Not many people can juggle being a three-sport athlete on top of playing an instrument. In fact, there are only a handful of students at LFHS who do so. 

One of them is senior Alisa Beyzin. She participates in three sports, two of them at the varsity level, and is first chair flute in the Wind Ensemble. 

While she didn’t have any background running before high school, she started rhythmic gymnastics at three years old. Her last accomplishment was getting to compete at the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympics in 2019.

Beyzin participated in the sport until the fall of her freshman year, but didn’t continue because she had quite a few injuries, and moving on to the higher levels as an elite gymnast would “make life a bit too overwhelming.” 

Beyzin still uses what she had learned during all those years of rhythmic gymnastics for the LFHS gymnastics team.

While gymnastics was something sort of familiar to her, she just jumped right into running once she decided to stop doing rhythmic gymnastics. She had never really run competitively before but found herself liking it a lot.

Beyzin runs varsity cross country in the fall and varsity track and field in the spring. 

She has participated in these three sports since her sophomore year. 

“Over all the years, she’s dropped a lot of time in her races and she’s really blossomed as a runner,” senior cross country co-captain Amelia Fontana says.

Not only is she an accomplished athlete, but Beyzin is also a member of the Cum Laude Society, which means her GPA is in the top 10% for the class of 2023. This alone is an outstanding achievement. 

When asked how she juggles all these achievements, Beyzin says that “it’s really important to find a balance in schoolwork, sports, and a social life.” 

There are many different ways that people can organize themselves when handling so many things at once. Beyzin says for her “the best way to do that is by setting up a schedule.”

Although sports are a big part of her life, she has had moments where she has had to prioritize her schoolwork.

“There have been times when I had to skip practices or meets because of school, and that’s just because grades are my first priority and sometimes that’s just what has to happen,” Beyzin said.

Along with finding time to do her homework and practice for sports, Beyzin also finds time in her busy schedule to practice flute. 

When she moved to Lake Forest in 7th grade from Buffalo Grove, she began to play the flute at Deer Path Middle School. She kept playing in high school because “it brings a lot of good opportunities like the Europe trip…and it’s just fun to be a part of the band.”

She has moved up to first chair in the high school’s Wind Ensemble and leads her section during class and at concerts. She will also lead her section on the bi-annual Europe trip that band, orchestra, and choir are going on over spring break. 

Band, and her three sports are a big part of her life, but if she had to choose a favorite, it would probably be track. 

“Sprinting almost feels like flying, and any sprinter can agree with me when I say that,” Beyzin said.

Her teammates are also all very supportive of each other and she has special bonds with each of them. As captain of all three teams, Alisa makes sure to always prioritize her team.

“[She] is very hard working and puts the team first,” said junior runner and gymnast Elise Raffiani who has been Beyzin’s three-sport teammate since 2020. 

Beyzin also values that even though all three are individual sports, the feeling of a team is still there, which makes “the atmosphere of all three sports incomparable to other sports.”

She will always look back to high school and remember the fond memories with her teammates. Beyzin can’t wait for what the future holds but knows that what she has accomplished is something to be proud of.