![“[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 swim competed in the West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) Championship Meet hosted at Sacred Heart Preparatory on May 2 and 3, facing off against 12 schools including King’s Academy, Nueva and Priory.
Events ranged from short-distance swims like the 50 freestyle and 100 fly to longer distance swims like the 200 individual medley, a combination of all four strokes. Before the meet, Harker swimmers warmed-up with sets like 20 rounds of 50 freestyle and also practiced dives off the diving blocks to refine technique for their races. Frosh Hanwen Cui, who typically competes in longer distance events, shared his personal meet preparation.
“I did a bunch of freestyle and also worked on my speed with short sprints,” Hanwen said. “That was my general warm up. Then, right before the 200 freestyle, I did a little more distance work to get my blood flowing and muscles working.”
Harker swimmers competed in a total of 22 events in the preliminary round on Friday, racing for top 16 placement. Adam Pawlinger (12) clinched second place in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.97 seconds, and Kyra Cui (12) earned another second place seed time of 1:07.68 in 100 breast. Reflecting on practices and preparation leading up to this meet, Kyra elaborated on the team’s successes in supporting each other and working hard.
“We’ve been doing pretty good with warm-ups and warm downs, so hopefully no injuries,” Kyra said. “We also try to stay warm because it’s cold and windy outside. Since I’m a senior team captain and this is my last year, I did our last Eagles pre-meet cheer. That was really exciting and everyone’s pumped.”
Following preliminaries, the top 16 swimmers from each event, including 26 Harker swimmers such as Edmund Wang (9), Ian Cheline (10), Elaine Xia (10) and Marcus Blennemann (10) qualified and participated in WBAL Finals that Sacred Heart Preparatory hosted on Saturday, earning several top 7 rankings. The girls 200 yard medley relay team, consisting of Janam Chahal (11), Kyra, Amy Chen (9) and Shimeka Sahu (11) earned first place out of 17 teams, and Adam swam a time of 21.39 in the 50 free, earning second place.
Prior to these two meets, coaches Sachi Ujifusa and Chloe Limargo implemented a one-week taper, gradually reducing training volume throughout the week, to prepare the team for the meet. Limargo noted how focusing on improving technique and maintaining pacing during practices translate to tangible results during meets.
“[Our sets] were all pretty high pace, giving everybody a chance to make sure that they can consistently hit the speed that they need to depending on the stroke that they do,” Limargo said. “As the week went on, you could tell everybody was getting a lot more energetic, so they’re definitely getting the rest that they need to do well [at the meet].”
The swim season concluded on May 10, when athletes competed in the Central Coast Section (CCS) Finals.
