![“I wasn't discouraged by some of the obstacles we faced. I learned a lot from the leadership. I found that different people need different ways of receiving feedback — you can't [just] tell them to do something and expect the best. [Some] people needed more incentive. A large part of my role was to figure out what worked for everyone and to figure out how to lead all these separate individuals as a team,” Suhana Bhandare (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SuhanaBhandare_JasmineHansra-1-1200x798.jpg)
![“This is actually from Randy Pausch Randy P. Brick: ‘Walls are there for a reason. You have to show how much you want to overcome them.’ You have to show how much you want something. That's what I've always been able to do with tennis, Link Crew and getting that internship [with Kushy Baby]. It’s important pushing through that — getting around that brick wall, climbing over it or clawing through it,” Yash Sachdeva (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/YashSachdeva_RamBatchu-copy-1200x1002.jpg)
![“[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)
Upper school track and field athletes clutch top awards at State Championships
Andrew Fu (11) runs with the baton in hand towards relay race teammate Rigo Gonzales (11). The boys relay team placed seventeenth at the State Championships on May 28.
June 4, 2022
Andrew Fu (11), Rigo Gonzales (11), Alexa Lowe (‘22), Armaan Thakker (11), Zain Vakath (11) and Anjali Yella (10) participated in various track events at the State Championship Finals on May 28.
The six athletes earned spots at the state finals after participating in Central Coast Section (CCS) finals and State trials on May 21 and May 27 respectively.
Alexa, who will attend Carnegie Mellon University as a long-jump member of the track team in the upcoming year, finished her final track season at Harker with a personal and school triple jump record of 35 feet, 10.25 inches, allowing her to finish in second place at CCS. Continuing on, she placed 20th at States with a jump of 34’ 11.75.
At the trials on May 27, Anjali ran 400m with a time of 56.31 for a new personal record at preliminaries, which was 0.6 lower than her state bid qualifying time at CCS. Having placed ninth at States, she remembers how intimidating yet exciting the final race turned out to be compared to the trials.
“I felt good because I had a good lane placement and fast people to catch up to, so I was able to gauge how fast I should go through pacing myself,” Anjali said. “The finals was a new race for me [since] I was running against the top runners in the nation. That unfamiliarity made me run slower, since I pushed myself too hard against those girls who were running fast [but] at a different pace.”
Andrew competed in several events at CCS including the 200m and relay and received state bids for long jump, with a top jump of 23’ 2.5,” as well as for the 100m with a time of 10.82. He ended his individual events placing 17th for the 100m and 13th in long jump.
The boys 4×100 relay team consisting of members who each run 100m finished with a gold medal at CCS. Andrew, Armaan, Rigo and Zain set a new school record for the first relay gold with a time of 42.11, which drew them a states berth. The boys missed their personal best by 0.4 seconds at States and placed 17th.
