![“[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)
Varsity and junior varsity track and field teams celebrated senior night during the West Bay Athletic League Championship meet at Gunn High School on May 3. Gunn hosted schools like King’s Academy, Menlo School and Notre-Dame San Jose as well.
Harker’s teams honored seniors Michael Chang, Veyd Patil, Adam Sayed, Andrew Smith and Anjali Yella with flowers, handmade posters and a tent with colorful balloons. Posters of each senior also hung on the bleachers facing the track.
“The seniors are a very special group with their work ethic, positive attitude and the way they approach the sport,” cross country coach Kevin Oliver said. “To an outsider, the teamwork aspect of track isn’t so obvious, but you can really see it in the way they encourage one another and how invested they are in each other’s success. That shared experience with each other is something that they’ll be able to reflect on positively for the rest of their lives.”
Starting with the 4×100 meter relay, Michael, Kaleb Goldin (11), Eric Zhang (11) and Brady Tse (10) placed first for the varsity boys team.
The varsity boys 4×400 team, including Michael, Eric, Adam and Brady, placed third with a time of 3:32.12, while the varsity girls team, with Anjali, Maryanne Davis (10), Alice Luo (9) and Samaara Patil (9), placed first in the same event with a time of 4:04.35.
In the boys 100-meter dash, Spencer Chang (10) clinched first place for the junior varsity team, while Kaleb led the varsity event with a time of 10.78, surpassing the CCS at-large record and automatically qualifying for Central Coast Section Championship Trials. Spencer also placed first in the junior varsity boys 200-meter dash with a time of 23.79.
Samaara finished second in the varsity girls 800-meter with a time of 2:27.33. Veyd earned second place in the varsity boys 1600-meter with a 4:21.72.
“Coming into [WBAL], there were four top guys who were all gunning it, and we had a race strategy to all get the at-large time, so we all could automatically qualify,” Veyd said. “But there was a large headwind, so the strategy went out the gate. I just tucked in behind [the other runners], so I wasn’t running as hard, and then I just outran them at the end, which is the hardest I’ve kicked at a race.”
In separate events, Andrew and Anjali claimed first place. Andrew won the varsity boys 300-hurdles while Anjali dominated the varsity girls 200-dash. As for the varsity boys 110-meter hurdles, Andrew and Timmy Chen (10) placed first and third respectively. Finally, Kaleb placed first in the varsity boys 200-meter event, closely followed by Brady in second place.
Varsity girls runner Emily Bryan (10) reflected on the seniors’ last time with the team. She felt mixed emotions over the seniors’ departure and commended their determination as they move forward.
“It is a little bittersweet,” Emily said. “It’s nice to celebrate [the seniors], but it is also sad that they’re leaving. I’m interested to get to know the new freshman and have a good team.”
