Northville Rallies for 3rd-Straight D1 Win
October 16, 2020
By Jason Schmitt
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING — The rules of golf are pretty simple — for the most part.
But for one brief moment Friday at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Girls Golf Finals, Northville sophomore Samantha Coleman had a mental lapse. And she broke a rule.
After her third shot found the green on the par-4 ninth hole, she walked up onto the green and at the request of a playing partner, she marked her spot and moved her ball out of the putting line. When it was her turn to putt, she failed to move the ball back to its original spot. She was assessed a two-stroke penalty.
“The funniest thing is, as I walked up to the ball and while she told me to move the mark, I thought to myself, ‘Don’t forget to move it back.’ I always do,” Coleman said. “And then I was happy with par because it was a long putt. I was really proud of how I was doing. And to know that (mistake) was how I doubled — because I didn’t move it back — that was really rough.”
The mistake really got to Coleman, who had played her first 12 holes under par. That’s when her coach, Chris Cronin, stepped in.
“That’s really, really tough. And when you get emotional when you’re competing, it’s hard to concentrate and it makes it hard to finish,” Cronin said. “We talked for a long time. I basically walked with her for the last four holes. When Sam is playing, I let her play golf. She’ll normally see me every 3-4 holes. But today, I knew she needed me there to finish. We walked and talked. The one thing I told her was, ‘You’ve got to let your teammates pick you up.’ She’s thinking, ‘Well, what if my two strokes (cost us) and I told her, ‘You can’t worry about that. You’ve got to trust your teammates to pick you up.’ I think that gave her solace and comfort so she could finish the way she did.”
And what she and her teammates did was spectacular. Trailing Rochester Adams by a pair of strokes with five holes to play, Northville rallied to capture its third-straight Division 1 championship at Forest Akers East in East Lansing.
Northville shot 313 to best the Highlanders, who finished nine strokes back with a team score of 322. Grand Blanc was third with a score of 328, followed by Plymouth (330) and Rockford (334) in the top five.
Coleman finished with a 3-over 75 to lead the Mustangs, who became just the ninth program in Lower Peninsula history to win three straight girls golf Finals championships. The last to do so in Division 1 was Grand Blanc (2004-06).
Northville’s depth shined Friday, with just six shots separating its five golfers. Sophomore Avi Gill and junior Haesol Park each carded 79s, while senior Katelyn Tokarz finished with an 80 to round out the team’s scoring.
“If you look at our last two holes, that’s where we opened the gap,” Cronin said. “A lot of birdies on those last two holes. It’s awesome. Plymouth was our equal. They beat us handily a couple times this year. Adams beat us this year. Grand Blanc beat us this year. We knew it was going to be close, and I think that makes this extra special.
“That’s kind of our team’s MO. We’re able to finish strong. The girls really executed today. A good example was our No. 4 golfer, Haesol Park. She started six over after four holes. It was a rough way to start. She finished with a 79 today. That’s somebody hanging in there, grinding it out. All the girls did that. They knew that that’s what it was going to take to win today.”
After a rough start, Rochester Adams made a move and took the lead.
“I’m proud of every single girl. I mean, the way they played and battle through things,” Adams head coach Jeff Kutschman said. “The conditions were changing. We had sun and no wind for a while. Then it felt like a 25-30 mile an hour wind for a couple holes, cold and cloudy. Then it was back to sunny. The way they battled through the conditions today was outstanding.”
Sophomore Grace Wang paced the Highlanders with a round of 76. Freshman teammate Laura Liu added a 78.
Grand Blanc sophomore Kate Brody was the tournament medalist, shooting a 2-under 70. She was the only player to break par.
“It feels great that all my hard work has paid off,” said Brody, who finished third overall a year ago. “I had to stay focused, stay calm and take my time on my shots. The conditions were rough but I think I did a good job adjusting to it. I have practiced so much, put a lot of work in. I’m just glad that I could come out with the win.”
Utica Eisenhower senior Ariel Chang and Ann Arbor Skyline junior Adie Maki tied for second with a pair of 73s. Plymouth junior Bridget Boczar and East Kentwood freshman Elise Fennell each shot 74 to finish fourth. Traverse City West senior Anci Dy (75), Coleman, Brighton senior Maggie Pietila (75), Ann Arbor Pioneer senior Amaya Melendez (76), Rockford freshman Jessica Jolly (76) and Wang (76) rounded out the top 10.
PHOTOS: (Top) Northville’s Samantha Coleman follows through on a putt during the Division 1 Final on Friday at Forest Akers East. (Middle) Grand Blanc’s Kate Brody putts during her run to the individual championship. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
For Love of Game, Hudsonville Ace Plays Thru Injury to Finish Season at Finals
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
October 20, 2021
HUDSONVILLE – Ella Thomasma’s love of the game was worth the pain.
The Hudsonville junior persevered through a serious knee injury to finish her season among the best golfers in the state.
Thomasma competed at this past weekend’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals as an individual qualifier and placed 47th overall. She carded rounds of 89 and 90 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State for a two-day total of 179.
And Thomasma made the field, and then played those back-to-back 18-hole rounds, with a torn right knee ligament suffered six months ago.
“It was so rewarding to finish the season, and it’s pretty cool to be able to say I made it the entire way,” Thomasma said. “No one would probably do what I did, that would be my guess, but I just love golf and I didn’t want to miss my junior year.”
Thomasma suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in March during high school soccer tryouts and was done for the rest of that season.
Doctors encouraged Thomasma to have surgery, but she opted out due to her desire to play golf this fall.
“The doctor told me I should do it when the injury happened, but I told him that I couldn’t do that,” Thomasma said. “I had to wait until golf season was done because I knew I wanted to play golf.”
Hudsonville girls golf coach Joe DeSmit knew Thomasma was committed to playing despite the injury.
“When it happened, she said she wasn’t getting surgery until after the season so she knew right away she was going to try and go as long as she could,” he said. “She even went out West with Young Life and had to do hikes. We talked about getting a medical clearance to use a cart, but she didn’t want any part of it.”
Thomasma emerged as the Eagles’ top golfer this fall despite the overwhelming pain she experienced often.
“It’s been pretty bad, and it hurts all the time, but I wasn’t going to stop golfing,” Thomasma said. “I think walking was the hardest part for me. It wasn’t hitting the ball, it was walking all the courses – and some of them were tough to walk. It just made it tougher.”
Thomasma wore a brace on the knee to alleviate some of the pain.
“When I was swinging (the club), it was fine, but I would hit my shot and then be like, ‘Dang, I have to walk to the next shot now,’” Thomasma said. “It was tough, but I did it.”
DeSmit was proud of Thomasma for her grit and determination.
“I just think it’s awesome what she did this year, and she’s just a grinder,” he said. “I could tear up about it because she just gutted it out all year.
“It’s a testament to her for grinding through it and putting her team ahead of herself and saying that she was going to play to help the team.”
Hudsonville competed at the Regional earlier this month at Crystal Mountain and finished fifth as a team. The top three teams from Regionals advance to Finals.
Thomasma, however, qualified as an individual after firing a 92 to tie for ninth – and earn the third of three qualifying spots for golfers whose teams do not advance as a whole.
“I knew if I was going to wait to have surgery, I wanted to make it as far as I possibly could and I did it,” Thomasma said. “The conditions at the state finals were tough, but I didn’t play awful so I’m not complaining. I wish I would’ve played better, but I didn’t end up too bad.”
Thomasma received a special honor at the end of the season.
“She was given the Eagle Award, which is given to an athlete that you want to replicate (from) our program,” DeSmit said. “Not many kids would do that, and she’s just tough.”
Thomasma, who said her meniscus was probably torn as well because of the delay, was scheduled to have surgery this week.
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for four years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Hudsonville’s Ella Thomasma sends a drive during Saturday’s second round at The Meadows. (Middle) Thomasma, playing the Finals with a torn ACL, puts a putt close to the cup. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)