![Leighton Smith, left, consults with Dr. Justin Hollander during her recovery from horse riding injuries this summer.](/sites/default/files/2024-08/240830_Elks_2H.png)
Elk Rapids' Smith Back on Course Just 2 Months After Severe Leg Injury
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
August 30, 2024
Leighton Smith’s freshman year was nothing short of amazing as she competed for Elk Rapids High School’s first girls golf team in the fall and capped it off in the spring with a track school record and bragging rights as the fastest 400-meter runner in Northern Michigan.
But events this summer were even more astonishing.
A horse riding accident in June left the 15-year-old fighting for her life, experiencing multiple surgeries and then recovering through physical therapy.
To top it off, she returned to the links Thursday representing the Elks at the Petoskey Invitational played at the Bay View Country Club. Smith shot a 100 as the Elks placed seventh. Her score was tied for the team’s best and featured four pars.
It was an impressive next step, to say the least.
No one could have been prepared to endure what Smith experienced this summer. And no one could have been better prepared to do it than the Elks sophomore, according to doctors, her coaches and her parents.
She underwent five surgeries in six days. The first surgery was done by Dr. Justin Hollander and Munson Medical Center. Dr. Hollander placed a titanium rod in her right leg to stabilize a severe femur fracture.
Smith developed compartment syndrome, which is extremely painful and happens when there’s too much pressure around the muscles and that pressure restricts the flow of blood, fresh oxygen and nutrients to muscles and nerves. That pain and lying in a hospital bed began to impact her mental health but Smith and her parents, Melinda and Don Smith, knew she had the capacity to get through her complications.
Medical personnel, including Dr. Hollander, were extremely impressed with her determination, drive and attitude throughout.
“When you’re in a situation like this you have try your hardest to keep the most positive mindset and thoughts you can, because the mentality you have is what is really going to affect how you handle the whole situation,” Leighton Smith said.
Following that first surgery, she underwent multiple life and limb-saving surgical procedures called fasciotomies in both Traverse City and Grand Rapids. A fasciotomy involves cutting fascia to relieve tension or pressure in order to treat the resulting loss of circulation in acute situations.
“I am not used to being in a bed against my will,” Smith noted. “I was stuck there – you don’t realize the things you take for granted until you’re stuck there like that.”
Don Smith also serves as co-coach of the Elks girls golf team with Mike Newhouse. He witnessed his daughter’s horse riding accident and was there every step of recovery.
He couldn’t be more thrilled about what he witnessed in Petoskey as a father or coach.
“It is great to see her back and looking forward to the future,” Don Smith said. “We went from time in the hospital where you’re scared to even hear what the answer was going to be about sports and anything in life, and to be able to participate in golf here two to three weeks into the season.”
The sophomore has received MHSAA approval to use a cart during competition as a medical necessity, and she may be able golf in enough events this fall to participate in her team’s Regional in Tawas and possibly qualify for the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final in Battle Creek.
“Leighton has greatly exceeded my expectations,” Newhouse said. “I initially thought she might lose the season, and if she could get back by midseason it would be a slow return. But her performance today far exceeded anything I expected.”
Golf really isn’t her favorite sport. Horse competition and track meets top that list. She is set to defend her 400-meter title next spring at the Traverse City Record-Eagle Honor Roll season-ending meet, and she is the only Elks student-athlete participating in rodeo, doing so through the Manton High School chapter of the Michigan High School Rodeo Association.
“I have a positive attitude and I don’t take it too seriously, but seriously enough that I can play the game,” she said of golf, while noting her primary motivation for being on the team is her father’s love of the game. “It is a good skill to have to be able to play golf, but it is definitely third on my list for sports.”
Third on the list is fine for her coaches.
“Dad will take it top three,” Don Smith noted while recalling moments after the final surgery at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. “The vascular surgeon talked with us for about 20 minutes and finally without us asking, he said she was going to be able to resume a normal life with sports and everything.”
And she has been back on a horse too.
“Now I am able to ride by myself pretty well, so I take him out every now and then and ride around the yard,” she said. “I think every time I get on, my Dad has a mini-heart attack – I think he’d prefer I never get on a horse again.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Leighton Smith, left, consults with Dr. Justin Hollander during her recovery from horse riding injuries this summer. (Middle) Smith tees up a drive for Elk Rapids this season. (Below) Smith shares a moment with her horse. (Photos provided by the Smith family.)
![Kalamazoo Christian senior Scarlett Hindbaugh putts during a recent practice, surrounded by teammates (from left) Ella Adams, Lilly Locker, Kennedy Gernaat, Lizzie Yonkers, Kyah Klok, Jordyn Bonnema and Rylee Slater.](/sites/default/files/2024-08/240827_KC_2H.png)
Kalamazoo Christian's Senior-Loaded Lineup Eying Another High Finals Finish
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
August 27, 2024
KALAMAZOO – Scarlett Hindbaugh’s parents tried to get her into golf when she was in early elementary school, but she did not like it at all.
But as she headed into ninth grade at Kalamazoo Christian High School, Hindbaugh decided to play a fall sport.
All of a sudden, golf was looking pretty good.
Now, as a senior, she is one of the top golfers on a team loaded with talent – and a team that also made program history last season with its highest MHSAA Finals finish coming in runner-up to Lansing Catholic in Lower Peninsula Division 4.
With four seniors returning from that team, fifth-year coach Mike Schield will have a tough time filling the final spots in his lineup.
“We’re looking throughout the season who that No. 5 player is going to be,” he said. “What we’ve done differently this year, instead of taking six varsity players (to matches), we’re taking eight.
“We’re pretty confident we know who our starting four are. Out of the B Pod of our varsity players, we’re trying throughout the season to give everybody an opportunity to see who’s going to stick out by the end of the season.”
Besides Hindbaugh, the three other current seniors from that 2023 runner-up team are Jordyn Bonnema, Kennedy Gernaat and Ella Adams – Adams another player who picked up golf for the first time as a freshman.
The Comets kicked off the season at the Lober Classic at Crystal Mountain last week.
“It was a great team-building experience,” Schield said. “It’s a very challenging golf course, and the girls got to learn a lot about their games.
“It was a really good snapshot as far as the golf goes for these girls to understand what they need to do from now until October.”
The Comets finished ninth overall at the prestigious 24-team event, but third among Division 3 and 4 teams.
“I didn’t play my best golf, but it was our first time up there,” Bonnema said. “The course is beautiful; it’s a hard course. I feel like it set the stage to where we need to be. It gave us a starting point, and we’re going to work from there.”
Climbing the ladder
For the last three years, Schield has taken Kalamazoo Christian to the MHSAA Finals as a team, finishing sixth in 2021, fourth in 2022 and second last year.
Bonnema led the Comets last October, placing sixth individually.
“The first year, we were happy to be there. The second year, we had a little higher expectation; last year we got a little bit closer,” said Schield, a PGA pro who has taught at X-Golf Kalamazoo since 2018 and previously worked in elite junior golf development at Mission Hills in southern China.
“Seems like each year we’ve been able to make steps up the ladder. I would say we made those steps up because of the way we built our program.”
Of the eight golfers on varsity, Bonnema is one of the leaders.
“Who in their right mind wouldn’t want to coach a Jordyn Bonnema?” Schield asked. “She’s an elite athlete, multiple sports (basketball, soccer). She brings that extra level of intensity and determination that you expect from an elite athlete.
“The cool thing about Jordyn is that she’s playing these multiple spots, which she should, but it does take time away from her ability to play golf all year round. She is one of the top players in Division 4.”
Bonnema realizes she is one of the team leaders.
“Every day, I try to bring as much energy as I can and be the leader that everyone is looking for and try to set a good example for not only underclassmen but setting the standard that we need to be at every day,” she said.
Schield said that No. 1 spot is shared by Gernaat.
“Kennedy’s sister (Kylie) was a former No. 1 on our team, and I feel that Kennedy has stepped into those shoes,” he said. “She’s a very polished golfer and was the individual Regional champion.
“She’s got one of the best short games, putting strokes that I’ve been able to coach since my time being here.”
As novice golfers three years ago, Hindbaugh and Adams said they both benefited from Schield’s teaching.
“(Coach) was very welcoming, good environment, very open, very relaxed, no-pressure kind of environment,” Adams said.
Schield said Adams has a great attitude that rubs off on her teammates.
“She could have just hit the best shot or the worst shot, but always has a smile, is always looking forward to the next shot, which is a great trait that all coaches want their players to have,” he said.
As for Hindbaugh, Schield said she has become a more complete golfer since last season.
“Over the last year, she’s taken a constructive approach to evaluating her game and trying to find the right areas to focus on for her own self-development,” he said.
Another key senior is Kyah Klok.
“The last two years she has been very close to making our varsity team,” Schield said. “This is the year she’s punched through. She packs a punch. She’s got some power.”
The lone junior is Lizzie Yonkers, who played the second day of the Finals last year and has improved over the offseason.
“She is a well-balanced player from tee to green,” he said. “The special thing about Lizzie is she helps all of our players keep things light and fun, which helps balance out the intensity of our team.”
Lilly Locker, the only sophomore, was a “star of the JV team last year,” Schield said. “This is what you could easily consider the future of the girls golf program.
“She has length, understanding of the game and can perform well, iron play, short game and putting. All she needs now is experience in tournament play.”
Although she is just a freshman, Rylee Slater made varsity because “she’s athletically gifted and a quick learner,” Schield said. "She has this season with very little pressure on her to learn and develop herself as a player. She’ll be fun to watch.”
No matter who rounds out the roster, Hindbaugh said the team knows what to expect if they make it back to the Finals.
“We played with East Lansing (last year), and one of the things they could do so well is they could get up to the green and chip in a putt and not screw up around the green,” she said. “That’s what we’re focusing on this year, that short game.”
***
One bonus of the Lober Classic trip was a chance to learn about nutrition and prepare food with Schield’s wife, Lindsey Stillian, a nutritionist at Thriving Bite in Kalamazoo.
“Golf is not as obviously an intense sport,” Schield said. “It’s a season where we have to play golf in different weather conditions.
"First and foremost, you have to take care of your health so that you’re available to play.”
Gernaat said she learned a lot from Stillian.
“As athletes, it’s important to keep a balanced diet, and also food is fuel for your body, so it’s important to make sure you’re getting the right food groups and enough of the right food,” Gernaat said.
“It made me feel more energized during the round. Instead of going to get fast food, homemade food was definitely better.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Christian senior Scarlett Hindbaugh putts during a recent practice, surrounded by teammates (from left) Ella Adams, Lilly Locker, Kennedy Gernaat, Lizzie Yonkers, Kyah Klok, Jordyn Bonnema and Rylee Slater. (Middle) Clockwise from top left: Bonnema, Gernaat, coach Mike Schield and Adams. (Below) Hindbaugh works on her chipping. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)