the competitive fire that our girls showed to make it a match!” said Theresa “Smitty” Smith, the team’s head coach, after the tough loss. “It’s always hard to see the season end, and it’s even harder to watch our seniors play their last high school match. However, on the positive side, we reload for next year as the majority of our team will return for yet another run at a CCS championship!”
Coming Up
On Thursday, the boys basketball teams are back in action. The freshmen play Woodside at 3 p.m., while the junior varsity and varsity teams play Monta Vista, with junior varsity tipping off first at 6 p.m. followed by varsity at 7:30 p.m.
Girls basketball also heads off to the Pescadero Tournament on Thursday, where they’ll play on Friday and Saturday as well.
In a CCS quarterfinal match, the Harker varsity girls volleyball team defeated Castilleja in four sets, catapulting the Eagles into the semifinals! In front of a raucous home crowd at Blackford, the Eagles rallied after dropping a tense first set to win the next three in a row. After the game, coach Theresa Smith commended her team, attributing the win to “the serve of [sophomore] Shannon Richardson, the defense of [senior] Mercedes Chien, the smart setting of [sophomore] Selin Ozcelik, and the timely hitting of [unior] Shreya Dixit, [senior] Divya Kalidindi and [sophomore] Jackie Chen.”
Kalidindi led the team with 18 kills in the game, followed by Dixit, whose 12 kills gave her more than 500 in her career, a fantastic accomplishment. Ozcelik led the team in assists with 45, and Chien led the team in digs with 25. Harker will face off against Menlo on Wed., Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Notre Dame Belmont, 1540 Ralston Ave. in Belmont. The winner of that game will play either Soquel or Notre Dame Salinas for the championship.
Harker runner Corey Gonzales, grade 11, won the Division 4 CCS Championships on Saturday, blazing through 2.95 miles in 15 minutes and 34 seconds to fend off 87 other runners. Gonzales and four others ran a speedy 5:00 first mile. The field narrowed to three during the second mile when Gonzales pushed ahead with a series of short bursts. Going into the third mile, Gonzales ratcheted up the pace, sprinted up “Cardiac Hill,” opened up a 30-meter lead and pulled away, winning by four seconds. One veteran coached called his performance “one of the best competitive races I have ever seen run at Crystal Springs.”
Freshman Niki Iyer also qualified for the state meet, finishing third with a time of 18:01. One of Niki’s idols, Anna Maxwell of San Lorenzo Valley, sprung out to an early lead, en route to a 16:53 mark, the fifth-fastest time in the course’s history. Iyer wisely let Maxwell go and ran a swift first mile to take second place early on. Immediately before the 2-mile mark, Valerie Morrison of Scotts Valley caught up with Iyer, making this the first race of the year where a runner caught Iyer from behind. Iyer drew even with Morrison, and the two remained neck and neck until the final 600 meters, when Morrison pulled ahead. Iyer still beat a number of other top 10 state-ranked runners, and her first mile time, 5:34, would have won the league track 1600m race. Senior Claudia Tischler also competed in the race, finishing in 20th place with a 20:01.
Iyer and Gonzales will compete in the California Cross Country State Championships on Saturday, Nov. 30 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Last week Harker scored with two cross country league champs and sent a solid contingent to the NBA. That’s right, the United Spirit Association sent Harker’s varsity and junior varsity dancers to perform at halftime during the Sacramento Kings game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Let’s get to it!
Cross Country:
Junior Corey Gonzales and freshman phenom Niki Iyer both became league champs when they won their races at the league championship cross country race last Friday at Crystal Springs. Senior Claudia Tischler, who placed 10th, will join Gonzales and Iyer in competing in the CCS Championships Saturday, also at Crystal Springs. Gonzales and Iyer are widely considered to be contenders for the state meet.
Volleyball
The girls varsity volleyball team enters the CCS tournament ranked fourth in its division after losing to Menlo and then defeating Mercy San Francisco in its final game of the year to end the season and celebrate its senior night in style. The team travels to Carmel tonight for its first-round match-up. If the girls win, they will return home to host a quarterfinal match at Blackford on Saturday night.
The JV team, meanwhile, became league champs! The team ended its year with a 9-1 record in league play and a 22-5 record overall.
Football
The JV football team upped its record to 5-1 after a thrilling, one-point squeaker of a win over North Salinas High, 20-19, at Davis Field on Saturday. In the win, Harker leapt out to a 13-0 lead after quarterback Keanu Forbes, grade 11, threw two touchdown passes to Nikhil Ramgiri, grade 10. North Salinas then scored 19 unanswered points, jumping out to a six-point lead until late in the fourth quarter when a clutch 27-yard reception by freshman receiver Nicolas Bean kept Harker’s hopes alive and set up a 39-yard touchdown catch by sophomore Johnathon Keller. Keller snagged the pass from a scrambling Forbes and sprinted it into the endzone, tying the game up at 19-19. Kicker Alyssa Amick, grade 11, avenged an earlier blocked kick with an extra point to give Harker the win. All told, Forbes threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns, and freshman Will Park ran for 38 yards. The final game of the season is on Saturday at 11am against Leigh High School at Davis Field. All students in attendance can enter into a free raffle to win prizes.
Water Polo
The boys varsity team went 2-1 in its season-ending tournament, trumping Cupertino and Santa Clara. The girls, meanwhile, lost a heartbreaker in double overtime against Wilcox in the league tournament, finally falling by a score of 11-9. Delaney Martin, grade 11, Jackie Shen, and Anushka Das all scored two goals in the loss. Anna Levine, grade 12, Lea Daran, and Yazmin Narin added goals as well. Helena Dworak, grade 10, played a tremendous game in the cage with 13 saves, including three saves in one-on-one’s in overtime.
And …
Harker’s varsity and JV dancers performed during the halftime show at a Nov. 9 NBA game between the Sacramento Kings and the Portland Trail Blazers. Their performance was sponsored by the United Spirit Association, whose instructors taught the material to the students the day of the game. The dancers had a great experience performing at the professional game at Sleep Train Arena.
Coming Up:
Today, the girls varsity volleyball team hits the road to play Carmel High School at 7 p.m. in a first-round CCS match-up.
On Saturday, junior varsity football wraps up its season with an 11 a.m. game against Leigh High School at Davis Field, with prizes available in a free raffle for fans in attendance. At noon, three of Harker’s runners — Corey Gonzales, Niki Iyer, and Claudia Tischler — compete in the CCS Cross Country Championships. If the girls varsity volleyball team wins tonight, it will return home on Saturday night to host a quarterfinal match at Blackford at 7 p.m.
In a thrilling week for Harker athletics, a golfer won a WBAL league championship for the second straight year, one runner set a new school record, another runner continued her amazing pace with a wire-to-wire win, and junior varsity football continued their pursuit of an undefeated season. Let’s get to it!
Golf:
KRISTINE LIN WINS WBAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP FOR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW
Kristine Lin, grade 12, won the WBAL league championship for the second straight year, defending her title by shooting a 76 at Poplar Creek! Senior Connie Li also had a great day, shooting a career-best 93. Sophomore Daphne Liang shot a 90 to tie for 10th place. The team as a whole came in third place, beating Menlo and finishing only 13 strokes behind Sacred Heart Prep. Li competes at CCS today in Carmel.
Cross Country:
STERLING DAY ONCE AGAIN FOR RUNNERS GONZALES AND IYER
Well, surprise, surprise. Harker runners Corey Gonzales, grade 11, and Niki Iyer, grade 9, had incredible weeks once again. Gonzales set a new school record with a time of 15:47. He took off easy, landing in 30th place after the first half mile, then caught up to 10th over the next half mile, and finally stormed through the leaders to finish in second place. Iyer continued her amazing start to the season, leading end-to-end over the course of setting a school record and nailing the fifth best time ever for a freshman on the Crystal Springs Course with a 17:53. The next race for cross country team is the league championships on Nov. 8 at Crystal Springs.
Football:
JV STILL UNDEFEATED AFTER 18-POINT COMEBACK
The junior varsity team remains undefeated after a huge 18-14 comeback win against North Monterey County High School. Down 14-0 at halftime, the team roared back to score 18 unanswered points, courtesy of two touchdown passes by quarterback Keanu Forbes, grade 11, a pair of two-point conversions, and a safety. Nikhil Ramgiri, grade 10, led the team in receiving with three catches for 43 yards and a touchdown. Alex Youn, grade 9, snagged the other touchdown pass. Will Park, grade 9, led the team in rushing with 58 yards on 13 carries. Park also came up big on defense, intercepting a pass on North Monterey County’s final drive to seal the victory for the Eagles. The win puts Harker’s record on the year at an undefeated 4-0. The time will try to extend their streak to five when they play Cupertino on Friday night at 6 p.m.
Water Polo:
MIXED WEEK AHEAD OF SENIOR DAY
The varsity boys water polo team went 1-1 last week, losing to Wilcox but bouncing back to beat Santa Clara. Eric Holt, grade 11, scored eight goals across the two games, while Billy Bloomquist, grade 11, had a hat trick against Wilcox.
The junior varsity boys team competed in the Wilcox Tournament on Saturday, going 2-2 with victories over Heritage and St. Ignatius.
On the girls’ side, the varsity team lost both of their games last week, losing to Santa Clara and Wilcox despite seven goals from Delaney Martin, grade 11. Anushka Das, grade 11, and Anna Levine, grade 12, each had two goals that week, while juniors Jackie Shen and Sheridan Tobin scored as well. Helena Dworak, grade 10, had a total of 17 saves in goal.
The varsity teams have their senior day on Thursday, with ceremonies occurring at approximately 5:30 p.m. in between games against Cupertino.
Volleyball:
VARSITY’S RECORD NOW AT 10-9 AFTER TOUGH WEEK
The varsity girls volleyball team’s record now stands at 10-9 after a tough week which saw them lose to both Sacred Heart Prep and Castilleja. Against Sacred Heart Prep, Divya Kalindindi, grade 12, had 19 kills and Doreeen Kang, grade 10, had 10. The girls host Priory tonight, with varsity playing at 5:45 p.m., and then hit the road to play St. Francis on Friday.
Tennis:
GIRLS GO 1-1 AFTER LOSS TO MENLO AND WIN AGAINST CRYSTAL SPRINGS
The girls began the week by losing to Menlo, but bounced back to defeat Crystal Springs on their senior day. In the win, Dora Tzeng, grade 12, Izzy Gross, grade 10, and Arden Hu, grade 11, all came away with victories in their singles matches, while Ariana Shulman, grade 12, and Nadia Palte, grade 10, won in doubles. The other three matches that day all went to a third set, highlighted by a clutch come-from-behind win by Megy Appalaraju, grade 11, and Era Iyer, grade 9. The girls face off against Castilleja in a league match today.
Coming Up:
Tuesday is a packed day of Harker sports! The girls golf team begins by playing in the CCS championships at Rancho Canada Golf Club. All three water polo teams are in action. The boys play at Homestead High School, with the varsity team leading off at 3:30 p.m., followed by the junior varsity team at 4:45 p.m. The girls varsity water polo team plays at Monta Vista High School at 5:45 p.m. Both girls volleyball teams play home games against Priory. Junior varsity’s game comes first at 4:30 p.m., followed by varsity’s game at 5:45 p.m. The varsity girls tennis team also has a match, an away game against Castilleja at 3:30 p.m.
All teams are off on Wednesday. On Thursday, varsity girls tennis plays Notre Dame High School San Jose in an away game at 3:30 p.m. Then, a trilogy of water polo games take place at Harker against Cupertino High School. In episode one, the varsity girls play at 4:30 p.m. Then, for the sequel, the junior varsity boys play at 5:45 p.m. Finally, the saga wraps up with an exciting conclusion when the varsity boys play a night game at 6:45 p.m. The water polo teams celebrate their senior day in a ceremony at 5:30 p.m.
On Friday, the varsity boys water polo team plays in the Ron Freeman Memorial Varsity Boys Water Polo Tournament at Homestead. The varsity girls volleyball team has an away game against St. Francis High School Mountain View at 4:30 p.m. Finally, at 6 p.m., the undefeated junior varsity football team is back with a night game against Cupertino High School!