Metro-area Athena Award winners not done making a difference

Stories by Betsy Helfand  • betsy.helfand@startribune.com

becky moore minneapolis south

Shortly before Minneapolis South's adapted softball team played a game last week, the coach walked into athletic director Amy Cardarelle's office with a request regarding one of her most exuberant players: Becky Moore.

"She was like, 'Is there any way we can get Becky another year of eligibility because we don't want her to graduate? We need her next year,' " Cardarelle recalled.

Cardarelle joked back that she would see what strings she could pull, all the while knowing that would never happen.

"She's got bigger plans," Cardarelle said.

Moore certainly does. The athlete, who competes in four adapted sports, loves to sing and hopes to one day audition for "The Voice." She also has plans to become a doctor in the Air Force, working with prosthetics.

Moore's interest in the field stems from her own experiences. At age 8, she developed an illness and was in a coma for 2½ months. When she woke up, blood had stopped flowing to her legs and part of one hand.

After surgery, Moore talked with military members who were fellow amputees.

"They talked with me about [how] 'It's OK. You're young. You're going to get used to it,' " Moore said.

That's apparent when Moore plays soccer, excelling in goal. She picked up the sport as a junior and helped lead the team to consecutive state tournaments.

"We put her right in the first game [and] she saved about 40 shots," coach Michael York said.

Moore, who also competes in softball, floor hockey and bowling, said she felt she showed the most improvement in soccer, proving a few people wrong along the way.

"Certain people feel that [people with disabilities] can't do certain things and I like to show 'Yes you can,' " Moore said.

taylor morgan blaine

Selling Taylor Morgan on the University of Minnesota wasn't particularly hard. The senior grew up following the Gophers and her father, Matt Bingle, is the women's track coach at Minnesota.

So when volleyball Hugh McCutcheon came calling her sophomore year, Morgan was all ears.

Morgan's parents told her to wait a bit to commit, but she was eager.

"I waited maybe two hours when I got home [from my visit] and I was like, 'I need to call him back. I need to seal the deal. I want to be a Gopher. I don't want to look at any other schools,' " she said.

Now, she's just weeks from moving to campus. Morgan will move in June and begin summer workouts in July.

Before then, the two-sport athlete still has a track season to finish up. Morgan competes in two relays at Blaine. Her coach, Ann Stalboerger, said she leads by example.

"She was a leader when she was a freshman, but she's really, she's a big leader on the track and at the meets and practices. … She's got a presence to her and girls really respect her," Stalboerger said.

Though Morgan excels on the track, her future is in volleyball. The 6-foot middle blocker worked her way up to varsity as a freshman, helping lead Blaine to the state tournament.

She earned all-conference honors as a sophomore before a torn ACL ended her junior season.

"After I tore my ACL, I was like, '[Minnesota is] not going to want me anymore. My life is over.' It was so bad, but then just hearing [McCutcheon] say, 'We still want you, we're excited to have you,' makes you feel good inside and just makes you want to push even harder," she said.

logan dobratz lakeville north

Logan Dobratz's senior lacrosse season ended in the second game of the season, when she took a wrong step and tore her right ACL.

Dobratz, a captain, has played on the team since eighth grade, and coach Mo Gaitan said the injury was devastating for the Panthers.

Not only did the team lose a top scorer — Dobratz had 47 goals and 80 points last season — but it also lost a leader.

"[Her injury] was a very emotional moment for the entire team, and now you talk to her and she's like … 'It's only an ACL. It's not the MCL. It's not the PCL. It's not the meniscus.' Just her attitude surrounding the situation is unbelievable," Gaitan said.

Dobratz eventually hopes to be a teacher, and her injury has enabled her to exercise some of the skills necessary for the career.

"She has that player's perspective [so] she's really relatable and has been able to convey the right message to the players and be just another informational source for the girls," Gaitan said.

Dobratz has embraced her new role, helping the face-off team, warming up the goalie and giving teammates pointers.

"I would not want to be anywhere else … besides being on the field with the team, so it's really nice to be able to be connected still in that way," she said.

Though Dobratz's injury wiped away a season, she still has four more in front of her.

After a summer filled with rest and rehab, she'll head to Marquette, where she has a scholarship to continue her career.

"I'm so blessed to have this opportunity to play at Marquette because I could never imagine April 18 being the last day I would ever play lacrosse," she said.

Betsy Helfand is a University of Minnesota student reporter on assignment for the Star Tribune.