SHERMAN, Texas –The Austin College athletics department has announced its 2019 Athletics Hall of Honor class, and former head women's basketball coach Deb Hunter has been named the 2019 winner of the Joe Spencer Award for Meritorious Service and Lifetime Achievement in Coaching.
Among the 2019 Hall of Honor inductees are former football players Jason Johnson and Jeff Robbins, baseball player Kevin Krause, volleyball player Kaitlin (Listol) Shores, and women's soccer player Kaitlin Elledge.
Johnson, a 1992 graduate, starred at running back for the 'Roos, finishing his career as the third leading rusher in Austin College history. He was a two-time All-TIAA selection and a member of two teams that made appearances in the NAIA National Playoffs.
Robbins, a 1984 graduate, was a three year starter at linebacker for the 'Roos and was a member of the 1981 NAIA National Championship team. He earned numerous accolades, including being named to the NAIA All-America team.
Krause, a 1992 graduate, was a three year starter for the 'Roo baseball team, and was an integral part of the first Austin College baseball team to ever win 20 games. Krause earned All-TIAA accolades in 1991 and 1992.
Shores, a 2008 graduate, remains the only Austin College volleyball player to have been named a first team All-American by the AVCA, and was the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2007. She was the 2008 Gene Day Award winner as Austin College's most outstanding female athlete, and still holds the SCAC record for kills in a season.
Elledge, a 2011 graduate, earned All-SCAC accolades three times, including first team honors her senior year. In 2011 she was named both the Gene Day Award winner and the Bo Miller Scholar-Athlete Award winner for having the highest grade-point-average among all female student-athletes.
Hunter has been named the Joe Spener Award winner after coaching the 'Roos beginning in 1999 until her retirement in 2010. Hunter won 138 games in her tenure at Austin College, including an 18-8 mark and was named both the SCAC and Russell Athletic/WBCA Region 5 Coach of the Year. She was also a two-time American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2006.
Prior to coaching at Austin College, Hunter was the head coach at both Colorado College and Bethel College. At Bethel, she was a two-time NCAA District 8 Coach of the Year. Over the course of her 20-year coaching career, Hunter won 268 games.
Hunter also served as the Senior Women's Administrator at Austin College, and was instrumental in assisting the college transition both to the NCAA Division III level and the SCAC. She served on various national NCAA committees during her coaching career, and has been the keynote speaker at the NCAA Division III Final Four. A 1985 graduate of the University of Minnesota, Hunter was a two-time All-American point guard for the Gophers and still holds multiple career records there, including career assists and steals. Hunter is a member of the Minnesota Athletics Hall of Fame, and last January the Gophers honored her by retiring her jersey.
The Hall of Honor class and Hunter will be honored during Legends Weekend in the summer of 2019 on the Austin College campus.
Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.