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This article was originally published in the Harker Quarterly Spring 2011 Edition
Wrestling
It was a record-breaking season for the Harker wrestling team this year, as senior wrestlers Santosh Swaminathan, Jason Mendel and Chris McCallaCreary advanced to the second day of competition at the CCS tournament over the February 26 weekend, a Harker first. McCallaCreary took fourth place overall, making him the highest-placing CCS wrestler in Harker history. This triumphant end to the season came on the heels of other record-breaking wrestling performances by the Eagles. On Feb. 12 Swaminathan became Harker’s first-ever league champion, with McCallaCreary and Mendel both placing second in their weights, marking the first time Harker has ever had three league finalists. On Jan. 29 McCallaCreary won the 160 lb. weight class at the 46th annual WC Overfelt Wrestling Tournament, defeating both the first- and second-ranked wrestlers in CCS on his way to winning the tournament championship. When interviewed by The Winged Post, coach Karriem Stinson was by understandably elated: “We’ve competed in the top tournaments this year, and we’ve come out on top. [I am] really proud of this team.”
Girls Soccer
Upper school varsity girls soccer had a tough season this year, with a final league record of 0-9-1. Both matches against Eastside Prep proved particularly close, as our Eagles were defeated by only one point. Seniors Monisha Appalaraju, Lydia Demissachew, Michelle Holt, Arthi Kumar and Priya Sahdev were thanked for their contributions in mid-February on Davis Field.
The upper school junior varsity girls went 2-3-2 in league play with two massive lopsided wins, including one against University Prep Academy, in which our Eagles scored a whopping eight goals!
The grade 8 varsity A girls soccer team ended league play with a 2-5 record, but that was not indicative of the true strength of the team. All but one of the losses was by a single goal, which was usually scored just before time expired. The team was led by co-MVPs Alyssa Amick and Savi Joshi, Eagle Award winners Diba Massihpour and Safia Khouja and Coaches Award winner Gabi Gupta.
With a couple of very close losses, the grade 7 varsity B soccer team went 2-4 in the league. Strong players were MVP Alisa Wakita, Eagle Award winner Jessica Liou and Coaches Award winner Naomi Molin.
Our grade 6 junior varsity A soccer team went 2-3-1 in league play with huge wins over Castilleja and Crystal Springs. Team leaders were MVP Anuva Mittal, Eagle Award winner Lyndsey Mitchell and Coaches Award winner Divya Rajasekharan.
The junior varsity B girls soccer team, grades 4-5, went 1-3-2 in league play with a monster victory over Girls’ Middle School, 6-1, and a couple of 2-2 ties. MVP Alexandra Lu, grade 4; Eagle Award winner Lilia Gonzales, grade 4; and Coaches Award winner Krishna Bheda, grade 5, were lead players.
Intramural soccer players in grades 4-5 enjoyed their introduction to the game and look forward to competing in games in the near future. The girls team was led by MVP Priya Bhanot, Eagle Award winner Rebecca Mak and Coaches Award winner Claudia Opris, all grade 4.
Boys Soccer
Varsity boys soccer ended the season 5-4-5 in league play, which included two very strong shutouts against Crystal Springs and Pinewood. Prior to their game against KIPP San Jose Collegiate, seniors Ambrish Amaranathan and Isaac Madan were lauded for their years of participation on Davis Field. The team also received a CCS scholastic championship.
Junior varsity boys soccer faced stiff competition this season with a 1-1-6 league record, but put up a great fight, especially in the grueling ties against Priory and University Prep in the regular season.
As of press time, the grade 8 boys soccer team was 1-3 in league play, which included a big win in February over King’s Academy, 3-1. Key players are Jeremiah Anderson, Edwin Chen, Thomas Doyle and Nikhil Kishore.
Dominating their league as of press time, the grade 7 boys soccer team was 4-1 with big victories over Keys, 3-0, and Priory, 9-0.
Strong players are Johnathon Keller, Andrew Kirjner, Calvin Kocienda, Michael Quezada and Nathaniel Stearns.
As of press time, the grade 6 boys soccer team had recorded an excellent 4-0-1 in league play, including a 6-0 win over Pinewood and a 4-1 win over Crystal Springs. Kedar Gupta, Sandip Nirmel, Ryan Vaughan and Nikolas Weisbloom are strong players for the team this year.
The grade 5 boys soccer team ended their season with a 3-0 win over Pinewood, and an overall 3-1-2 record. Coach Jared Ramsey said the season was a very successful one, and players continued to improve from practice to practice and game to game. “What made me most proud this season was the determination the boys displayed,” said Ramsey. “They were also very supportive of each other and really grasped the idea of ‘team’ as the year went on.” Ramsey’s standouts were Jin Kim, Matthew McCallaCreary, Rohit Shah and Vedant Shah.
The grades 4-5 intramural soccer team enjoyed their introduction to soccer this season and look forward to competing in the near future. The team was led by Nirban Bhatia, grade 5, and Jarrett Anderson, Chris Gong and Krish Kapadia, all grade 4.
Upper School Basketball
Following a 61-49 victory over King’s Academy, the varsity boys basketball team made it to the CCS quarterfinals for the fourth year in a row, where they were ultimately vanquished by Santa Cruz. Girls varsity basketball defeated Gonzales High 59-40 to advance to the second round of the CCS playoffs, making this season the first time in Harker history that both varsity basketball teams advanced to the second round of the CCS playoffs. The girls team was ultimately taken down by Sacred Heart Prep, but the season ended with a very impressive 20-5 record, and this was the first girls team to qualify for the CCS playoffs since 2006. Priscilla Auyeung, grade 10, was named one of Harker’s two January Athletes of the Month, and Daniza Rodriguez, grade 10, was recognized by the San Jose Mercury News as a female Athlete of the Week. The boys basketball team received a CCS Scholastic Championship.
As of press time, the junior varsity boys team was 4-7 in league play. They had some fantastic wins during the season including a 61-34 slammer against Crystal Springs, a 67- 37 domination vs. Andrew Hill High School, and a 67-33 lesson in domination against Priory on Jan. 11. As of press time, the girls junior varsity basketball team was not having an easy league season with a 0-5 record. There were some tough battles, however, including a very close game against Priory.
The freshman boys basketball team ended its season 2-8 overall, 0-2 in league play; the boys fought hard throughout the season.
Middle and Lower School Boys Basketball
For the first time in Harker history, the grade 8 varsity A team were both league champions and WBAL end-of-season tournament champions! They had a stellar 6-0 league and 10-1 overall record. Leading the team were co-MVPs Eric Holt and Srivinay Irrinki, Eagle Award winners Vamsi Gadiraju and Avik Wadhwa, and Coaches Award winner Arjun Ashok.
Grade 7-8 varsity B boys basketball had a 6-1 league and 8-2 overall record, placing second in the WBAL and fifth in the WBAL tournament. Team leaders were MVP Sidhart Krishnamurthi, grade 8; Eagle Award winner Suraj Jagadeesh, grade 7; and Coaches Award winner Prithvi Gudapati, grade 7.
The grade 6 junior varsity A team had a league 3-3 record and placed fourth in league with an overall record of 3-5. The team was led by MVP Andrew Gu, Eagle Award winner Alex Mo and Coaches Award winner Alex Youn.
With an overall record of 7-1, the grade 5 junior varsity B basketball team had a stellar 6-0 league record. They took home the league championship and\ placed second in the WBAL tournament, coming up just one point short in the 32-31 championship game vs. St. Matthews. Co-MVPs Brando Pakel and Siddharth Chari and Eagle Award winner Eric Andrus led the way.
Also taking home a league championship was our grade 4 junior varsity C basketball team, with a superlative 6-0 record in league! The team was led by co-MVPs Jackson Williams and Jarrett Anderson and Eagle Award winner Jason Peetz. This marks the first time since joining the WBAL that a grade 4 Harker team has won a championship.
Middle and Lower School Girls Basketball
As of press time, the grade 8 girls basketball team was 3-6 in league play and getting ready to compete against some very tough eighth grade teams in the WBAL tournament. The team has won its last two games, beating Crystal Springs 32-22 and St. Mathews 22-15. Key players are Lekha Chirala, Eugene Gil and Savi Joshi.
The grade 7 girls basketball team was gearing up for the WBAL tournament as this magazine went to press, after a 3-4 league, 4-4 overall season. Exciting wins this season happened back to back when the Eagles took Priory to town Feb. 28, beating the opposition by 22 points, then defeated Castilleja three days later by just one basket. Leaders on the team are Sadhika Malladi, Shannon Richardson and Namitha Vellian.
Joelle Anderson, Jordan Thompson and Lindsey Trinh had led the grade 6 girls basketball team to three games in a row at press time, bringing their record to 4-3 in league play after starting the season with a win over Girls’ Middle School, 35-15. The WBAL tournament began March 7.
The grade 5 girls basketball team was 2-4 in league play at press time, with huge wins over St. Matt’s, 22-2, and Sacred Heart, 16- 10. Important players are Anika Banga, Megan Huynh, Satchi Thockchom and Akshaya Vemuri. At 2-3 in league play at press time, with two solid victories over Sacred Heart, 18-6 and 24-14, the grade 4 girls basketball team is led by Kayla Dominguez, Keili FitzGerald, Jennifer Hayashi and Alexandra Janssen.