By Pete Borello

The St. Francis High gymnastics team entered this season seeking more than just a fourth consecutive Central Coast Section championship.

“We intend to post the highest team score ever recorded in 26 years of CCS gymnastics history,” said assistant coach Nancy Kludt, looking ahead to next month’s championship meet.

With a team teeming with talent and experience, this lofty goal certainly seems within reach. And thus far, the Lancers are showing every indication that they are capable of surpassing the CCS championship record of 181.20, set by Leland in 1984.

St. Francis opened its season April 8 with a score of 182.850, breaking both school and Santa Clara Valley Athletic League records. That’s five points better than the Lancers totaled at last year’s CCS meet, when they became the first team to win three titles in a row.

“For me, the (April score wasn’t unexpected,” said Kludt, who works alongside head coach Lynn Horiye, “but it feels great to see our team validated so early in the season.”

In addition, the Lancers set new school standards on beam with a score of 45.450 (despite three counting beam falls for a 1.5 loss) and on the floor exercise with a 47.75.

St. Francis easily won the meet, also featuring Castilleja, Cupertino, Gilroy, Gunn and Monta Vista, and isn’t expected to have many close competitions this season. The team is that good.

What makes this year’s squad the best in school history, according to Kludt, is “a potent combination of strong leadership, deep talent and a will to win a fourth straight title.”

Senior co-captains Adrienne Galvez, Kristen Lund and Kat Shultis — medalists at last year’s CCS meet — set the tone.

“Just after our 2002 CCS win, they put their coaches and returning teammates on notice that they were out to win a CCS banner to hang in the school rafters for every one of their years at St. Francis,” Kludt said. “So at each practice, and in between … (they) spend quality time, in addition to their own workouts, encouraging their young squad.”

Leading the list of non-seniors on the roster are junior Courtney Sinclair, who won the all-around title April 8 with a score of 37.0505, and sophomore Alysse Zrebski, first-place finisher in the vault in St. Francis’ victory over San Mateo April 10. Both gymnasts have “awesome skills,” Kludt said.

The coach has also been impressed by the skills of five freshmen: Linda Lund (Kristen’s sister), Becky Thompson, Wendy Shue, Natasha Baker and Angela Martin de Bustamante.

St. Francis (4-0) visits fellow SCVAL South Division member Los Altos (1-0) at 4 p.m., Tuesday.

The major competitions take place in May. The SCVAL meet is slated for May 14 and the CCS meet May 19. Both events will take place at Mountain View’s Twisters Gymnastics.