![“[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)
Cross country raced at the WBAL #2 meet on the 3.1-mile Baylands course on Wednesday.
The varsity girls team placed second out of nine teams, taking on Crystal Springs, Menlo, Woodside, Kings Academy, Notre Dame Belmont and San Jose, Castilleja and Sacred Heart. The varsity boys team finished third out of seven schools, facing the same lineup, with Eastside College Prep replacing the all-girls schools. Both junior varsity teams earned seventh place in their divisions.
Four varsity girls competitors placed in the top 15 of 60 total runners, helping the team secure its runner-up position. Junior Ava Alvarez led the team with a fifth place finish in 20:03.9, followed by frosh Sophie Shen at ninth in 20:28.8, junior Samaara Patil at 12th in 20:56.3 and senior Emily Bryan 21:40.6 at 15th. The overall ranking was determined by summing the finish places of each team’s top five runners, with the lowest total scores ranked highest.
Assistant Coach Michael Ramos praised the team for achieving multiple personal records, including varsity boys racers Axel Szolusha (11), Aiden Coviello (11) and Michael Petrov (10) as well as varsity girls racers Ava, Samaara, and Emily. He noted that the team’s frequent practices at Baylands have turned it into a “home course” for the runners.
“It was very satisfying because as a team, we hit all of our objectives as runners and as coaching staff,” assistant coach Michael Ramos said. “A lot of our runners hit PRs, and we’ve really established Baylands as our home course. It’s a good feeling to have a home.”
(Emma Li)
On the varsity boys side, junior Axel led the team with a fifth place finish out of 49 runners in 16:32.3, maintaining an average pace of 5:20.1 throughout the course. Aiden and Michael followed, crossing the line milliseconds apart at 17:13.2 and 17:13.4, placing 12th and 13th respectively. Senior Robinson Xiang finished in 17:57.7 for 20th place, while freshman Avyay Ganesh rounded out the group in 19:43.2 for 31st.
Robinson found this race especially fulfilling, as he returned this season after recovering from an injury earlier this year.
“[The course] is very fast, very flat, and the biggest benefit of that is that it’s just so much mentally easier,” Robinson said. “Usually I slow down the last couple of miles, but today I kept it relatively even. I’m really proud of that, and considering I was out for two-thirds of a year, [the race] was not bad. I’m just really grateful to be back and I want to make the most of my last races.”
Frosh Hannah Tay, was first in the junior varsity girls team and fifth place in the race overall at 23:58.7, with 75 girls in the race total. Sophomore Medha Choudhry placed 34th with a time of 27:27.3, and sophomore Finn Westgate took 41st. Gavin Leelanivas (10) led the junior varsity boys with a time of 21:22, scoring 31st place, followed closely by junior Sean Wang in 45th place and frosh Tavish Yergera in 52nd place.
Reflecting on her race, Hannah said she was proud of her improvement from WBAL #1.
“I was happy with my progress.” Hannah said. “It was more tiring towards the end because everyone picked up faster, but it was also one of my fastest races. It was nice because there was a lot of cheering, too, from the spectators because [they could be] close to the course.”
The teams race next on Nov. 7 at WBAL Finals at Crystal Springs.
![Sophomore Jessie Cao strikes a pose. “That feeling when you get a new skill, when you feel yourself improving on something you struggle with or when you overcome a mental block [is] really rewarding,” Jessie said. “As long as you push yourself and think you're trying your hardest, that's what matters the most.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/250918_jessiecaoapex_AshleyM_1-2-727x1200.jpg)
