![“I wasn't discouraged by some of the obstacles we faced. I learned a lot from the leadership. I found that different people need different ways of receiving feedback — you can't [just] tell them to do something and expect the best. [Some] people needed more incentive. A large part of my role was to figure out what worked for everyone and to figure out how to lead all these separate individuals as a team,” Suhana Bhandare (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SuhanaBhandare_JasmineHansra-1-1200x798.jpg)
![“This is actually from Randy Pausch Randy P. Brick: ‘Walls are there for a reason. You have to show how much you want to overcome them.’ You have to show how much you want something. That's what I've always been able to do with tennis, Link Crew and getting that internship [with Kushy Baby]. It’s important pushing through that — getting around that brick wall, climbing over it or clawing through it,” Yash Sachdeva (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/YashSachdeva_RamBatchu-copy-1200x1002.jpg)
![“[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 swimmers raced in the West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) Championship trials against 12 schools including Menlo School, Pinewood School and The King’s Academy at Sacred Heart Preparatory on May 1.
Junior Eliana Chui set the tone for the meet in the girls 200-yard freestyle by swimming a new personal best of 1:55.50, making her the top seed heading into finals. In the boys 200-yard freestyle, senior Wenjie Zou qualified for the A-final, the championship heat consisting of the top eight, with a time of 1:49.64.
Frosh Emma Jiang placed third in the girls 100-yard individual medley (IM), followed by frosh Iris Wang in sixth. In the girls 200-yard IM, Senior Janam Chahal placed fifth, qualifying for the A-final, and frosh Chelsea Liu placed 10th, qualifying for the B-final, the heat consisting of the next eight fastest swimmers. On the boys side, Dennis Bi (10) placed third with a time of 2:01.72 and Edmund Wang (10) placed fourth with a time of 2:01.89.
Varsity swimming assistant coach Chloe Limargo spotlighted the team’s dedication to the sport and everyone’s supportive nature this season.
“This year has probably been the most invested I’ve seen the whole team being in results and actually cheering for each other, which is awesome,” Limargo said. “It’s always really good to see everybody supporting each other and it’s always really good to see friendly competition.”
The boys dominated the 50-yard freestyle with sophomore Brandon Du in 7th, junior Ian Cheline in 9th, senior Eric Dong in 10th and frosh Haniel Baek in 14th, all clinching spots at finals for the event. In the 50-yard butterfly, frosh Mitali Anandikar placed third in the girls event while junior David Kelly and frosh Rohan Kaushal placed first and second, respectively, in the boys event.
Sophomore Amy Chen placed fourth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:00.43, under the CCS standard of 1:00.99. Senior Shimeka Sahu also punched her ticket to the finals in the 100-yard butterfly with a 14th-place finish.
On the boys side: Brandon, Jaden Ruffy (11) and Andrew Woon (10) all swam faster than the CCS standard of 54.79 and placed first, second and fifth, respectively. Frosh Mark Han placed eighth, also earning a spot in the A-final, while junior Sam Li clinched a spot in the B-final with a 13th-place finish. Brandon highlighted the positive energy at prelims and his nerves as the top seed in the 100-yard butterfly finals.
“In the 100 butterfly, I was first, so I’m kind of nervous for finals tomorrow,” Brandon said. “I was really tired, so I think I’ll rest a lot tonight and then be ready for tomorrow. Today was quite fun because everyone’s really happy and really cheerful and joyful. I’m just really happy to be here because it’s leagues.”
Haniel and Ethan Hao (9) placed within the top 16 in the boys 100-yard freestyle to earn their spots at finals. In the boys 50-yard backstroke, Rohan finished second with a time of 37.96.
In the girls 100-yard backstroke, Amy placed fourth in 1:02.84 and Janam placed fifth in 1:02.90, both under the CCS standard of 1:03.99. On the boys side, Andrew placed third with a time of 55.12, nearly two seconds under the CCS cut. In the boys 50-yard breaststroke, Siddarth Hosakere (9) finished second with a time of 38.06.
To close off the meet, Stella Yang (12) placed in the top 16 in the girls 100-yard breaststroke, qualifying for finals. On the boys side, Jaden, Edmund, Eric and Mark also qualified. Eric discussed his experience on the high school swimming team over the past four years.
“Harker swim has been really fun for the last couple of years,” Eric said. “I feel like this was more fun than club swim because it’s a lot easier to talk with friends. The atmosphere is a lot more geared towards interacting with others. Here, I feel like it’s a little more relaxed, and that makes it a lot better to make friends.”
Varsity swimming completed their season at the CCS Championships at Independence High School on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
