Junior Mark Hu gave an incredible, history-making performance on the mound on Tuesday, pitching Harker baseball’s first-ever perfect game in a 15-0 victory against Priory. Striking out 18 of 21 batters, Hu denied Priory even a single base hit and did not walk any hitters, only twice allowing the ball-count to reach three. In their reporting on the game, the Mercury News noted that Hu’s 18 strikeouts match the Central Coast Section record set by Valley Christian’s Patrick Wicklander in 2018.
The win brought Harker to 9-0 in league play and 11-4 overall. Coach Mike Delfino called Hu “absolutely dominant” and noted that the junior accomplished the feat in just 86 pitches. He also delivered at the plate, contributing three hits and a two-run homerun. The Eagles will face Priory again on Thursday.
Sophomore golfer Jessica Zhou was recently featured on 49ers Cal-Hi Sports as the DGDG Feature Athlete. The segment, viewable below, covers her move from Hong Kong to the United States, how she discovered her love for golf, her achievements as a member of Harker’s varsity golf team and her efforts to supply hospitals with protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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:
On Friday night, four Harker alumni – A.J. Reid ‘04, Chris Davis ‘03, Candace Silva-Martin ‘09 and Isabelle Connell ‘13 – were inducted into the Harker Athletic Hall of Fame during a special virtual ceremony. During the event, upper school athletic director Dan Molin and middle and lower school athletic director Theresa “Smitty” Smith each shared some warm words about each of this year’s inductees, who were honored not just for their athletic prowess but also for their commitment to Harker’s goal of creating well-rounded global citizens.
A.J. Reid ‘04, who was a multi-sport athlete during his entire time at Harker, was named MVP of the varsity football team in his senior year after rushing for 908 yards and scoring seven touchdowns. He also was recognized for his achievements as a wide receiver, making 42 receptions for 718 yards and seven touchdowns. In basketball, Reid played a key role in Harker’s first ever CCS playoff victory and was named both team and league MVP his senior year. Reid continued to play sports after high school, competing in club volleyball as a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and helping his team win the NIRSA National Volleyball Championship, for which he was awarded MVP.
A four-sport athlete while at Harker, Chris Davis ’03 competed in football, wrestling, soccer and baseball and was team captain for the varsity baseball and football teams. Davis was the second Harker football player to be chosen to play in the Charlie Wedemeyer High School All-Star football game, and the first from Harker to play college football. Davis played Division 3 football as a student at Claremont McKenna College and was a standout defensive player, reaching the school’s fifth-highest number of interceptions in a single season and being named defensive MVP and Second Team All-West for Division 3. He is a co-founder and CEO of the fan commerce site Loot Crate.
Volleyball phenom Candace Silva-Martin ’09 was, along with fellow Hall of Famer Tanya Schmidt ’08, a key member of the 2007 upper school volleyball squad that reached the CCS finals and CIF state championships. In her junior and senior years, she was named All-County by the San Jose Mercury News, and was an All-West Bay Athletic League selection no fewer than four times. In her senior year, Silva-Martin was named a Super Eagle for competing in three sports in a single school year. While at George Washington University, Silva-Martin was named Atlantic 10 Conference defensive player of the week, Atlantic 10 rookie of the week and co-defensive player of the week in her first year, and is the Atlantic 10 Conference’s all-time digs leader.
Isabelle Connell ’13, a cross country and track and field competitor while at Harker, still holds four of the five school records she set as a Harker student. She was also one of the first two Harker track athletes to compete at the California Interscholastic Federation meet, along with Sumit Minocha ’13. She also received the Iron Eagle award – given to Harker athletes who demonstrate the highest degree of dedication to their school and teammates during off-season and pre-season in addition to the regular season – and the Director’s Award, which is bestowed upon seniors who played at least one sport for four years, received recognition at the state or section level and demonstrated commitment, leadership and a strong work ethic.
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.
Harker is proud to announce the nine student athletes from the Class of 2020 who have signed commitments to play collegiate sports next year. Ethan Hu committed in the fall to swim at Stanford in the coming year, with the following eight students recently making their decisions public: Katelyn Vo will golf at Pomona College; Jeffrey Kwan will play volleyball at Harvard; Carolyn Lu will play volleyball at Caltech; Cassandra Ruedy will play water polo at Harvey Mudd; Shomrik Mondal will play football at Macalester College; Ashley Jazbec will play volleyball at Bowdoin College; Arushi Madan will play water polo at the University of Toronto; and Emily Cheng will play volleyball at MIT. Congrats to all these amazing athletes! Go Eagles!
Check out all the students along with their “thank yous” here:
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:
Although it was a shortened season due to COVID-19, Jarrett Anderson ’19 made the most of his first collegiate year with the Springfield College men’s volleyball team. Anderson excelled on the court and was recently named a D3 All-American and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division 3 Northeast Region Newcomer of the Year. Anderson’s 5.15 points per set ranked him fifth in the nation; he accounted for a team-best 360.5 points; and his .814 aces per set was the fourth best in the country.
Check out all the stats on Anderson, as well as the other accolades that his team took home:
Even with a lost spring season, two junior Harker swimmers are getting national recognition. SwimSwam recently came out with a list of the top uncommitted high school junior boy swimmers and our very own Matthew Chung and Jason Kwok both made the list. The complete list can be seen here:
SwimSwam then published a second list naming the top NCAA swimming recruits in the boys high school class of 2021, with Chung earning an honorable mention on the exclusive list. Check out all the swimmers here: