There is lots to report on the MS sports front following the end of the late winter sports season.
MS Girls Basketball
According to coach Tang Kitporka, the Gr. 8 girls varsity A team had lots of fun this season, playing their best to a 3-7 overall record. Priscilla Auyeung, Jacqueline Jordan and Shreya Vemuri were key players throughout the great season.
The Gr. 7 girls of the varsity B team, coached by Loreen Talagtag and Joe Mentillo, went undefeated with a record of 10-0 this season. They took first place in the WBAL league season and won the WBAL tournament, defeating Woodland School in the finals! Standout players included Regina Chen, Nithya Vemireddy and Mercedes Chien.
MS Boys Soccer
The Gr. 8 varsity A soccer team, coached by Manny Martinez, ended their season undefeated with a record of 9-0-1 this season. They took first place in the WBAL league and even beat a tough St. Joseph’s Sacred Heart team, who has not lost a match in years, 1-0. Their combined scoring total was 47 goals to 12 for their opponents. The team was led by Andy Perez, Michael Amick, Baris Demirlioglu and Kiran Arimilli.
The Gr. 7 varsity B boys, coached by Chris Fanara, had a respectable season at 4-4 overall. All of their games were close games and they did not lose any match by more than one goal. They finished the season with a convincing victory over non-league opponent San Jose Christian, 4-1. The team was led by Kevin Mohanram, Jeffrey Hanke and Kevin Moss.
Coach Cyrus Merrill reported, ”The sixth grade boys junior varsity A team scored more total goals this year than in both prior seasons!” Nikhil Kishore scored three goals in just one game. The team also received strong play from the defensive midfield play of Rishabh Jain and the vocal leadership of sweeper Allen Huang. The boys really began incorporating their one-touch passing and foot skills, focal points of Merrill’s training, into their play, even eliciting a compliment from a referee who commented on their improvement in play from the beginning up until the end of the season. Merrill summarized, “Although they ended up with a losing record, they did defeat a traditionally strong team from up the peninsula and they scored three goals against perennial soccer power Menlo. Although they lost the game they put a considerable scare into the opposition!”
MS Wrestling
Although wrestling is an early winter sport, the short season finished too late for last month’s issue. Coaches Karriem Stinson and James Arballo are excited about the progress of this year’s wrestlers. In two back-to-back weekends of impressive wrestling, the boys indicated the strong future of Harker wrestling. At the Mission Hills tournament Harker took fifth out of 16 teams with only 11 wrestlers. Baris Demirlioglu and Michael Chen, Gr. 8, and Koshu Takatsuji, Gr. 7, went undefeated at 5-0. At the New Brighton Classic, Harker had four second place finishers (Demirlioglu, Nikhil Baradwaj, Canaan Linder and Christian Lantzsch, all Gr. 8); Daniel Wang, both Gr. 8, took third place, with Corey Gonzales, Gr. 6 and Chen both placing fourth.
Go Eagles!