CAMPODOLCINO, Italy - A pair of Patriot freshmen will travel across the globe to represent their native countries at the 25th World Mountain Running Championships. The championship races will be held in Campodolcino, Italy on Sunday, Sept. 6. Campodolcino is located in the province of Sondrio in the Lombardy region located approximately 100 kilometers north of Milan.

Dan Nafziger, a graduate of Harrisonburg High School in Harrisonburg, Va., will run for the U.S. National Team in the junior men's race. A total of 23 nations and 68 athletes will compete in the race. Rochelle Sceats, a native of New Zealand, will run for her country in the junior women's race. The junior women's race is comprised of 19 nations and 45 athletes. Both Nafziger and Sceats look forward to the opportunity to compete for their country at the event.

"I'm very excited to represent the United States," Nafziger said. "I've wanted to do something like this for a while. There's a lot to be said about representing your country. I'm definitely excited and ready to go."

"I'm really excited," said Sceats, who has been running seriously since November of last year. "It's an honor to run for your country. I haven't been running particularly long so it's quite cool that I've come on the scene and am going to this race."

While training for the race, both Nafziger and Sceats will have the opportunity to learn from some of the best athletes in the world. While running up a mountain is much different than racing on a cross country course, the opportunity to watch and learn from top senior-level athletes can only help the duo as they prepare for their first collegiate cross country season in the fall.

"Seeing what the other athletes are doing will help get me ready for this season," Nafziger said. "I'm sure I'll get to talk to athletes from other countries, as well as the senior athletes, who have been training seriously for a really long time, and it will help put things into perspective."

"I want to watch the top senior men and women and try to get insight into what they're doing," Sceats said. "They have so much more experience than we have and are so much more technical with their running."

The junior men will run a distance slightly more than 8.68 km, while the junior women will run approximately 4.34 km. Nafziger and Sceats have both been in Italy for the past week, training for the race. During the week leading up to the race, teams are able to preview the course to determine the grade changes and other important factors.

In addition to the experience and exposure that the event will give the two athletes, Nafziger thinks the race could help with mental preparation.

"Running up a mountain is daunting so looking at a cross country course after that might make it seem easier," Nafziger said. "That effort level will get me ready to push it to the limit once I return to campus."