Among the winners at the 12th annual Nick Katsounis Memorial Wheelchair Championship 10 Kilometer Race on Sunday morning, June 29, was 14-year-old Levittown wheelchair athlete Lauren Konetsky.

Lauren crossed the finish line at Ellsworth Allen Park in Farmingdale in 74th place overall in a field that included most of the best wheelchair racers from all over the United States and all over the world, traversing the 6.2 mile course over the scenic, tree-lined Bethpage State Parkway in 35 minutes, 6 seconds, placing her second in the Women's Junior Division.

Mexican champion Saul Mendoza was the overall winner of the race for the fourth time (he won in 1997, 1999 and 2002), outpushing South Africa's Krige Schabort by 2/10 of a second, with three-time Boston Marathon winner Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa in third place another 3/10 of a second behind Schabort. According to the Greater Long Island Running Club, who hosted the race, the real story of the event was the participation of young local athletes like Levittown's Lauren Konetsky.