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Published on 12/23/1996 All articles from this issue

St. Francis High runs from bottom to top

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By Andy Nystrom / Town Crier Staff Writer

Year in review

A couple days after completing an amazing 0-6 turnaround to win its sixth straight Central Coast Section title, St. Francis High's football players still had a look of disbelief on their faces.

In a visit to the school's athletics office two weeks ago, a teacher heartily praised a trio of Lancers and one of the guys gave the secretary a high-five.

What happened on the Spartan Stadium field Dec. 7 gave the guys - and school - every right to let emotions overflow. In a matchup with seemingly invincible Oak Grove, the Lancers cruised to a 34-6 victory to end their season with seven straight victories and 12th overall CCS title.

STICKS AND GOALS: A group of Los Altos High girls gave their school something to cheer about as well: a CCS field hockey title. On Nov. 23 at Stanford's Maloney Field, senior Katie Johnson scored her team-high 22nd goal of the season to give the Eagles a 1-0 victory over Mitty.

With 11 seniors on the squad, Los Altos was definitely the more experienced and knowledgeable team in the area and seemed destined to win the championship.

SPIKES AND SERVES: On the volleyball and tennis courts in November, St. Francis' girls added to the trophy count with CCS titles as well.

For the volleyballers, Niki Hartley and Desiree Rook continued the Lancer tradition of booming, in-your-face kills to give the team its sixth CCS title in seven years.

And the netters clinched a 4-3 championship win over then-unbeaten Santa Catalina behind No. 1 doubles team of Katie Colyar and Jennie Mispagel. Singles players Michelle Steingart and Meghan Moore also successfully defended their CCS doubles title by breezing by a San Mateo duo 6-0, 6-1.

In volleyball milestones, Los Altos defeated St. Francis for the first time in many years, and Mountain View knocked off Los Altos twice and made it through to the CCS semifinals.

Mountain View's girls tennis team also gave longtime Coach Jerry "Goose" Gosland something to be proud of: the program's first-ever league title in November. The Spartans finished as co-champions of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division with buddies Palo Alto.

ON THE BALL: Mountain View Little League's 13-15-year-old squad traveled the country's softball basepaths in August and crossed home plate at the World Series in Kalamazoo, Mich. The girls finished second, but notched four titles along the way, kept out of trouble and became closer as friends.

On the other glove, Los Altos resident Melissa Coombes' San Jose Lady Sharks team won the 16-and-under division at the National Softball Junior Olympics in Chattanooga, Tenn. After arriving home in mid-August, she hooked up with her Homestead High volleyball team and later helped the Mustangs spike the SCVAL El Camino Division title.

TRACK ATTACK: Rebecca Burnham became the first Egan Intermediate athlete to win four events at the county track and field meet in May. The seventh-grader, who triumphed in the long and triple jumps, 100 dash and 440 relay, will undoubtedly soon be making her mark for the stellar Los Altos High program.

Speaking of Los Altos High, senior four-sport guy Willie Howard ruled the shot-put and discus areas with first-place showings at the CCS championships in May.

And St. Francis superstar Damesha Craig did the same on the track, with top runs in the 100 and 200 sprints and 400 and 1600 relays to lead the Lancers to their second consecutive section title.

For Mountain View, John Bull placed first with a 6-foot-6 clearance of the high jump.

PANTHER POWER: Pinewood's boys tennis team may have come up a notch short of winning the CCS title, but No. 1 singles player Scotty Scott stroked first place in the individual championships in May.

And kicking off a year of local CCS titles was the Pinewood boys basketball team, which defeated Redwood Christian 67-57 in the March championship game. Jeff Schram led the Panthers with 26 points and Adam Bingham added 16.