Chair and Hand Cyclers Win Over Farmingdale

Saul Mendoza doesn't make a habit of looking back. He'd rather stay focused on the path ahead that he approaches with long, sweeping strokes. For though Mendoza, 35, lost the use of his legs to polio, he never lost his spirit.

Yet Mendoza was forced to glance over his left shoulder yesterday when he heard Ernst Van Dyk closing on the final straightaway of the 6.2-mile Nick Katsounis Memorial Wheelchair Championship race in Farmingdale. Mendoza glanced for just that moment, realized he had the race won and raised a fist in jubilation after winning in 20 minutes, 10.8 seconds. Van Dyk took second in 20:11.1.

"I had to make sure," Mendoza said. "The last mile is my strongest, and I just pushed strong until the end."

Mendoza has maintained that mentality even though he has spent most of his life in a wheelchair. Although diagnosed with polio as an infant, his passion for sports has not wavered. He liked to play basketball before he discovered a thirst for this new competition.

"I just love racing," Mendoza said, "and I was too fast for basketball."

Franz Nietlispach was too fast for wheelchair racing, so he converted to the men's hand-cycle race - and was still too swift. Nietlispach, 44, of Switzerland, won the wheelchair title in this race last year, but prefers training and wheeling in races that are more like cycling. He finished first in 16:53.1 ahead of Walter Rauber (17:05.8).

"I feel safer," Nietlispach said. "I feel more comfortable doing this."

Nietlispach has competed for more than 25 years. He became paralyzed at 15 when he fell out of a tree picking cherries to support his family. His new family consists of competitors along the racing circuit.

"We come together as people," Nietlispach said, "and as athletes."

Louise Sauvage, 28, was born with myleodisplasia, a congenital disorder, but the Sydney native has raced for more than 20 years. Her experience made the difference as Sauvage (24:46.6) edged Christina Ripp (24:46.9), a University of Illinois junior who began racing in college, in the women's wheelchair race.

"I really didn't know I won until I crossed the finish line," Sauvage said. "I love sports, and I can participate just the same as anyone else. I'm fit and healthy. It's a good lifestyle. Why not?"

Helene Hines, 53, of Lido Beach, was the first woman across the line in the hand-cycle race in a time of 27:17.6.

The races comprise the last competition exclusive to wheelchair and hand-cycle athletes after a Pennsylvania event lacked funding to continue.

"It's very important to keep a strictly wheelchair race to showcase the athletes for what they really are," race director Geraldine Walsh said. "We have world-class athletes that can compete at a high level within their caliber."