![“[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)
Junior varsity boys water polo triumphed over Palo Alto High School 17-11 on Oct. 19.
The Eagles pulled ahead 5-1 with a little over a minute remaining in the first quarter. A shot into the top left corner of the goal immediately followed by a spin move goal by team captain Alex Zhong (11) cemented the team’s dominant opening. Sam Li (9) praised Alex’s balance between aggressiveness and selflessness throughout the game.
“He’s been a stellar team player but also scored a lot of goals: six today,” Sam said. “He also had a ton of assists, which is why we were able to get the victory.”
Palo Alto showed a short burst of energy with two goals in a minute, but goalie Aiden Wang (11) swam forward on the last possession of the first quarter to attack the goal and scored a buzzer-beater to bring score to 6-3. In the second quarter, the Vikings almost pulled even at 6-5, but Alex scored two back-to-back goals only 23 seconds apart to restore Harker’s lead to 9-6 at halftime.
Multiple Harker players upped their offensive game in the third quarter. In total, four different Eagles: Yash Greene (10), Andre Lu (11), David Tang (9) and Terry Xie (9) scored a goal apiece to extend the lead to 13-9. Despite playing center defender for the Eagles, Yash still scored a goal early in the quarter and attributed Harker’s success to collaborative team play.
“We were able to make sure that none of us got overwhelmed by our opponents,” Yash said. “We were covering each other well on defense and really moving the ball around on offense.”
In the last quarter, the Eagles’ offense ran smoothly with organized plays swiftly leading to goals. Spurred by energy from players coming fresh off the bench, the game concluded with Harker extending the lead by two and finishing with a resounding 17-11 victory. Sam, who often plays offense, detailed some strategies that boys junior varsity coach Victor Adler recommended to find open shots.
“One of our players comes in and sets a pick, which means he puts his back to one of the opponents,” Sam said. “That prevents [the opponent] from going back and going on defense so [our] player can swim around, come to the middle, shoot and score.”
Although Harker only called one timeout, many players found Adler’s well-timed talk helpful. Reflecting on his team’s dominant performance, Timmy Chen (10) cited Adler’s advice during timeouts as a key factor in their success.
“We need to listen to coach and focus on the things that we’ve been practicing every single time we get together,” Timmy said. “The little details like out-of-the-water shots. instead of trying to do fancy tricks, we need to stick to the fundamentals.”
The victory was especially significant to Harker, as the Vikings beat Harker’s junior varsity team in the Eagles’ first game of the season 9-11. Multiple players as well as Adler commented on the Eagles’ improvement throughout the season.
“We did the things we’ve been trying to practice: better ball handling, more effective fast breaks and playing good defense,” Adler said. “We were playing tighter, more aggressive defense, and it worked, so [beating them] felt pretty good.
The game against Palo Alto was the team’s last home game, and as the season draws to a close, members have their eyes on both team and personal improvements next year. Alex eagerly anticipated playing on the varsity squad next year alongside Andre and Aiden.
“[Varsity’s] going to have a lot of development next year,” Alex said. “There are a lot of great juniors on our team right now that will be seniors next year, so I think it will be a very exciting season.”
This game concluded the junior varsity team’s season with an overall league record of 7-5.
