The high temperatures didn’t stop thousands from attending Harker Day and the Homecoming game on the upper school campus on Saturday. Thankfully shade was in plentiful supply as families wandered the campus enjoying food, games, sports and performances by Harker students.
In the auxiliary gym, attendees enjoyed Skee-Ball, air hockey, Foosball and more, while the quad offered such attractions as inflatable slides and a unicycle-riding juggler. Food trucks served a wide variety of cuisine throughout the day and guests adored adoptable puppies wheeled in by local animal rescue organizations. During lunchtime, visitors filed into the Patil Theater to see performances by groups from the lower, middle and upper schools. Eagles fans also headed to the Singh Aquatic Center to see girls and boys water polo teams in competition and to the Athletic Center to cheer on the girls volleyball teams.
The alumni area was a major center of activity, as more than 100 Harker grads reminisced and caught up over food served by the Harker kitchen staff. In the afternoon, just before kickoff, the Harker Athletic Hall of Fame added five new inductees: Joelle Anderson ’17, Ryan Cali ’10, Rebecca (Chang) Kaloudis ’03, Chris McCallaCreary ’11 and Vivian Wang ’18. Each shared their appreciation for the Harker athletics staff, their families and supporters. Anderson could not attend but delivered a heartfelt video message.
As Homecoming kickoff loomed, the third-place tug-of-war contest between the frosh and the sophomores was a thriller that saw the class of 2026 emerge victorious. As always, the Junior Cheerleaders and Eaglets were crowd favorites, as were the Harker Choir’s performances of The Harker School Song and the National Anthem.
At halftime, the crowd enjoyed a performance by the Harker cheer squad and witnessed the juniors beat the seniors in the finals of this year’s tug-of-war contest. Soon after, the Harker Dance Company provided more halftime entertainment before the 2023 Homecoming Court walked proudly onto Davis Field, and seniors Cynthia Wang and Daniel Lin were crowned the 2023 Homecoming Royals. Harker fell to Crystal Springs with a final score of 30-52.