Pine Crest junior overcomes medical disorder to excel in swimming, tennis
Talk about a difficultstart to high school.
Hanna Elks Smith, diagnosed with juvenile scoliosis just days before the start of her freshman year, spent the next several months wearing a hipsto-chest back brace.
Smith also used a standing desk at school because it hurt to sit for too long.
Instead of a backpack, she carried her books in a sort of suitcase with wheels, lugging it up three and four flights of stairs at her expansive school, Fort Lauderdale’s Pine Crest.
“I was known as the ‘rolling backpack girl’ for a while,” Smith said with a laugh. “But I try to make the best of every situation. I ran for student council that year, and, in my speech, I apologized to any student I may have run over with my rolling backpack.”
These days, a fully healthy Smith rolls over her opponents in the pool and on the tennis court. Instead of “rolling backpack girl,” the 17-year-old junior should be known as “amazing athlete.”
The back brace did its work, helping to straighten Smith’s spine, and she is now a 5-foot-10 wonder, competing at a high level in tennis and swimming.
“I’m super competitive, and I love the contrast in sports,” Smith said. “In tennis, it’s a battle, oneon-one. I have to take the other girl down.
“In swimming [the 50-yard freestyle], I have 23 seconds to prove how good I am in the water.”
Since missing her freshman year of athletics, Smith has been plenty good, winning two team state titles in swimming. She doesn’t have any tennis hardware yet because the pandemic canceled her sophomore year, and her junior season has yet to play out.
Individually, she has a 10-2 record as Pine
Crest’s No. 2 singles player. As a swimmer this past season, she finished second at state in the 100free and third in the 50free. She also anchored two state championship relay teams: 200-free and 200-individual medley. And, in tennis doubles, she is 7-2.
“Hanna is an extremely athletic girl,” Pine Crest swim coach Chris Morris said. “She has a natural feel for the water. We do co-ed training, and the boys have to try to keep up with her.”
Pine Crest tennis coach Corey Marsh said Smith — despite having to juggle two sports and an academic workload that includes five Advanced Placement classes and one honors course — hasn’t missed a match all season.
“From warm-up to match point, Hanna is laser focused,” Marsh said. “Her passion to compete is contagious, and the younger girls on our team respond to her leadership. She’s a special athlete and a special person.”
FAMILY LEGACY
Smith’s mother, Connie, has a background in ballet and tap dancing. Smith’s father, Bubba, is 6-4 and a former outside linebacker at Duke University.
“I’m just a brokendown old linebacker,” Bubba Smith joked. “I married into the hero side of the family.”
He was referring to the fact that his daughter was named after her maternal great-grandfather, Jake Hanna, a World War II veteran who died three years ago at age 95.
“He was a tail gunner, flying planes for the Army,” Smith said of her great-grandfather. “His plane was shot down in Germany during the war. His parachute got stuck in a telephone pole, and he spent two years as a prisoner of war in Germany.”
Smith, who was close to Jake Hanna, said she gave the eulogy at his funeral when she was just 14.
“I always knew we were bonded,” she said.
Jake Hanna’s legacy as a military hero still rings true as his great-granddaughter is strongly considering attending Army, Navy or Air Force, although it’s also possible she will end up at an Ivy League or ACC university.
“I want leadership opportunities as part of my college experience,”
Smith said, “and I’m interested in serving my country and continuing my great-grandfather’s legacy.”
DOUBLE DUTY
Smith, who has a 4.7 grade-point average, said she has yet to decide if she wants to study medicine, engineering or political science.
One thing is for sure: She is planning to compete in tennis and swimming in college — despite the doubters who say reaching your potential in two vastly different sports is impossible.
Smith said there have been numerous coaches over the years who wanted her to choose one sport exclusively so she could train year-round.
“They told me that if I didn’t,” Smith said, “I wouldn’t improve.”
Smith has proven them wrong.
In fact, competing in two sports has prevented her from getting burned out on either one.
“There were many times that I had a bad day in the pool and then I would take out my frustrations on the tennis ball,” Smith said. “Or if I had a bad day in tennis, I knew I could jump into the pool and swim a fast 50-free.”
Jumping into a pool after tennis was also a great way to recover physically from a tough workout, and that’s yet another reason she wants to continue doing both sports.
“My rule is,” Smith said, “if you’re still improving and having fun, keep doing both.”