When considering that her 1984 girls volleyball team at Evergreen High School didn’t lose a game, there are aspects to Laurice “Lo” Hunter’s coaching career that border on the impossible.
But there’s also a secret behind Hunter’s success that falls into the category of “believe it or not.” Obviously, there was something special in engineering a career record of 503-83 from 1972-95. Her teams won nine state championships and in one stretch posted a victory streak of 182 matches, a feat that brought national acclaim. But those figures might pale to the difficulties of her methods in getting her teams’ attention. Think of the chatter when teenage girls get together.
“I was a disciplinarian,” Hunter said. “There were times when my teams couldn’t settle down and focus, even in practice. I made them sit down for five minutes and not say a word to anyone. It proved a point, and it really worked.”
The silent treatment worked so well that Hunter and her team were mentioned in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” section in the Nov. 2, 1981, issue.
The item read: “Hunter has coached the Evergreen High girls’ volleyball team to three consecutive state titles and, with a 15-5, 15-5 defeat of Green Mountain High, set a national high school record for straight wins in the sport — 94.”
As it turned out, the plaudit was deserved, but the 94 straight victories didn’t set a national record. The mention in the national sports publication brought out some better winning streaks in girls volleyball that weren’t on the National Federation of State High School Associations’ record books.
Hunter also coached girls basketball at Evergreen, but her volleyball teams were dominant. Her lineups included Tanya Haave, now the women’s basketball coach at the University of San Francisco; Sherri Danielson, a career leader in volleyball statistics at Colorado State and a trainee for the U.S. national team in 1986; and Liz Armbrust- macher, the volleyball coach at Lakewood High School.
“Lo Hunter was my first mentor and very important to me for instilling the values of hard work and knowing what it takes to be a top-caliber athlete,” Haave said.
The 182-match winning streak paid dividends.
“I couldn’t have paid $5,000 and found a better motivator,” Hunter said. “We just kept saying that this isn’t going to be the team that loses.”
But the streak ended in 1985 at a tournament in Colorado Springs.
“At first, it was hard for me to say anything,” Hunter said. “I finally said that it was only a game and we’d learn from it. We moped around for a while, but we got over it.”
Her players got over the loss in a big way, going on to win the state title. It was the ninth and last of Hunter’s state championships.
There were happier memories of playing in Colorado Springs. Her teams had a ritual of a dousing in the hotel’s indoor swimming pool for everyone, including Hunter, after a victory.
Hunter was a pioneer of girls high school sports competition in Colorado. When she arrived in the early 1970s, girls sports programs at the high school level were just getting underway. Her first coaching assignments were in gymnastics, tennis and track and field.
“I never thought I’d see daddies go out there and cry when their daughters won a state championship,” Hunter said. “It was quite a sight to see fathers be so happy for their daughters.”
Her legacy includes a list of at least 125 girls from Evergreen who gained four-year college scholarships through their sports competition.
While growing up in Dodge City, Kan., Hunter had little choice but to become interested in sports. The youngest of 12 siblings, she followed five older brothers into sports, first in tennis and then into recreation basketball and baseball.
Hunter is scheduled for induction into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in April. Her plaque should read, “Grand dame (great lady) of girls high school sports in Colorado.”
Hunter bio
Born: Aug. 29, 1932, in Dodge City, Kan.
High school: Dodge City
Colleges: Dodge City Junior College, Wichita State
Family: Brothers Bob and Wallace, sister Dawn (Hunter claims 280 immediate family members)
Hobby: Traveling the world
Ambition: Enjoying life
