Wrestling and Swimming Lead Spring Sports Efforts
Wrestlers advance to top in state
In mid-April, Harker wrestlers Jason Mendel and Chris McCallaCreary, both Gr. 11, competed in the California USA Wrestling State Championship. Both boys completed the first day of the tournament with records of 2-1 and advanced to the second day, where they both scored falls. McCallaCreary, wrestling in the 160-pound weight class, then lost a close match and finished 10th in state. Mendel, wrestling at 112, advanced to the third-place match, performing well and finishing fourth. The top three wrestlers in the tournament made it to the California National Team, so Mendel just missed the cut-off. Congratulations to both wrestlers!
Swimming
Our swim teams competed in the prestigious Section Challenge Meet on April 24, with both boys and girls teams placing fifth overall. The boys were the third best CCS team in the meet, placing behind Bellarmine and Sacred Heart Prep, while the girls were the third best CCS team as well, behind Palo Alto and Mitty.
Track and Field
Harker had a great showing April 21 at their third track and field league meet. The girls placed first in this league contest, with Tiffany Kyi, Gr. 12, taking first in the long jump and Sonya Chalaka, Gr. 10, placing third. Ragini Bhattacharya, Gr. 9, placed first in the 1,600 and the 3,200, with Adrienne Mendel, Gr. 9, coming in second in the 3,200. Tanya Rai, Gr. 11, placed fourth in the 400, while Isabelle Connell, Gr. 9, took first in the 800 and second in the 200. The boys placed third overall. In the shot put Thomas Enzminger, Gr. 12, took first and Michael Chen, Gr. 9, placed third. In the 3,200 Aadithya Prakash, Gr. 12, placed first, Tyler Yeats, Gr. 9, came in second and Richard Fan, Gr. 9, earned third place. Johnny Yet, Gr. 10, placed fifth in the long jump and sixth in the 200. Sumit Minocha, Gr. 9, took first in the 400 and third in the 100.
Volleyball
The boys continue to play at a high level, scoring an important league victory over Homestead on April 23 to improve to 7-1 in league. Jacob Chappell, Gr. 11, had 11 kills in the win. The team also placed fourth in the Los Gatos Tournament on April 24. Unfortunately, they lost in three games April 26 to Bellarmine, which is state-ranked #2 and section #1.
Baseball
Baseball defeated Pinewood on Friday 16-6 to improve to 2-2 in league play. Patrick Smith, Gr. 12, went four-for-four at the plate with two RBIs and a home run. Kevin Cali, Gr. 9, and Amir Mortizavi , Gr. 11, pitched well for the team.
Tennis
Harker’s tennis seniors shone as the varsity completed its regular season with a 6-1 victory over Crystal Springs on April 22. With the win, Harker finished second in the WBAL and looks forward to its seventh consecutive bid to the CCS Tournament. Akum Gill, Gr. 12, won at #4 singles in one of the most dramatic matches of the season, winning 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5) in the third set tie-breaker. Number 3 singles player Ashish Mittal, Gr. 12, played a similarly exciting match, but came up short, losing 4-6, 6-3, 1-6. Number 1 doubles team and seniors Sanjeev Datta and Samir Datta won in straight sets 6-3, 6-1. In other matches, #1 singles Derrick Tzeng, Gr. 10, totally dominated with 6-0, 6-0. Number 2 Adarsh Ranganathan, Gr. 11, won 6-4, 6-4 and #2 doubles Nikhil Narayen, Gr. 10, and Nikhil Parthasarathy, Gr. 11, won easily, 6-1, 6-3. Harker finished the regular season with a 14-3 record and a 10-2 record in the WBAL, finishing second to Menlo.
Lacrosse
Lacrosse lost to Notre Dame 11-4 April 23. Goals were scored by Michelle Douglas, Gr. 9, Sammi Walker, Gr. 10, and Elaine Song, Gr. 12.