By SARA MILLER
smiller@soundpublishing.com

BREMERTON — Sara Cassius finished in eighth place in the 2016 girls tennis state tournament and has her eyes set on placing even better next year.

Cassius is a junior at Bremerton High School and has plans to become a physical therapist once she graduates college. She began playing tennis at the young age of five and immediately fell in love with the sport.

However, as with most young athletes, she found passions in other areas of her life and took a short break.

“There was a period when I was about 11 where I quit for a while,” Cassius said. “That gap between that age and when I got to high school where I stopped.”

During that time, she found a love for soccer and played for several club teams as well as for her school. When she entered high school, she realized that soccer wasn’t what she wanted to focus on to play at a higher level. It was her first love — tennis.

“I really wanted to play tennis in college,” she said. “I knew I wanted to get better and play.”

Although college is still a year away, she is currently looking into Eastern Washington University and the University of Idaho for their programs and classes.

She believes schooling is very important and said grades come first and sports, second.

“I don’t think it’s challenging to balance the two at all,” Cassius said. “During sports season, I’ll stay after school to do my homework. Or when I’m gone I’ll talk with teachers to make sure I catch up.”

That attitude will help when she faces the many challenges that come with studying physical therapy and athletic training. She was drawn to this field after taking the sports medicine class at Bremerton.

“It’s a lot of hands-on work, which I really like,” she said. “You get to help a lot of people doing rehabilitation when they’re injured and everything.”

It’s obvious Cassius enjoys a challenge. Her favorite memory of this year’s tennis season was going to state and competing against players she hasn’t met before and who are better than she is.

“The competition was different this year,” she said. “There were really good players from all different leagues. It’s much more fun to get different competition each time. It makes you much better.”

Her goal for next season is to make it to state again and place higher. To prepare, she said she usually plays with family and friends.

“I’ll probably train at the Kitsap Tennis and Athletic Club again, like I used to when I was younger,” she said. “Hopefully I’ll do some of their lessons and play in some tournaments and stuff like that.”