By Griffin Fabits, SDA Media Relations Graduate Assistant
Maddy Hunter couldn’t contain the smirk that stretched across her face, even before the entirety of the question was asked.
It was a fair one – had she entertained the idea of using her extra year of eligibility due to the blanketed COVID-19 year to play her final season of college lacrosse elsewhere other than Arizona State? – but the fifth-year graduate student couldn’t help but unleash a grin.
"I love it here. [I thought], ‘No way am I going somewhere else. This is the best situation that could’ve happened."
Though, that may be putting it mildly.
Better yet, what Sun Devil Lacrosse has done for Hunter has been transformative. Life-changing. A constant presence in her life when she’s needed it most.
In her rookie season in 2018, the Sammamish, Washington, native started in the first 12 games before an ACL tear sidelined her for the remainder of the year. What was supposed to be an exciting first spring for Hunter – the Sun Devils were 6-6 through those first dozen contests – spiraled into season-ending surgery and a grueling rehab regimen that followed.
While sidelined, Hunter was wowed by the support she received from teammates and coaches and the care shown by the team’s training staff.
"I just owe [athletic trainer] Caitlyn Blanton the biggest ‘thank you.’ She was so essential and anyone who’s injured understands that she’s not just your trainer, she’s the one who is there for you, who you can count on and you don’t have a doubt she’s doing what is best and what she thinks is best."
And then, a year-and-a-half later, Hunter’s father unexpectedly passed in November of 2019. A lacrosse player himself growing up, this was the man who introduced his daughter to the game she grew to love, who fueled her passion for playing collegiately.
Suddenly, gone.
If Hunter was touched by the support she received from those within the program while recovering from the injury, then she was simply floored in the weeks and months following the loss of her father.
"To have, for one example, [head coach] Tim [McCormack] and Christina [Wombacher] (Sr. Assoc. AD/SWA) show up at my dad’s funeral; that just meant the world to me in so many ways. Knowing they were there meant a lot."
"Right away, I saw how much they truly cared for me. I think ever since then, it’s just developed into the greatest relationship that I could’ve ever asked for. I would’ve never expected my experience to turn out the way it has, but I’m so grateful for them."
Hunter is now in her fifth-year with the program, pursuing a Master’s degree in Healthcare Innovation and serving as a team captain this spring. One of the very first to join the program nearly five years ago, Hunter has assumed the role of a veteran leader this year, the kind of presence that the team’s younger players effortlessly cling to.
"Maddy has grown an enormous amount since I first arrived at ASU. Everything that has been thrown her way on and off the field has been handled with such maturity and grace. She has established herself as a true leader on this team and has such passion and love for the game which is infectious to everyone around her."
"She is always surrounding herself with the underclassmen on the team, which is so important for our program culture. She leads by example competing and playing her hardest every day, while encouraging others to do the same."
Dorrien Van Dyke
Hunter has also dealt with the changing of coaching staffs midway through her career, when McCormack was tabbed as the program’s new head coach in the summer of 2019.
For a team looking to find its way, this was a perfect marriage.
In her classes for her Master’s program, Hunter reads about leadership and the kinds of skills and tendencies effective leaders employ.
“And the topics I’m learning about in my graduate classes relate a lot to how Tim, Graz (Assistant Coach Nicole Graziano), and Dor are running the program, which is pretty cool” Hunter said, smiling as she hears herself say it. In a collegiate career where uncertainty has loomed overhead like a gray cloud, it is her realization that she’s surrounded by those who have her best interest in mind.
This program and all associated with it have served as a collective shoulder for Hunter to lean on at one point or another.
At the time of her commitment years ago, Sun Devil Lacrosse had yet to play a regular season game. The program was well in its infancy and still trying to pluck talent from every pocket of the country so it could field a roster in the spring of 2018 – the team’s inaugural season.
Hunter was one of 38 to pledge to the growing Sun Devils. She took a chance on a young team seeking to carve out its own presence in a state that was largely unfamiliar with lacrosse.
Hunter fully bought into a program that sought out stability and structure in its early going. One of 22 true freshmen that season, the Sun Devils had quickly constructed a young core that would help kickstart the existence of Arizona State Lacrosse.
It’s part of the reason she hardly hesitated when asked if a return to Tempe for her final season was in the cards. For a university that offered her a chance to carry out a childhood dream – built on the shared passion between her and her father – it was only fair to commit to the Sun Devils for one more year.
