Hamilton-Wenham Regional athletic director Don Doucette thinks of himself as an optimistic person under any circumstances. But even he shakes his head at track coach Steve Sawyer's approach to life.

Doucette's feeling is that the earth could be buckling beneath them and Sawyer would get something positive out of it. Sawyer would probably find a way to round up his athletes and conduct a cross country or track practice, something he's been doing without interruption at Hamilton-Wenham since 1969.

"What I've always said about Steve is that since I've known him, his glass is always more than half full," said Doucette.

Earlier this year, however, Doucette had reason to believe that Sawyer's glass was cracked, if not shattered.

The 66-year-old Sawyer had triple bypass surgery at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington on July 1. He had a lengthy recuperation period, but it didn't stop him from coaching when the Generals gathered for preseason workouts in late summer.

Sawyer had another setback last month, going down with a collapsed lung as he watched a Hamilton-Wenham boys soccer game. But following surgery and a two-day stay at Beverly Hospital, he returned to track practice the following Monday.

Through it all, H-W's cross country teams have remained a power in the Cape Ann League. The girls team is 11-0 and is gunning for its fifth consecutive state Class D title in the postseason. Meanwhile, the boys have compiled a 9-2 record.

"I think it brought us together," Jane Frye, who is one of the girls team captains, said of keeping up with their coach's condition this year. "Getting back to his kids was a top priority for him. It made us feel so special.

"I think being around the kids is such a great part of his life," she added. "We all knew what he was going through, but we had a normal preseason. It's like nothing can faze him."

Plenty of visitors

The most negative thing Sawyer will say about his health problems is that he had "an ugly summer." At the same time, having surgery in early July enabled him to plan for his future. He gave up his part-time teaching position at Bradford Christian Academy, concentrating all his attention on getting back on his feet for the fall season at Hamilton-Wenham.

Sawyer spent July and August recuperating at his brother Dave's home in Wenham. Dave Sawyer has been an assistant track coach for H-W since the 1970s, but now he was in a different role. Dave and his wife, Ginon, were instrumental in Steve's recovery.

"My brother was connected to my hip," said Steve Sawyer. "I wasn't strong enough to take care of myself and they took me in. Ginon is a wonderful cook and very sensitive. The two of them nurtured me and really helped me to get healthy again."

Dave and Ginon Sawyer's house got a fair amount of foot traffic during the summer, with Hamilton-Wenham cross country and track athletes dropping in to check on their coach. They became social occasions for the Sawyer family and picked up Steve's spirits.

"Quite a few kids stopped by — it wasn't just the captains," said Dave Sawyer. "They'd stay for a while. Steve kept them informed."

The kids might've wondered whether they'd get their coach back this season, but for Sawyer there was never any doubt.

"I knew I'd be coaching again," said Sawyer. "I just had to get my strength back. Getting out of coaching was not an option; coaching is how I relax.

"I'm doing something that I love and I couldn't give it up. What else was I going to do? I can't just get up in the morning with nothing to do. I need to take care of people, and I've been around these kids for so long."

Happiness comes first

Doucette didn't want to discourage Sawyer in any way, knowing how much coaching meant to him. But as the athletic director, he had to make sure Sawyer wasn't coming back too soon.

"It was a time where we had to catch our breath and figure things out," said Doucette. "When I realized how serious it was I thought, 'Wow, he may not be able to coach again in the fall.' Knowing Steve and the high passion he has for the job, I thought maybe we'd have to slow him down. Maybe we'd have to (convince) him to take a season off. For his health, I had to think about that stuff. It was my biggest challenge.

"But after his recovery period, he said he was up to it. He said to me, 'Don't worry about me doing too much.' He'd made the decision to stop teaching, and he was eating well and getting his exercise. It reached a point where I felt it would be more detrimental for him to take a season off.

"This is very important to him," continued Doucette. "Steve has as much energy as any coach we have."

Other than dropping 15 pounds, Sawyer hasn't changed. To the athletes at Hamilton-Wenham, who seem to gravitate to him, he's still the same, caring coach.

"How does he relate to us? That's a good question," said Frye, whose older sister Anna also ran for Sawyer before moving on to UMass Amherst. "I think he has such a good attitude about everything. When kids are injured, they hang out with him. He's around us 24/7 and he doesn't get a break because he's also coaching (in the winter and spring). The newer generation comes along and he knows what those kids are like.

"You don't have to be phenomenal to run for him. He doesn't care whether you run a 6-minute mile or a 9-minute mile; he makes sure we're happy above anything else. We had a meet (recently) and he said, 'You're running for ice cream.'"

That pretty much sums up Sawyer. He's always coaching for ice cream.