![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Spring Sports Recap
Provided by John Fruttero
Kai Franz (9) hits an overhead shot. The tennis team ended their season in the second round of CCS.
May 25, 2016
All spring sports seasons ended last week with strong CCS performances by the swim, track & field, tennis and varsity boys golf teams.
Track & Field
At the CCS Track & Field Trials on Saturday, hosted by Gilroy High School, Anthony Contreras (10) placed sixth and fifth in his 400m and 200m heats respectively. Niki Iyer (11) advanced to the CCS Championships with her first place finish in her 3200m heat.
In the WBAL Championships, Niki also won WBAL titles in the 1600m race and 3200m run, winning the 1600 in 5:08 and setting a new meet record in the 3200m at 10:38. Demonte Aleem (9) won the shot put and took third place in the 100m run. Davis Dunaway (11) won the the pole vault, placing third in the 110m hurdles and second in the 300m hurdles. Kevin Wang (12) set two personal bests, throwing a 40′ shot for third place and then a 114′ discus for second place. Anthony came in second in the 400m and the 200m. He also ran in the 400m relay and anchored the 4x400m relay to a Harker best since 2006.
Sara Min (9), who participated in the 4×100 relay on the girls side, is looking to practice more and improve next year.
“My favorite moment was when we broke the school record for the 4×100 relay,” Sara said. “Next year, [I want to] improve my times and endurance.”
Swimming
Both the boys and the girls swim teams placed fourth overall at the League Swim Finals at Sacred Heart Prep. During the finals, sophomore Vivian Wang broke the Harker and the League Championship record with a time of 1:49.75 in the 200m freestyle race. She then placed fourth in the 200m IM and seventh in the 100m freestyle at the State Championships last weekend in Fresno.
Boys Golf
Boys golf placed third overall at the Northern California Championships in Salinas, the best in Harker history, qualifying for the State Tournament next Wednesday at San Gabriel Country Club in southern California. The team also placed second in the CCS finals last week at Carmel and was recognized as one of the top teams academically ranked by GPA.
“We’ve all been practicing hard and knew that we had the potential to make it to states, but we missed out on it in the past two years,” junior Avi Khemani said. “To be considered one of the top six teams in the states is pretty cool. Hopefully we can win states to cap off this history-making season.”
Tennis
Boys tennis lost to Gunn High School 5-2 in the second round of CCS after defeating Santa Cruz in the first round. They finished the season with a 14-7 record, worse than last year’s 16-3 record.
“I think we exceeded expectations this season because we only had one senior, Ronak,” Kai Franz (9) said. “There are a lot of incoming freshman next year who play tennis, so we can only improve from here.”
Ronak Baldua (12) hits a backhand shot. Ronak was the only senior on the the team this year.
Boys Volleyball
The boys volleyball team’s season ended against Westmont in the first round of CCS, losing in a tight 3-2 match. The team still won the league championship with a 16-12 record.
“I think the season was definitely a success,” Jimmy Lin (10) said. “We had a lot of younger and less experienced members on the team and it was definitely a growing experience for all of us. The team improved a lot and we had a lot of wins down the stretch.”
Softball
The girls softball team lost 9-8 to King’s Academy and 12-11 to Notre Dame two weeks ago to close out their season. The team finished with a 2-8 league record and 6-10 overall record, worse than last year’s record of 9-9.
Baseball
The varsity team ended their season last week with a loss at Jefferson to finish 9-13 overall and 5-10 in league play.
“We started off with some really heavy losses against some teams we should have probably beat, but after going through the hardest teams, we became a better team and almost won all of our games at the end of the season,” sophomore Bobby Schick said. “I think that overall, we grew tremendously this season.
Girls Lacrosse
The girls finished their season with a loss to Notre Dame San Jose 19-9, extending their losing streak to nine games. They finished the season 0-10 in league and 2-17-1 overall, despite having a 7-13 record last year.
“I felt that the teamwork this year was great especially the support from our captains and seniors even during tough losses,” Karena Kong (10) said. “Looking towards next year, the team is looking to improve individual skills and better communication on the field.”
