Track and Field
Harker senior Sumit Minocha is the fastest male runner in all of CCS and was named an Athlete of the Week by the San Jose Mercury! Minocha’s 10.84 in the 100m is the number one time in the league and the number five-ranked time in all of California. His time in the 200m – 22.38 – is also the best in CCS. Minocha put up both of those league-leading marks at the Gilroy Invitational this past Saturday.
At the Gilroy Invitational, senior Isabelle Connell ran her best ever time in the 100m and missed first place in the race by just .01 seconds. Her personal-best 12.59 ultimately earned her second place in the race. Connell came back, though, to win a very competitive 200m, running a Harker-record 25.21. That mark gave her the second-best time in CCS this year and the 15th best time in the state. Connell was named to the San Jose Mercury’s Highlight Reel this week for her efforts!
Sophomore Corey Gonzales bested his own school record in the 800m, landing in fifth place with a 2:04.17 run. Minocha, Connell and Gonzales have all been invited to the prestigious Stanford Invitational this weekend. Congratulations to all three!
Lacrosse
Girls lacrosse crushed Woodside on Tuesday in their first league match of the year, 21-6. Wendy Shwe, grade 12, and Hannah Bollar, grade 10, each racked up seven goals. Michelle Douglas scored four times, while Brinda Perumal, grade 11, Tara Rezvani, grade 12, and Tiphaine Delepine, grade 12, each added a goal apiece. Thursday, they defeated Stevenson 19-3 to improve to an impressive 7-1 overall. Goal scorers were Douglas with nine, Shwe with two, Delepine with three, Bollar with four and Alison Kiang, grade 10, with one.
Coach Berry said, “Harker’s starters set the tone in the first 15 minutes to allow the reserve players plenty of time on the field. The first 13 minutes saw the Eagles soar fast and often, netting 10 quick points. The rest of the way, however, Harker’s younger players received the bulk of playing time against a Stevenson team that has, in previous years, beaten Harker 15-3, 20-5 and 14-4. After spring break, the girls face Mercy Burlingame and the game will certainly have league championship implications. Please come out and cheer on the girls in a contest that will prove to be exciting.
Softball
Harker softball is undefeated through their first four league games of the season after hanging on for a tight 6-5 victory over rival Castilleja. Ashley Del Alto, grade 12, had hits in all four of her at-bats and knocked in a run. Brianna Liang, grade 10, went 3-4 with an RBI as well. Nithya Vemireddy, grade 11, hit a triple. Alison Rugar, grade 12, smoked a double. Alisa Wakita, grade 9, Sarah Bean, grade 10, and Laura Thacker, grade 11, all had hits as well. They lost, however, Thursday, to Yerba Buena, 2-1, in a tight game. Marita Del Alto, grade 9, pitched and performed well, striking out seven. Ashley Del Alto went 3 for 3 with a home run and Thacker had a hit. The girls face Pinewood and Notre Dame after the break.
The victory over Castilleja was the girls’ second one-run win in a row. The previous game, they pulled off a thrilling walk-off victory in the bottom of the 7th inning to defeat Mercy-Burlingame 5-4. In that game, Rugar excelled on both sides of the ball, striking out 13 while smacking a triple and knocking in a run.
The girls head off on the road to play Yerba Buena on Thursday, then return to Harker for a home game against Harbor on Friday.
Baseball
The boys blew out Lincoln-SF yesterday to the tune of 12-4. The win puts the boys over .500 on the year, as their record now stands at 5-4-1 overall. Jacob Hoffman, grade 12, led the way on offense, going 2-3 with a triple and two RBIs. On the mound, Varun Kamat, grade 11, took home the win after striking out eight.
Golf
The boys lost to Sacred Heart Prep yesterday, 193-210. Maverick McNealy, grade 12, earned co-medalist honors after shooting a 36 at Palo Alto Hills.
Tennis
Boys tennis lost to Bellarmine, to go to 6-4, then upped their record to 7-4 by beating Pinewood on Thursday, 6-1. Doubles results: Kevin Xue, grade 11/Justin Yang, grade 12 (Harker) def Dan Saflgrove/Rahul Narula (Pinewood) 6-0, 6-1; Jon Dai, grade 9/Pranav Bheda, grade 12 (Harker) def Brennan Kwo/Matt Quo (Pinewood) 6-1, 6-0; Vivek Sriram, grade 10/Thomas Lee, grade 9 (Harker) def Matt Kong/George Hung (Pinewood) 6-0, 6-0. The boys face Priory and Aragon after the break.
Swimming
The varsity girls came in first in the four-team meet and the JV girls placed second on Wednesday, and had many exciting races and CCS qualifiers. In the 100 free: Angela Huang, grade 9 (55.27) and Manon Audebert, grade 11, (56.28) placing 1-2 in the race; 200 free: Audebert, 2:01.85; 500 free, Kimberly Ma, grade 11, 5:29.27; freshman Grace Guan had a great day qualifying for CCS in both the 200 IM (2:16.69) and the 100 breast (1:12.01).
JV girls had a great meet, coming in first in the first event of the evening! Sanjana Kaundinya, grade 10, came in first in the 100 IM while Karen Tu won the 50 breast. Elisabeth Siegel, grade 9, won the 50 fly for the second meet in a row.