Morgan Rasmason is an all-around athlete at Windsor High. Press Democrat photo by Jeff Kan Lee

By MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

To question why Morgan Rasmason excels at whatever sport she plays is a little like asking why giraffes walk moments after they’re born.
“It’s how birds know how to fly and giraffes know how to walk. It’s just there,” said Kurt Ludwigsen, Morgan’s softball travel ball coach. “She’s just spooky good at everything she does.”
Morgan, 17, is a senior at Windsor High School whose natural success on the field and court seems to come effortlessly, although more likely it’s the result of a lot of hard work.
Meanwhile, she’s been able to maintain a 4.0 grade point average while playing in three varsity sports. She was First All-Team League for softball and soccer and recently was named “most athletic by her classmates.
Like many kids in Sonoma County, Morgan got an early start.
She started playing softball in the Santa Rosa Girls Softball League when she was 6. She also got an early start in soccer, playing in the Annadel Youth Soccer League.
In middle school, she began playing basketball and continued to do so during her freshman, sophomore and junior years. As a sophomore, she made both varsity soccer and softball teams.
Outside of school sports, she’s played travel softball for Nor Cal Assault, a Junior Olympic girls softball organization that helps prepare players for college competition. League tournaments have taken her to Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, Los Angeles and Colorado. This summer, she’ll be going to Canada.
“I’m a very competitive person,” she said. “It’s a way for me to try to get that competitiveness out.”
Morgan said she’s always been drawn to sports. She remembers watching her mother play slow-pitch softball, and when she was in grade school, during recess, she always wanted to be on the winning team.
That winning feeling has stuck with her ever since, and when she’s not “at the top,” it just makes her work that much harder.
“But I wouldn’t call myself a sore loser,” she said. “Because every game has a winner and a loser, and I’ve been on both sides so I can respect both sides.
She’s currently headed to the University of Arizona but is still looking for other colleges that might offer her a sports scholarship.
Recently, Morgan discovered a more creative side to her that has challenged her in new ways. She performed in a play as part of core classes she’s taking through Windsor High’s Nueva School of the Arts.
The play, an urban take on Shakespeare’s “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream,” required her to dance. At first she didn’t want to have anything to do with it because she was afraid of being awkward.
But she surprised herself.
“It was weird. It ended up going really smoothly and I would definitely do it again,” she said. “It was a feeling like I’ve never had before. With sports, I’m in my element, knowing what I’m doing. When I was on stage I was totally in a different element, but I still had the same confidence.”

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com.

Morgan Rasmason
Age: 17
Birthplace: Petaluma
Lives with: With mother, Becky, mostly
What’s on her iPhone: Linkin Park, Blake Shelton, Coastin’ by Zion I
Favorite hobby: Playing sports
Dream job: Something in marketing or a job where she discovers and helps develop new artists
Favorite TV show: “Desperate Housewives” or “Chopped,” a cooking show.
Favorite food: Steak or pizza
Quote: “Giving up is for rookies,” she’s not sure who the author is. And “Stay gold, Ponyboy,” from The Outsiders.