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The four years Sara Popovich has spent as a member of the Cape Henlopen High School girls' cross country team have been filled with exhilarating highs and devastating lows.
She has gone from being the team's No. 1 runner her freshman year to battling for a spot in the top seven her senior year. She has experienced the thrill of being on a team that finished second in the state and the pain of missing almost an entire season due to injury. She has been on teams where winning was a rarity and teams where winning was expected.
Her career has been a lesson in setting one's ego aside. And judging from her upbeat disposition, Popovich wouldn't trade the experience for anything.
"It's been a lot of fun," she said. "Unfortunately, it's gone by fast."
Popovich transferred to Cape shortly before her freshman year. Although she ran cross country while attending junior high in Wilmington, Popovich originally didn't plan on running at Cape.
"I wasn't positive I was going to run in high school," she said.
But with some encouragement from her mother and her brother Mike, who was a senior on the boys' team that year, Popovich went out for the team. It wasn't long before she was its top runner.
Her first season, however, was far from easy. The Vikings went just 2-6-1 that year and Popovich found it hard not to get discouraged.
"My freshman year we were not good at all," she said. "It was a long year. I knew we'd be better the following year."
That's because a talented group of freshmen was about to enter the program and dramatically reverse Cape's fortunes.
Young runners such as Danielle Guerin, Jennifer Hicks and Cole Pavlik gave the Vikings a much-needed boost. Suddenly, Popovich was the fifth-best runner on the team, a drop she accepted without complaint.
In 1996, Cape finished with a 9-1 record, won the conference tournament and finished second in the state. And while Popovich was no longer the fastest runner, she was developing into a team leader.
"My sophomore year was the best. We went from losing everything and then we won every week," she said. "I guess I didn't realize I was doing really good for the team."
Cape went 9-1 the following year but Popovich missed most of the season with a hip injury. When Hicks suffered a late-season toe injury, the Vikings slipped in the state rankings.
"I was really upset," Popovich said of her lost junior season.
But this year Cape is back at full strength and ready to make a run at a state title. The team is off to a 3-0 start and has high hopes for the stretch drive.
"It's great, but honestly I'm scared," she said, referring to late season meets against Caesar Rodney and Lake Forest. "I'm enjoying it, but this year I'm ready to win."
Popovich's goal is to get her time below the 22-minute mark before the end of the season. In her freshman year, she was usually in the 24-minute range.
"I think I can do it," she said. "My time has improved a lot since my freshman year."
Although Popovich may may struggle to be among the team's top seven runners, her leadership has been invaluable.
"Sara is probably the hardest working one out there," said Cape coach Pat Pollock, whose first year was Popovichs freshman season. "She is a major influence on why we win. She's there, she works hard, she keeps on the others."
Having coached Popovich her entire career, Pollock feels he's losing a major part of his team after this season.
"Seeing Sara leave this year is going to be tough," he said.
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