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Gunn High junior Sarah Robinson won't have to pack her soccer bags and miss school next month when the U.S. Under-17 Women's National Team heads off to the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, which runs Sept. 22-Oct. 13 in Azerbaijan.

Robinson, a starting center midfielder, will miss the tournament due to a medical issue.

"Sarah won't be there, and that is unfortunate, but we want to wish her the best and hope she is healthy soon," U.S. head coach Albertin Montoya, who is also her club coach, told J.R. Eskilson of ESNN. "It is a big loss for us because she covers a lot of ground and the girls enjoy having her on the field because she does more running than anyone out there."

Robinson, who has been a standout cross-country runner for Gunn, started four of the five games at the 2011 CONCACAF Women's U17 Championship. She played 248 of the 270 minutes from the three pool play matches.

Defensively, the U.S. is dealing with another injury, as regular starting goalkeeper and Stanford recruit Jane Campbell is battling a knee injury. Campbell was a part of training during a recent camp in Chula Vista, but did not see any game action in the USA's 5-1 victory against China.

The USA team will head to Cyprus in mid-September for a pre-World Cup training camp.

Despite her medical situation, Robinson is planning on running for the Titans this fall. She is the defending SCVAL El Camino Divisiion and Central Coast Section Division I champion and finished third in the CIF State Meet.

Gunn will have a new head coach this season in Craig Blockhus. He replaces Matt Tompkins. Former head coach and last year's assistant, Ernie Lee, is stepping away from coaching this season.

— Keith Peters/Palo Alto Online Sports and TopDrawerSoccer.com

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