For various reasons, only three of the top nine finishers in the men's 12k race at last month's U.S. Championships in Boulder have chosen to compete in this Saturday's IAAF World X-Country Championships in Mombasa, Kenya.

One of those three is Zach Sabatino, who finished 6th in Boulder (Michael Spence[5th] and Fasil Bizuneh[7th] are the others). Sabatino, who left for Kenya on Sunday with the rest of the U.S. team, says about his decision to make the trip, "Well, it was a great opportunity to represent my country, and this was a goal of mine back in the summer, so I couldn't pass that up, regardless of immunizations, or threats of terror".

U.S. athletes going to the Worlds had to get as many as seven inoculations for protection against various diseases and the U.S. Embassy in Kenya had issued a warning about possible demonstrations and acts of terrorism aimed at the Championships. That announcement convinced the parents of 15-year old Jordan Hasay, the U.S. Junior Champion, to keep their daughter at home this weekend (http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/sports/1 6866873.htm). There are some reports that a few others who originally signed up for the trip have had a change of heart, but no official announcement has been made yet.

Sabatino, who plans to resume his focus on the steeplechase during the track season, spent the first two years of his collegiate career at the University of West Virginia ((2002-2003). After the school dropped the men's program at the end of the 2003 outdoor season, he remained in West Virginia, his home state, for a year before completing his eligibility at the University of Tennessee (2005-2006, he was an All-American in XC in 2005). He's now back in Morgantown, WV, working on his Master's Degree in Elementary Education and training with his first college coach, Sean Cleary.

This is the 2nd trip to World Cross for Sabatino, who finished 81st in the Junior race in 2002 after placing 4th at the U.S. Championships. The 24-year old gets support from the NY Athletic Club. "I was fortunate to train with Patrick Gildea (member of the 2006 U.S. World Cross team) while I was at the University of Tennessee, and he had talked to me before about Paul Mascali (club manager) and the NYAC. So during the fall I was able to get into contact with Paul, and he has been very helpful."

STATS
DOB: 3-11-83
H.S.: George Washington-Charleston, WV
College: West Virginia (2002,2003), Tennessee (2005,2006)
Coach: Sean Cleary
PRs
1500 - 3:50.35
3000 - 8:08.84i
5000 - 14:13.43i
10,000 - 29:05.59
Steeple Progression
2003 - 8:55.72
2004 - 8:50.83
2005 - 8:49.84
2006 - 8:46.65

For much more on Sabatino, go to: www.dailynews.runnersworld.com and www.eliterunning.com/features/49

For complete World Cross coverage, go to www.iaaf.org/WXC07/index.html