Kristin Fisch was unsatisfied.

The junior had already competed in two state meets, a remarkable accomplishment in its own right, but an injury her freshman year and a tenth-place finish last year left her unfulfilled.

But she knew she was capable of so much more.

“The last few years I had some slip-ups and I didn’t know how to handle the pressure,” said Fisch. “I was motivated to come back this year with a stronger performance.”

Her shot at redemption came over the weekend of February 21st, when she traveled to Palatine High School along with two teammates to compete at the State Gymnastics Meet.

Preliminaries were held on Friday, where Fisch scored an impressive 9.7 on vault, putting her in 4th place and offering necessary motivation to boost her confidence heading into the other events.

On floor, Fisch notched a 9.3, which helped her secure 15th place. After the first day, Fisch had an All-Around score of 36.125 and was sitting in 22nd place. Fisch was the only gymnast from Lake Forest to place in the top 10 of an event during preliminaries, offering her the ability to advance to the finals.

On Saturday, Fisch competed in the state final and scored a 9.6 on the vault, enough to earn her fifth place and finally take home some hardware from State.

Earning a spot on the podium has always been a goal of hers, but after placing fifth, it has only furthered Fisch’s ambitions.

“It was really rewarding to get a spot on the podium especially after working so hard during the season,” she said. “It’s motivating me to work harder next year so I can hopefully place higher next season.”

Sophomores Taylor Cekay and Lindsay Fontana also competed at the state meet, though they did not move onto the finals.

Cekay scored an 8.25 on beam and finished with an overall score of 33.975, good for 34th place. While Cekay was unable to advance to the finals, she was still grateful for the opportunity to return to State.