While growing up in Maryland, Morgan Hunter dedicated her weekends to playing lacrosse. The self-described born and bred lacrosse player took advantage of any opportunity to pick up a stick.
“I played when I was five [years old] all the way up,” Hunter said. “I played on a club team, so I played all throughout the summer and through the school year because I also played on my high school team.”
The senior is the president of the women’s club lacrosse at The University of Alabama, but her road to leadership took a detour through Coastal Carolina University that began while playing at C. Milton Wright High School.
During high school, she suffered a concussion while playing lacrosse, but was able to recover. Hunter went on to play Division I lacrosse at CCU, but during her freshman year, she once again suffered a concussion.
Following the second injury, Hunter was no longer able to play NCAA Division I lacrosse. When she decided it was time to transfer, Hunter wanted to look for more than just her beloved sport, regardless if she wanted to continue with it.
Hunter knew she wanted to attend a SEC school, not just for the school spirit atmosphere, but also because her native Northern family has a history of migrating south for college. Her brother attended the University of North Alabama, her sister attended East Carolina University and two of her cousins attended the University of Georgia, but Hunter took her own path and chose Alabama.
“It’s true when they say you kinda know when you step on a campus, you should go there because that’s how I felt,” Hunter said.
After joining the club’s lacrosse team at Alabama during her sophomore year, she chose to treat training for games the same way she did while in high school and at CCU. The only exception is now she and the rest of the team do fundraising events to come up with part of the budget, which she, as the team president, is in charge of organizing.
Jacquie Andreano, the team’s vice president, said Hunter’s strong work ethic provided the team with an example to follow this year. If Hunters says something should be done a certain way, such as workouts and fundraisers, her teammates will listen, but she will also be right there doing it with them.
“She pushes us to do it, and she does it too,” Andreano said. “I see her at the gym five times a week at least. It’s always a lead by example with her and that’s nice to have.”
Hunter admits she is often exhausted by the end of most days from classes, the lacrosse team and social life, but she chooses to see her position as a chance to help the sport grow. She hopes there will eventually be a Division I program at Alabama for her to come back and watch as an alumna, but does not want to lose the club team.
“Having a player, like Morgan Hunter, really care about the sport more than just her few years at the university is huge,” coach Jason Sanderson. “When [players] become a senior, they might just lose all interest and not try hard enough. She cares so much about the players coming up after her.”
