Boothbay Region High School’s history boasts many fine athletes — great runners, super court and field competitors, and top notch track stars. But every decade or so, an athlete comes along who excels at every sport he or she attempts.

Morgan Crocker, who graduated this month, is one of those rare gems — and her coaches attest not only to her talent, but to the hard work and focus that have fueled her success.

“Morgan’s one of those individuals who come along every eight or ten years or so that can do multiple things well,” long-time BRHS track coach Dick Morrison said. “She has the determination, drive, intensity and work ethic to pull it off.”

In her four years at BRHS, Crocker has participated on cross country, basketball and track teams. And she hasn’t merely participated in any of these sports, she has excelled in all of them. Crocker has placed on the Mountain Valley Conference first team 13 times and its second team five times. She earned 15 individual awards. She earned these accolades in all three sports over the course 12 seasons.

“You really need to look at the whole picture. A lot of people can say they are good at a sport, but with Morgan, while she may not be the best, she is part of the conversation in every sport she competes in,” BRHS Athletic Director (and Morgan’s uncle) Allan Crocker said.

In cross country, Crocker rarely led the pack, but she was always competitive. She ran a strong and consistent second place on the Lady Seahawks team over the course of her cross country career. While the local cross country limelight focused on other runners, Crocker quietly earned her place on the MVC all star team every year she competed (2nd team three times, 1st team once).

In basketball, the diminutive Crocker was a force to be reckoned with. She led conference basketball scoring in 2013 and 2014, was a 2015 Senior McDonald’s All-Star, and ended her high school career just shy of 1,000 points. Coach Tanner Grover said it isn’t simply Crocker’s individual talents that make her special, it’s her ability to focus on goals and the greater good of the team.

“She is such a tremendous worker. In basketball, she has such a tremendous amount of individual ability and over time she learned to incorporate that into the team structure,” Grover said. “As a junior, she was a standout as an individual scorer. As a senior, she sacrificed some of that for the betterment of the team. Give Morgan a goal and she’s going to achieve that goal.”

“In basketball, she is the kind of person who says, ‘Get on my shoulders and I’ll get us there,’” Morrison said.

Her consistency and results in both basketball and cross country over her four year career are outstanding, but in track Crocker reached new heights. A conference leader in hurdles, triple jump and long jump, in both 2014 and 2015, she won three MVC championship titles and was named MVC Track Athlete of the Year.

Her achievement is one for the record books, but for Crocker, it was a bit of a let down — she had her eye on winning all four. Crocker ranks at the top of the Seahawks All-Time Top Ten Female competitors for 100m hurdles (#3), 300m hurdles (#2), long jump (#2) and triple jump (#4).

"Morgan is one of those people that can find an extra burst of energy when an event is tough or a challenge is in front of them. She is one of the toughest competitors I have ever coached,” Coach Bryan Dionne said. "One thing that separates Morgan from others on meet day: she is super focused on the task at hand. She has a burning desire to succeed.”

All of her coaches note not just Crocker’s talent, but all the hard work, focus and dedication that are the basis of her achievements.

“She’s all business. She is always looking to what she needs to do to achieve her goals,” Allan Crocker said.

This past track season, on Sundays, when her other teammates were enjoying a day off, Morgan and Coach Morrison would head to the Wiscasset track to squeeze in some extra practice time. Crocker said Morrison’s support has meant a lot to her, and Morrison said Crocker was one of the main reasons he continued to coach this year.

“She’s not a rah rah, overly demonstrative person. She’s got a work ethic. She looks at what she needs to do to get where she wants to be and she does the work to get there,” Morrison said.

Crocker’s mother, Kimberly Hilgendorf has fostered Morgan’s incredible talent through an athletic career that started well before high school. Before focusing on high school sports, Crocker was a state champion level gymnast. She began gymnastics competition locally at age six and ultimately competed with the Maine Academy of Gymnastics in Westbrook, where she was a state champion in beam and vault and competed throughout New England.

In gymnastics competition, Crocker found herself among the best in the country. She developed the perseverance and dedication needed to achieve athletic success.

“When she was in Westbrook she was up there practicing and competing 4-6 days a week. We would leave school at 1:30 p.m. and be back home at 9:30,” Hildgendorf said. “Sports have been a huge part of our life and Morgan is very committed to working hard and excelling in everything she has done. She spends a lot of time in the gym, on the track, etc. in her free time to get better. She thrives to be No. 1 when she competes.”

In a world where top athletes are frequently boastful and self-congratulatory, Crocker sets a fine contrast. Shy and soft-spoken, in a brief interview Crocker underplayed her many successes. She said she is looking forward to next year at the University of Maine at Farmington, where she will play basketball and compete in track. Not surprisingly, UMF coaches have already reached out to her and next year’s training is on her mind.

“Morgan is an amazing young lady and I am very proud of her,” Hilgendorf said. “She is very shy, but when she gets out on the field, on the court or on stage, then she shines.”