ATHLETICS: Fear factor adds kick to stride | Hawkes Bay Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Hawkes Bay

Hawke's Bay athlete Rochelle Sceats isn't afraid to admit it ... she's scared.

``Yes there are times when I wonder whether or not I should be going to the States. Being among the first two Kiwis going to the school, I don't want to let New New Zealand down ... it will be so much easier for future Kiwis if I do well,'' said Sceats.

The former Woodford House student starts a four-year scholarship at George Mason University in Virginia later this month. Te Awamutu middle distance runner Laura Sinclair will accompany her.

Previous successes suggest Sceats, 19, shouldn't be scared. She also has a fairly significant distraction _ preparing for next month's world mountain running championships in Italy.

``Basically I've got a week to settle in when I get to Virginia, then I'm off to Italy for my first international event,'' said Sceats.

She earned her invite to Italy when she won the national under-19 mountain running title in Wellington in March. Sceats will tackle the same age-group in Italy and expects to be in a field of 45.

Runners from Europe will make up the majority of the field for the 4km event.

``The English cross country champion who won the event last year is back again and the world 3km champion is among the starters ... it's a pretty classy field. While I've googled the course, I don't want to predict a finishing time or place, as there are so many on-the-day factors which will come into play,'' Sceats said.

Considering the Andrea Williams-coached runner had just a month of hill training before the Wellington nationals, qualifying for Italy was a tremendous feat. However, she has the ideal ``training backyard'' _ Te Mata Peak.

``I run up there two or three times a week. If I don't go all the way, I do some of the goat tracks below the peak,'' said Sceats.

She has only taken running seriously since October last year, when she started training with Williams after finishing third in the Hawke's Bay-Gisborne Schools Road Race in Hastings. In December she finished second in the Hamilton-hosted New Zealand Secondary Schools Road Race and in March was second in the national under-19 5000m track race.

It was at the Hamilton event that a scout from George Mason University offered her the United States stint. Earlier this month she finished fifth in the under-19 section of the national cross country championships in Christchurch.

``I wanted a top-10 finish in that event, which attracted 40 starters, so I was pretty happy with fifth,'' said Sceats.

Cross country and long distance track events will be her priorities with the George Mason University team.

``I'm still eligible to represent New Zealand when I'm based in the States, but the university's commitments will come first,'' said Sceats, who will study neuroscience while in the States.

Within two years she hopes to tackle the world cross country championships. Because the Italy trip is self-funded, Sceats - who works as a bar manager at Sujus in Havelock North - has been fitting fundraising around her training schedules. She is grateful for the assistance she has received from Fern Ridge Ltd, Kinetic Electrical, Havelock North Mobil, Websters Hydrated Lime, PGG Fruitfed, Sujus and Stewart Financial Group.

On Friday she will host a hypnotist night at the Angus Inn in Hastings.