Basketball: The Harker School’s boys varsity basketball was busy over winter break, chocking up numerous wins. Early in the break, they defeated Greenfield and Galileo in non-league matchups. The team then went 4-1 at the consolation championship at the Monta Vista Tournament to win it. The team lost to host Monta Vista in an exciting overtime match, and had defeats against Gunderson and Wilcox. The boys had a 7-3 record going into league contests, but then lost to Menlo in front of what Dan Molin, the upper school athletic director, described as, “a packed Blackford gym crowd.” The final score was 52-44, which dropped them to 8-4 overall, 1-1 in league play. “It was a great spirited event as the Knights proved to be a bit stronger this time,” Molin said.
The Harker girls basketball team had a busy break, as well. They competed in the Gunderson Tournament, where they finished sixth, going 2-3 with defeats over Prospect and James Lick, and losses to strong teams from Branham, Oak Grove and Milpitas. Once back from break, the team defeated Capuchino High 53-31 to improve to 7-5 overall. Molin pointed out Daniza Rodriguez, grade 11 (who scored 16 points), Priscilla Auyeung, grade 11 (with 10 points and eight rebounds) and Nithya Vemireddy, grade 10 (with 14 rebounds), for their outstanding performances.
Soccer: The Harker girls soccer team competed in the Garces Tournament in Bakersfield, where they went 1-2 with a win over Arvin and suffered defeats to Taft and Burroughs. Nikita Parulkar, grade 9, was singled out by Molin for her score in the Arvin victory. The team went on to tie Summit Prep with a final score of 1-1. “Apurva Gorti, grade 10, scored for the Eagles, assisted by Julia Fink, grade 10,” Molin said. The girls now have a 3-1-1 league record.
The Harker boys soccer team competed over break, defeating St. Francis-Watsonville with a final score of 4-1 and tying Pioneer High to improve their league record to 2-1-1 overall. After break was over, the boys suffered a defeat to what Molin called “league power” Sacred Heart Prep on Davis Field, making their current league standing 3-2-1 overall.
Wrestling: Freshman wrestler Corey Gonzales continues to impress; Molin reported that he earned his first dual meet victory over Homestead in December in the 106 lb. class, and is now “listed as CCS honorable mention due to his 6-1 overall record.” Molin also noted Darian Edvalson, grade 10, who earned a victory over his Lynbrook opponent recently, along with Vishal Vaidya, grade 9 and Vincent Lin, grade 10, saying they are doing well in their young wrestling careers.