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US Sports - Images by The Harker School The Harker School
This article originally appeared in the summer 2015 Harker Quarterly.
Upper School: Spectacular Sports Season, Achievements Run the Gamut
What a spring for Harker athletics! Golf won a league season and saw one of its athletes ascend to the state tournament. A swimmer broke a school record at CCS and won an individual championship. Track and field’s coach became the first in Eagles history to win the Honor Coach award. And the boys tennis squad made it further in the finals than it has in four years. It was a spectacular season of achievement.
Track and Field
It was another great season for the team, including many school records, personal records and first place finishes. Coach Scott Chisam became the first coach in Harker history to receive the CCS Honor Coach award, and both the boys and girls teams received recognition as CCS scholastic championship teams! At the league finals, freshmen Grace Koonmen, Gloria Guo and Aria Coalson and sophomore Davis Dunaway had big wins. Sophomore sensation Niki Iyer advanced to CCS and then, in the most important race of her career so far, blazed an incredible last lap in the 3,200-meter run to slide into third place at the CCS finals and qualify for the CIF State Track & Field Champion- ships. She went on to finish 17th at the State Track & Field Championships in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 10:48.60. She was the top underclass- man in the field; all those ahead of her were either juniors or seniors. Congratulations to Iyer on an outstanding track season and for representing Harker so championship and saw well at the state meet! Go, Eagles!
Golf
Harker won its league championship, then finished seventh overall in CCS, firmly ensconcing the team among the section’s elite. At CCS, senior Shrish Dwivedi finished just one shot off the lead and qualified for the NorCal Championships, where he shot a one-under-par and advanced to the state tournament. See the box on this page for more on Dwivedi’s great season finish.
Swimming
After the Eagles came in fourth in the league championships, freshman Vivian Wang broke a school record at CCS in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 freestyle en route to winning Harker’s fourth ever CCS individual championship. Wang went on to place eighth in the state championship in the 200 individual medley and 16th in the 100 freestyle. Harker sent a number of swimmers and divers to CCS, including freshman Taylor Kohlmann, sophomores Michael Auld, Jack Farnham and Justin Culpepper, juniors Grace Guan, Angela Huang, Karen Tu and Sandhana Kannan, and seniors Aaron Huang, Craig Neubieser, Stacey Chao, Delaney Martin and Jackelyn Shen.
Tennis
For the first time since 2011 and for just the second time ever, the boys tennis team returned to the CCS quarterfinals after an upset victory over eighth seed Westmont on their courts. Congratulations to the boys on an amazing season!
Softball
The girls finished at .500 overall, going 9-9 while winning four of 10 league games. Freshman Kristin LeBlanc led the team in hitting, finishing with a .370 bat- ting average, .444 on-base percentage and .462 slugging percentage. Sophomore Marti Sutton also had a tremendous year at the plate, with a .314/.429/.392 line while leading the team with 16 RBIs. Overall, five Eagles finished with better than .400 on-base percentages through 12 or more games, including LeBlanc, Sutton, junior Alisa Wakita, senior Sarah Bean and sophomore Grace Park. Wakita also had a home run on the season and, on the basepaths, she and LeBlanc each swiped a team-high four bases. LeBlanc and junior Marita Del Alto pitched for Harker this year. LeBlanc finished 2-1 with a 1.33 ERA in four starts, while Del Alto finished 6-8 with a 5.86 ERA in 14 starts, including a complete game and a save in another appearance.
Baseball
The sluggers let their offense do the talking this year, hitting their way to an amazing .298 batting average and .402 on-base percentage, including six home runs, en route to finishing 9-14 overall and 5-10 in league. Freshman Nate Kelly led the team with a .405 batting average, .506 on-base percentage and .675 slugging percentage. Kelly and junior Miles DeWitt each hit two home runs. DeWitt, for his part, finished with a .370 batting average, .448 on-base percentage and .589 slugging percentage. Freshman Dominic Cea led the team in RBIs with 26, to finish up with a .368/.432/.394 line.
Lacrosse
The Eagles finished 7-13 overall and 5-7 in league. The team averaged nine goals per game, led by senior Hannah Bollar, who had 57 goals, 69 points and an average of three goals per game.
Volleyball
The boys ended with a 10-19 overall record and a 2-10 record in league. Senior Shiki Dixit led the team with a 42.5 kill percentage, while sophomore Andrew Gu led the team with 184 kills, and senior Jeremiah Anderson led the team with an average of three kills per set. Senior Matthew Ho led the team with 52 aces, averaging 0.6 aces per set.
Graduating Athletes Join Collegiate Sports Teams
Heartiest congratulations to 12 graduates who have committed to playing their sports in college! “These are all outstanding student athletes,” said Dan Molin, upper school athletic director. “This group of seniors has represented Harker exceptionally well over the years, and we want to thank them and wish them well as they represent their new schools.”
Jeremiah Anderson (Westmont College, soccer), Aadyot Bhatnagar (California Institute of Technology, water polo), Billy Bloomquist (California Institute of Technology, water polo), Shreya Dixit (Yale University, volleyball), Shrish Dwivedi (Duke University, golf), Keanu Forbes (San Jose City College, football), Aaron Huang (Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
swimming), Eric Holt (Oberlin College, basketball), Sid Krishnamurthi (Stanford University, football), Craig Neubieser (Tufts University, swimming), Erika Olsen (Southern Methodist University, cheer) and Christian Williams (University of Redlands, football).
Soar to new heights, Harker Eagles!
Golfer Shines at State Finals
by William Cracraft
Harker’s Shrish Dwivedi, grade 12, finished his season tied for second – missing first place by one stroke – at the California Interscholastic Federation state golf championships.
Dwivedi is the first Harker male golfer ever to qualify for the state tournament. “He is truly playing at an elite level,” said Dan Molin, upper school athletic director.
“Since his freshman year, Shrish has always been a true student of the game, studying all aspects,” said Ie-Chen, Harker’s golf coach. “His attention to detail, from his preparation leading up to match day, and his on-course management are what separates him from others. He studies the course meticulously, then goes and practices the shots he needs to succeed.” Read the full story in news.harker.org; search on Dwivedi or use this shortlink: https://news.harker.org/?p=26025.
