![“[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)
Harker awarded CalHi D4 School of the Year
August 30, 2019
The Harker School was awarded the CalHiSports.com Division 4 school of the year award for the Eagles’ overall athletic performance over several sports last year, including boys volleyball, swimming and girls golf.
The honor, presented to schools that perform remarkably in several sports, is the first of its kind for Harker.
Billy Fan (11) reaches for a ball in the first set.
“It’s a nice validation that there’s somebody out there is noticing and recognizing the quality athletes and quality coaches that we have,” upper school athletic director Dan Molin said.
According to Mark Tennis, the editor and co-founder of CalHi Sports, the award began 30 years ago, when CalHiSports was still a newsletter, and has since evolved to include multiple divisions.
“The school of the year program was begun to honor schools that were outstanding in multiple sports,” Tennis said. “A lot of people take it very seriously because we do a lot of research on the teams when we sit down and try to pick them.”
When picking the teams, Tennis takes into account notable playoff results as well as overall depth, before deciding which teams best fit in which divisions. Although the Eagles did not stand out in the five main sports that CalHiSports covers (football, girls basketball, boys basketball, softball and baseball), the success of the boys volleyball team put Harker on the map as a contender for the honor.
Heidi Zhang (’19) runs away from two Aragon players with the ball in her hand during the varsity girls lacrosse team’s CCS quarterfinals match.
“Once I clicked on [the boys volleyball team’s] season results and saw some of the teams that they played and beat, I was like ‘Wow, I had no idea Harker was that good at volleyball,’” Tennis said. “They are arguably right up there with the best boys volleyball team in Northern California, period.”
Anya Gert (12) dives to save the ball in the varsity girls volleyball team’s match 3-1 win against Westmont High School.
The Eagles’ fourth place finish at the state swim meet, led by Ethan Hu (12), Matthew Chung (11), Jason Kwok (11), and Rhys Edwards (11), as well as the girls golf team winning seventh at NorCals, also contributed to the award.
In addition, the girls volleyball, boys soccer and girls lacrosse teams all made Central Coast Section (CCS) playoff runs, establishing the depth of Harker athletics.
Ethan Hu (12) swims in the 200 IM against two opponents from King’s Academy during a meet in the season.
“There are great stories every single year. It just so happened that this year revolved around some winning,” Molin said. “We enjoy it when then when those occur. We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing and keep trying to get better.”
