Morgan Rial’s soccer, basketball and track coaches reminisce on their favorite memories involving our Female Athlete of the Year:

Kailee Blankenship, soccer:

My favorite story about Morgan from the soccer season was when we played Seattle Lutheran for a third time in the season. We had already lost to them twice by only one goal both times. There was one particular player that scored the winning goal on us in both of the previous games. We knew we could beat them because our teams were pretty evenly matched in skill level, so I decided I needed to change my coaching strategy instead for this third game. I asked Morgan to “stick like glue” to the player that had scored the game winning goals on us in the previous games. No matter where this player went on the field, I wanted Morgan to go with her. By changing my game strategy, I took Morgan out of her regular playing position and her “comfort” zone, which forced Morgan to adjust her playing style and her game strategy on the fly. Morgan did just as I asked without one complaint because she realized it was what was best for the whole team. Morgan totally shut that particular player down. The player eventually got frustrated with Morgan marking her so tightly, which mentally took that player out of her game. Morgan was able to keep her from scoring and we won the game!

Greg Cheever, basketball:

During our team photo session Morgan was involved in a random video shoot where she and a few other players hiked up their basketball shorts to their armpits and jumped around…an excellent example of Morgan’s grasp on life. She is an elite athlete and competitor, but not so caught up in the ‘spotlight’ to not have some good-natured fun with her teammates.

Scott Wright, track:

My favorite memory for Morgan this year was her winning the Tri-District 400 meters. It was the first time that Morgan had made state in an individual event. When we talked at the end of last season and the beginning of this year, her main goal was to make it to state in the 400. She just missed the last 2 years. When she won this year, the monkey was off her back and it was a great relief for her and I as her coach.