RISING STAR
Following high school , Hunter attended Lake Land College , a community college about an hour from her hometown , and also worked at a golf course in Moweaqua , Illinois . From Lake Land , Hunter transferred to Ohio State University for her bachelor ’ s degree , and eventually did internships with the Chicago Cubs and Billings Mustangs .
Following graduation from OSU in the fall of 2019 , Hunter was supposed to embark on a year-long internship with the Indianapolis Indians , but that got cut short only two months in due to the COVID-19 pandemic .
She returned home to Assumption , went to work on a hog farm , and gave herself a deadline of getting a job by a certain point .
Hunter searched the SFMA job board and found a job as assistant groundskeeper for the Columbia ( S . C .) Fireflies ( Single-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals ). She spent one season as assistant groundskeeper for the Fireflies , was promoted to head groundskeeper , and spent a season in that role before moving on to Quad Cities as director of field services .
At Modern Woodmen Park , home of the River Bandits , Hunter oversees all grounds — including the field and approximately an acre of berms . She is assisted by Robert Jump , who mows and performs other maintenance tasks , and a game day crew of 5 to 7 people — which this year included a large percentage of high school students .
Hunter describes her role as , “ Day-to-day maintenance of the baseball field , trying to make sure it ’ s safe and playable and looks pretty .”
She has succeeded in that effort . Since Hunter took the reins at Modern Woodmen Park , USA Today named it the country ’ s “ Best Minor League Ballpark ( 2024 ).”
Now Hunter adds a SportsField Management Rising Star Award to her accolades . And , according to Hunter , being recognized by her peers means everything .
“ Awards are cool , but it ’ s how you make people feel and the people that you work with that ’ s really cool ,” she said . “ I struggle sometimes with thinking that I ’ m a leader or might have any kind of influence in this industry . Even just being nominated is an honor , and getting to win one of the awards is really cool . It really does mean so much to me since it is from peers in the industry ; and to hear what they said really made me feel good . I try to make it a point to be a good friend and leader whenever I can . I am very grateful to everyone who had any part in me being considered for , let alone receiving , a Rising Star award .”
26 SportsField Management | October 2024 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com