The Mountain View High School team won the Central Coast Section championship in girls gymnastics on May 18. The championship for the Spartans ended St. Francis High School’s (Mountain View) sixteen year-long CCS championship streak.

Senior Elaine Silverman finished in second place overall with a score of 38.500 and freshman Cindy Linker placed third overall with a score of 37.950. The Spartans also had competitors place 16, 18, 21, 22, 28, 34, 43. The sum of the competitors’ scores gave MVHS a first place victory by a margin of 0.550 points over SFHS, 149.750 to 149.200.

In gymnastics, athletes participate in 4 events:vault, bars, beam, and floor. In each event, an athlete can earn up to 10 points, and the sum of their event scores is their individual score. The sum of individual scores make up the team score.

Last year, the team finished in fourth place in the CCS championship competition.

“We had known for over a year that this year in particular would be the one that we could really be competitive against St. Francis, due to the incoming freshmen gymnasts, and additionally the improvement of everybody’s skill level,” captain and junior Lexy Mitchner said.

The team had lots of confidence going into the competition because they had beat SFHS in an earlier competition, but knew it would be very competitive and close.

“I think that motivated us to work harder throughout the season,” senior Elaine Silverman said.

Mitchner echoed this sentiment.

“I could feel my teammates becoming more and more competitive and focused as the meet progressed,” Mitchner said.

Going into the fourth and final event, St. Francis was barely ahead of MVHS. However, the Spartans felt they had a good chance as they were on floor, their strongest event. They managed to overtake St. Francis and take the lead with this event.

This championships marks the high point for a sports program that just four years ago, did not even have enough members on the team to qualify for the CCS championship competition.

Next year, the team hopes to maintain their commitment to one another and their sport to hopefully bring home another CCS championship