FHN’s junior Kylie McGinnis and senior Hannah Biesbrock led the Forest Hills Varsity Gymnastics team to a great score over the weekend at the Canton Invitational. The girls took 6th place out of 19 teams with a score of 138.6. During this meet, the girls had a bit of a rough beam rotation and had six falls, but they all worked together to still get the job done.

“The performance was decent, but definitely not our greatest. Although we did take 6th place which is quite impressive given the competition,” Head coach Lauren Suzio said.

Every girl on the team did very well and competed in various events. Kylie competed in several new skills including a double back off the bars, and a standing back tuck on the beam. She took 2nd on vault with a score of 9.425, 4th on floor with a score of 9.325, and she achieved 4th all around. She did great at this meet, boosting her team’s overall score with her high achievements.

FHC’s seniors Olivia Jeong and Hannah Walters also performed well on Saturday. Olivia scored an 8.725 on the beam, showing well for her team in this event, and scored an 8.650 on the floor. Hannah Walters scored an 8.500 on the vault and a high 8.875 in her floor routine.

“We finished off the meet strong on the floor, both Olivia and I completed our routines well,” Hannah said.

Hannah Biesbrock added a new skill at this meet: 1 1/2 twisting layout on the floor, in which she landed amazingly with a score of 8.950. She also took 9th on bars, scoring an 8.850. Along with Hannah, FHN’s junior Hannah Chadwick also did well on the bars, scoring an 8.275.

“Given that we had scored our average team score of about 140 this weekend, it would have put us in 3rd, which was huge for us,” said Olivia. “We weren’t aware that we were capable of being that successful at the upcoming state meet, giving us all more motivation to work harder and achieve that goal.”

This was a great learning meet for the girls and gave them motivation for states. They all felt great about their performances and now know exactly what they need to focus on to place well in states.

“The game plan for this meet was to bring every skill forth to see how it impacted our scores and performances,” said Suzio. “Seeing the end result of this meet shows us what we’re up against for states, and gives insight into what we need to improve on to make a mark at the state meet.”

The next meet for the girls is on Wednesday, February 5 at 6:30 p.m. against Rockford.