She did it again. Sachem alum Maria Michta captured yet another National Championship in the racewalk Saturday morning at Sacremento State University.
Michta, who graduated from Sachem 10 years ago this week, won her fifth outdoor title to go along with her five indoor national crowns. She clocked in for the 12.4-mile event in 1 hour, 35 minutes, 54.37 seconds, two minutes faster than the second place finisher, Miranda Melville.
“Maria’s out there all by herself and has been for quite a while,” Melville told Newsday. “But we’ll keep trying. In time, maybe we can get closer.”
Michta, who became the first Sachem alum to compete in the Olympics in London in 2012, and longtime boyfriend Joe Coffey, also a Sachem alum and coach and teacher at Sachem East, are scheduled to get married on July 3.
After the wedding she’ll turn her attention to the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro