During this year’s Harker Day, the 2026 Harker Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony saw Gautam Krishnamurthi ’11, Sylvia Carle (nee Schmidt) ’06 and U.S. history teacher and basketball coach John Near (1953-2009) were honored for their immense contributions to Harker’s athletics programs and formally instated to the Harker Athletic Hall of Fame.
Calling football standout Krishnamurthi a “natural-born leader,” Stinson noted the standout qualities the numbers did not capture. “As a varsity captain, he demonstrated leadership among younger players by helping them develop the life lessons and mentoring them as much as he can,” he said. “Many of the JV football players looked up to him and loved his route running.” His ethics often translated to success on the field, where he set the still-standing Harker record for single-game receptions (11), caught 48 passes for 972 yards in his senior year and was invited to play in the 2011 Charlie Wedemeyer High School All-Star Game. After graduating from Harker, he played wide receiver for Stanford University from 2011-2014, during which he became a 2013 Rose Bowl champion, 2014 Foster Farms Bowl champion and two-time Pac-12 champion.
“When I think back on Harker football,” Krishnamurthi said, “what I remember most isn’t a particular play or score. It’s how close we were, especially during training camp.” He thanked his parents for their long and consistent support, noting that his mother attended every game and provided snacks to teammates at practice, and his father was always seen taking photos at games and “sometimes proxy refereeing.” He also mentioned his time at Harker as being crucial to pursue sports after high school. “Harker gave me the confidence and the foundation to go on and play at Stanford, and the friendships that have stayed with me long after football ended,” he said.
Longtime Harker volleyball coach Theresa “Smitty” Smith introduced Sylvia Carle (nee Schmidt) ’06, who played volleyball and basketball and is the older sister of fellow Hall-of-Famer Tanya Morstein ’08. As a volleyball player, Schmidt was named a West Bay Athletic League First Team All-League in her junior and senior years, and was named to the first-ever Harker volleyball team to be ranked by the Mercury News. That team also won the WBAL league title and reached the second round of the Central Coast Section playoffs. Smith noted, however, that “despite being an exceptional high school and college athlete and student, Sylvia was never one to boast or brag about her accomplishments. Instead, she always deflected praise and accepted recognition with humility.”
Carle remarked that her time playing volleyball and basketball at Harker and after graduating taught her the value of excelling at more than just winning games. “It also taught me that there are many kinds of winning,” she said. “Successfully supporting my teammate who’s having a bad day, showing good sportsmanship when we lose, quickly moving on from one bad play to reset for the next, and so many more.” She extended thanks to her parents for their “unwavering support and unbelievable patience” as well as Harker athletics for the opportunity to play volleyball with her little sister, finally thanking her husband and children “for supporting me daily and for pushing me to always be better.”
Beloved Harker U.S. history teacher and basketball coach John Near (1953-2009) was the last of this year’s inductees to be honored, remembered in an opening speech by Smith. Revered during and after his time at Harker for his presence as both a teacher and coach, Near taught at Harker for more than 30 years, leading by example and emphasizing the importance of fostering a passion for sports by practicing year-round. “That’s why you could find John in the gym shooting hoops or participating in pickup games during the summer, on school breaks and even when he traveled away from his local community,” she said. Near was noted for his calm but firm demeanor, exemplified most memorably by the legendary “Mr. Near Stare,” which always reminded students of the importance of their learning. He brought this tranquility to the basketball court as well. “He didn’t yell, he didn’t pace, he didn’t belittle,” Smith said. “He instructed, he supported, he led by example.” His methods would become proven; in addition to coaching Hall-of-Famers Amanda Polzin ’06 and Sylvia Carle ’06, Near also led the upper school girls basketball team to its first CCS playoff appearance. He has since been credited with helping to establish the core philosophy of Harker’s athletics programs.
Near’s daughter, Casey Near ’06, made a special appearance to accept the Hall of Fame induction trophy and speak on his merits as a teacher, coach and mentor, noting in particular his advocacy for girls and women in sports. “He was born in 1953, and he came of age well before Title IX, so that is particularly notable for his generation,” she said. “And as a kid growing up, I was looking at the walls here, and it’s a testament entirely to my dad that I knew who Pat Summitt was long before I knew who Vince Lombardi was.” Her father was also special, she said, for understanding the importance of showing his students and players that he saw them first as people. “If you cared about them as a person, if you remembered their birthday, if you remembered if their parent was sick, they would show up for you on the court, they would show up for you in the classroom,” she said.
Immediately after the speeches, Krishnamurthi, Carle and Near headed up to the stairs to pull back the curtain concealing the Hall of Fame display, which now shows this year’s inductees.
