Inductees

Kay Hunter learned at an early age to make the most of life’s opportunities. Whether they came in the form of honing her athletic and competitive skills on the recess yard or taking advantage of a limited slate of girls athletic options as a high schooler, the Mount Vernon native wasted few chances to build her knowledge base and share her passion for athletics.

“Growing up, the only sports for girls were at recess in playing softball with the boys,” Hunter said. “Then football on a neighbor’s large side yard and having bike races around the block.”

Hunter expanded her athletic prowess while in high school. Ever so slightly. Her first coach, Doris Tracy, was able to schedule singles and doubles tennis matches against two conference schools for Hunter and good friend Jean Glover, giving the duo a grand total of four matches for their prep careers.

Limited as they were, the opportunities to build on her competitive spirit and love for sports drove Hunter during her formative years at Missouri State University. She would return to the Springfield school to blaze a trail as a coach, teacher and mentor that ultimately paved the way for countless female student-athletes and coaches who followed, and it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Hunter as part of the Class of 2022.

In all, Hunter guided her Missouri State program through a noteworthy stretch in which it qualified for the AIAW College World Series seven times, compiling a 227-111 overall record during her 11-year tenure.

After completing her undergraduate degree from MSU in 1955, Hunter spent the next decade teaching physical education and dipping her toe into the coaching waters in Carthage. She then received the call from Dr. Mary Jo Wynn to return to her alma mater as a supply instructor, while working on her master’s degree.

She also helped organize a junior miss softball program, while leading Springfield’s Foremost softball team—a group that included many notable athletes (and later, coaches), including Sue Schuble (MSHOF 1998) and Linda Dollar (MSHOF 2011). It was also an organization that eventually formed the backbone of one of the nation’s most consistent softball programs of the 1970s.

It would be the same ‘seize the day’ mentality that served Hunter well in leading her most celebrated group of pupils — the 1974 Missouri State Softball team (MSHOF 2008) — to unprecedented heights, despite facing a variety of obstacles and difficult playing conditions. That squad went 19-4 overall and cruised to a state title to advance to the AIAW College World Series for the third straight year.

Once in Omaha, the Bears left little doubt about their place in the landscape of college softball, as they knocked off Massachusetts, Luther College, Eastern Illinois and Wayne State to reach the championship game. In the title matchup with Northern Colorado, Hunter’s leadership, highlighted by her appreciation for the opportunity to compete, certainly shifted her club’s focus from some less-than-ideal circumstances. After heavy rains rendered the championship venue unplayable, the title game was moved to the soggy turf surface of the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s football field, where there were no dugouts and few spectators.

But persevere they did, doubling up UNC by a 14-7 final margin to bring the first national title for a Missouri State women’s team back to Springfield.

“As I have told the team since, ‘Be proud of your accomplishment, as you have been placed in the history books of the National Softball College World Series and inducted into multiple halls of fame … something the majority of those who compete never get to experience.’”

Not solely focused on the making of history as a measuring stick, Hunter points to the lasting friendships she gained while doing something she loved for so long as some of her most cherished accomplishments.

She also points to her parents and extended family, who not only helped fuel her early interest in sports but showed continued support for her coaching endeavors as well. Colleagues like Rhonda Ridinger, Gayle Runke, Reba Sims (MSHOF 2009) and Dollar played key roles for Hunter, as did the countless student-athletes she mentored throughout her career as a teacher, coach and friend.

“My coaching experience has been like the making of a delicious sundae,” Hunter said. “And they all have been the cherry on top!”