Hall of Fame: Michael Sabatino

A series of joyous connections, most occurring during his time at UC Irvine, have molded Michael Sabatino into the man he is today. 

“It changed my life to go to Irvine,” Sabatino said.

Connection #1

Sabatino was a typical Southern California kid, growing up playing touch football or basketball with his buddies. The Los Angeles native lived near the UCLA campus and frequented the intramural fields to play football with his friends. 

“I was bounding around campus when I was around 12 and I looked up and here comes a guy running with a pole,” Sabatino remembers. “I was head on, on the other side of the landing pit and thought what is that? I was captivated.”

He attended Notre Dame High School, dabbling in freshman football, water polo and cross country before focusing on track and the pole vault. His first mentor was Joe Folgelstrom, a strapping 65-year old volunteer coach from the bamboo era. 

“He could do 10 L chin-ups at his age and blew us all away. It was a great fortune to cross paths with him.”

Sabatino would be crowned Del Rey League champion but didn’t advance in CIF meets so wasn’t highly recruited. Air Force Academy and Navy were interested, but the decision to enroll at UCLA and possibly walking-on to the track & field program was the path he would travel after high school. Until Bill Toomey came calling.

Connection #2

It was Fogelstrom who accompanied Sabatino down to the Gulliver’s in Irvine for a lunch meeting.

Toomey was new to the job and was asking around trying to find athletes when Sabatino’s name came up. Sabatino liked what he heard and on to Irvine he went.

He was given a tuition scholarship along with fellow pole vaulter Robert Goto. The duo would room together, push each other in competition and develop a life-long friendship.

Advice from Fogelstrom summed up the way the two would push each other.

“You need to work like a dog to be a champion and need to work like two dogs to remain a champion.”

He knew after he won his first NCAA championship as a sophomore, that the one he would need to stay ahead of was Robert, his own teammate.

The two would go early to warm-up and motivate each other to be the best.

Connection #3

He and Goto lived on Balboa Island his first quarter with a pair of other roommates. As he walked in one afternoon, there was one of the roommates combing his mustache with Sabatino’s toothbrush.

“It was a gobsmack moment. I was pissed. I told Len and he said ‘Life’s too short to worry about dealing with jerks (PG version)’. So, I moved out.”

Sage words that led him to his next connection.

Connection #4

Many don’t know that Sabatino would become part of UCI history long before his accolades on the track. He was one of the first 12 residents in the experimental trailer park called Irvine Meadows, a name given by Sabatino. It was located approximately where the Bren Center sits today with rent just $10 a month.  His trailer was a hub of activity, providing a great place for the guys on the team to hang out but also furthering his association with professional athletes coming to train. Sabatino was not only located close to the track, but he had the key to the landing pits so many of the older athletes needed to stop by when coming to train.

Connection #5

Miller would then make an important decision, opening up UCI’s track to the world. Athletes would arrive in California for upcoming meets and needed a place to train. The Irvine track was the perfect facility exposing Sabatino to a host of new inspiration. He would study the Scandinavian and Hungarian athletes as they trained, adding different components from each guy to his own workout.

An Australian vaulter named Don Baird arrived at UCI because of the quality of the facility and quickly became Sabatino’s muse. Baird, who wanted to be a vaulter from a young age moved to Germany to train with the best, learning from Wolfgang Nordwig, who would go on to win the 1972 Olympics.

Connection #6

When Miller became head coach not everyone bought in. But if you did, he created an incredible team atmosphere for a sport that is typically compartmentalized. Having the cohesive feeling of being part of team was new for Sabatino and he liked it.

Miller was also known for his intense training style and while he focused on the track guys, he brought in Jim Toomey, Bill’s brother, to train with the pole vaulters. Interval sprints and speed work would follow, developing the troops into finely-tuned athletes.

Something else that Miller gave Sabatino was the ability to visualize success.

“I had never had a coach put it so clearly. It turned my whole skill level around. You need to visually make the jump before you physically make the jump. Success is a self-aware process.”

Some of Sabatino’s championship moments, came under interesting circumstances. 

In 1975, he won the NCAA championship on his third and last jump of the competition, but fourth trip down the runway.

“I remember it was at Sac State and 100-plus degrees. I was getting ready to go and someone cut me off on the runway. Just accidently walked through. I was able to head back and reset myself and pulled it out. After, I was like oh my god that just happened.”

He won with a jump of 16-4, before winning the next two consecutive crowns at a height of 16-6 in 1976 and lastly in a meet record 17-0 in 1977. 

He would set the UCI school record as a senior with a jump of 17-01.50, a record that would stand until 1995. He still ranks second all-time. Sabatino earned All-America honors and go on to place 13th at the 1976 Olympic Trials.

In 1976 at Slippery Rock, UCI would win the team championship again with help from Sabatino’s winning performance. The site was appropriately named because it rained which is not ideal conditions for a pole vaulter.

Men’s cross country also captured national titles in 1975 and 1976, making Irvine the place to be. 

“There was something magical going on.”

Connection #7

The trailer park would once again become instrumental in Sabatino’s journey. While the Athletic facilities were located to the right, to the left of Irvine Meadows sat the Fine Arts department.

He thought the acting classes looked like a waste of time at first glance, but soon found that psychology didn’t provide the interest that acting did and switched majors. 

Balancing his two loves didn’t always come easy. As a senior he was cast as the lead in a play on the same weekend of the prestigious Mt. Sac Relays. 

“I had to convince Mauricio Bardales to drive me back to Irvine to be in my play. The gym was where I would shower so I did that and had to hustle to the little theater on campus.”

It was his first lead role that confirmed he had the acting bug. 

After graduating with a bachelor of arts in the School of Fine Arts, he went to Finland to compete. It soon became apparent that it was hard to make a living as a pole vaulter. 

“I sold all of my poles to Antti Kalliomaki, the 1976 Olympic silver medalist and decided to try the acting thing.”

Connection #8

After returning home, Sabatino caught some early breaks and started his career on Behind the Screen, a soap opera broadcast at 11:00 p.m. on CBS opposite Johnny Carson. It only lasted six weeks before being canceled but he was on film, been seen and made connections. A career was born.

“My mother thought it was crazy I was a pole vaulter, what if you break your neck. I was really happy to tell her I was giving it up and going into another interesting profession. I won’t be falling from great heights, but I might be starving.”  

A two-year stint on Knot’s Landing, a popular prime time soap led to other jobs, including a part as Lawrence Alamine on Days Of Our Lives.

His love interest turned into one on and off camera with costar Crystal Chappell.

“I fell in love at first sight. It was pretty magical.” 

Similar to his days on the track, he had to visualize success in Hollywood.

“Even though there is no rhyme or reason and its timing and talent you had to believe you would succeed. Much like a team, a cast is working toward a collective goal.”

Today the father of two boys is a contractor, building and remodeling homes in the Central Coast. 

Working several jobs in construction between jobs in LA, gave him a good foundation for his future career.

“All of these connections – I don’t go to UCLA and go to UCI, don’t stay on Balboa Island and move to the trailer park near fine arts. These thigs keep leading me along. That’s why the Hall of Fame was such a wow moment. I’d been living it with all of these joyous connections. It’s pretty profound for me. It’s all come back around for me. I’m so appreciative of what happened.”

Sabatino and six other extraordinary Anteaters will be inducted into UCI’s Hall of Fame on Saturday (Jan. 28). 

“I look forward to seeing teammates’ faces and celebrating all of the people that helped me get to that ceremony. Everyone who pulled everyone else along. I look forward to having the opportunity to name their names.”