Junior women’s lacrosse player Gina Fisher led the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) in several categories this past season including goals per game (3.93), ground balls (5.53) and caused turnovers (3.47). An alumna of Ursuline Academy in St. Louis, Missouri, Fisher has become one of the most prolific players in North Central College history as she broke her own single-season record for caused turnovers with 52.
This past season, Fisher earned herself First-Team All-CCIW and CCIW Offensive player of the year. In 2013 as a freshman, she established single-season records for assists (21) and ground balls (54).
Although her collegiate career has been record breaking and dominant amongst North Central College ranks, her love for the game began in the 7th grade at a camp for her prospective high school at the time. Fisher began playing competitively soon after and has never stopped loving the game since then.
As the younger sister of an Ohio Wesleyan women’s lacrosse player, it was easy for Fisher to gain a strong interest in the game. Along with her sister, her father is also someone who she sees as one of her main sources of motivation.
“My older sister played collegiate lacrosse at Ohio Welseyan. She is so knowledgeable about the game so her constructive criticism really helped improve my playing,” Fisher said. “My dad was my basketball coach for seven years and once I started laying lacrosse, he continued coaching me from the sidelines.”
Because she is from St. Louis, Fisher finds it most difficult to be away from her family and these sources of inspiration, but continues to love every minute of the season and being with her teammates.
“Being from St. Louis means that I can’t just take a quick drive home for the weekend like a lot of athletes at North Central can,” she said. “Since we have practices or games almost every weekend during the season and preseason, that means that I have to miss out on some family occasions and seeing my friends from home.”
Fisher admits to sometimes being a competitive person after a loss, but still finds her motivation through her understanding that she only has one season left to play the game that she loves. Fisher hopes to continue to play every game like it’s her last and give every game her all until she is finished at North Central.
“I try to keep motivation by thinking how lucky I am to even be able to play a sport in college. Going to practice every day isn’t always easy especially when your mind is preoccupied with other things but knowing that I only have a limited time remaining to play competitive sports is what keeps me going,” said Fisher.
The junior looks forward to her final season as a Cardinal and wants to finish her career strong and build off of the accomplishments that she has worked to achieve in the past three years. With some staff changes coming in next year, Fisher believes that it will be the perfect opportunity to make the most of her collegiate athletic career.
“With a new coach coming in and it being my senior year, I really want to go out with a bang. Since it will be my last year playing, I am going to work harder than ever to ensure we get the Conference title,” said Fisher.
Photo courtesy of Steve Woltmann
