Eleven seniors celebrated their dedication to college athletics during the annual signing ceremony on May 2 in the Athletic Center.
Varun Fuloria, Rachel Hernandez, Ashley Hong, Kyle Johnson, Veyd Patil, Lachlan Rossi, Jack Yang, Ishani Sood, Adi Jain, Anjali Yella and Jonathan Zhang each delivered speeches, expressing their commitments and thanking coaches, teammates and family members who supported them.
Rachel acknowledged the time and energy her family sacrificed to encourage her in tennis from a young age.
“I want to thank my mom for always being there for me and taking me to all my lessons and tournaments,” Rachel said. “She introduced me to this sport when I was two, so I’ve basically been holding a racket since I was standing. My grandfather, too, who introduced our whole family to tennis. They’re my inspiration to go out and play tennis.”
Expressing gratitude towards the Harker community, Lachlan recognized the warm and welcoming attitude of his high school team, which he first joined as a freshman.
“I want to thank the Harker water polo team and my coaches,” Lachlan said. “They’re always there supporting me at every game. It’s an honor to be a Harker Eagle, and I’ll be an Eagle for life.”
Jack also reminded his fellow recruits not to overlook their own efforts in the recruitment process, recognizing the immense dedication necessary to play on the collegiate level.
“Everyone here should be really proud of what they’ve achieved,” Jack said. “All the hard work that goes in behind the scenes should not be overlooked.”
After their speeches, the seniors each signed their certificate declaring their commitment to playing sports in college. To conclude the ceremony, friends, family and coaches presented the seniors with handmade posters and flowers and took photos together.
Varsity baseball head coach Michael Delfino, who mentored Adi throughout high school, left advice for the athletes.
“I hope that they enjoy their time there,” Delfino said. “I hope that they take it all in, everything about college, the academics, the sports and the friends. You only get to do it once in life. Sometimes when you’re that age, you don’t realize how great a thing it is, and so they should recognize and understand it and enjoy the moment while it’s happening.”
Below are the recruited seniors, their sports and their colleges:
Varun will play squash at Columbia University.
Rachel will play tennis at Emory University.
Ashley will swim at Columbia University.
Adi will play baseball at California Institute of Technology.
Kyle will play volleyball at Springfield College.
Veyd will run cross country and track at Carnegie Mellon University.
Lachlan will play water polo at UC San Diego.
Ishani will fence at Stanford University.
Jack will play soccer at Pomona Pitzer College.
Anjali will run track at Yale University.
Jonathan will play golf at Claremont McKenna College.