Nesconset Olympian Maria Michta to be honored at concert

A Nesconset Olympian will be honored at a concert in her hometown Tuesday before she travels to London to compete for a gold medal in racewalking.

Maria Michta, 26, will receive a proclamation from Suffolk County legislators -- John M. Kennedy Jr. (R-Nesconset) and Tom Muratore (R-Ronkonkoma) -- before a show by Billy Joel tribute band Songs in the Attic. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. at the gazebo on Smithtown Boulevard.

Michta, a graduate of Sachem North High School and Long Island University Post, is the only U.S. racewalker heading for the London Olympic Games, which open on Friday. She won the USA Olympic Trials women’s 20,000-meter racewalk in June.

She is a doctoral candidate in microbiology, analyzing the hepatitis-C virus at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan.

Michta won a spot on the Olympic team with a time of 1:34:53.33 at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore. She defeated her closest competitor by 3 seconds.