Post date: Oct 23, 2012 3:06:42 PM
Woodward seniors Alex Duner and Karthik Srinivasan reached the quarterfinals at this year's Heart of Texas Invitational hosted by the St. Mark's School of Texas, one of the most competitive tournaments in the country. Coming off last season's win—the first in school history—the elite eight finish was the eleventh for a Woodward duo at St. Mark's.
In the preliminary rounds, Alex and Karthik defeated teams from Plano East (TX), Niles West (IL), Juan Diego Catholic (UT), and Westminster (GA) and lost to Glenbrook North (IL) and College Prep (CA). Finishing with a 4-2 record, they entered the elimination rounds as the tournament's 19th seed.
Matched up against a different team from Glenbrook North in the double-octafinal round of 32, Woodward won a 3-0 decision to advance to the octafinals. Paired against the top team from Kinkaid (TX), one of the top teams in the country and the third seed, Alex and Karthik again won a unanimous decision. The duo finally bowed out in the quarterfinals on a 2-1 decision to the top team from Pace Academy (GA).
In addition to the varsity team, sophomores Meera Gorjala and Sahil Patel made the trip to Texas to participate in the Sophomore Hoe Down, a round robin for schools' best sophomore teams. Competing against teams from Austin SFA (TX), College Prep, Coppell (TX), Greenhill (TX), Niles North (IL), West Des Moines Valley (IA), and Westminster with two judges in each round, Meera and Sahil finished with a 5-9 record.