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Museum exhibit ‘special’ to North Putnam grad Hunt
Current North Putnam students were still just wee toddlers when Cassie Hunt was graduating from the school in 2003, and they may or may not have heard of the accomplishments of one of the county’s best-ever athletes.
Anyone wanting to catch up on Hunt’s state championship high school and All-American collegiate career can do so through June 2021 by visiting an exhibit in her honor at the Putnam County Museum in Greencastle.
The impressive display contains Hunt’s medals, plaques and other memorabilia from her outstanding running career that saw her break into the running scene in high school with a long list of accomplishments.
She won multiple championships in cross country at the West Central Conference, sectional and regional levels and was a two-time state qualifier.
Hunt placed 13th in 2001 and 14th in 2002, and won the prestigious IHSAA Mental Attitude Award in 2002.
In track and field, her accomplishments were even more impressive as she won 11 combined WCC titles in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 events, won four sectional titles in the 1,600, three sectionals in the 3,200, a regional title in the 1,600 in 2002 and qualified five times for the state finals.
Those finals appearances were highlighted by a state championship in the 1,600 in her junior year.
From North Putnam, Hunt took her talents to the University of Illinois and continued to excel. Hunt won the Big Ten cross country title in 2005 and was an All-American that year for placing 11th in the NCAA Championships — in which she competed three times.
In track and field, Hunt was a three-time NCAA qualifier in the outdoor season, a two-time NCAA qualifier in the indoor season
Hunt has worked as an enrollment services and administrative systems specialist at Wabash College since August of 2011.
When contacted earlier this week, Hunt had not yet been able to view the newly-established exhibit but plans to arrange a viewing for her family members in the near future.
Hunt is honored to have been chosen as a subject for such a display.
“This exhibit means a great deal to me,” she said. “I appreciate the efforts of Lisa Harris Mock, Murray Pride and anyone else involved in making it happen. It’s a very special thing to me.”
Hunt admits she had not looked through her collection of memorabilia and accomplishments for a while, and she enjoyed the trip down memory lane.
“It had been a long while since I last rummaged through my storage bins of pictures, newspaper clippings and other keepsakes from high school and college, and I rather enjoyed it,” she said. “It was a nice reminder of the good times I had running in high school and college, as well as all of the wonderful people who essentially made my running career possible.”
The museum is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. by appointment.
The office can be reached at 765-653-8419.
