By Gillian Rees – News Editor

Being named All-State is a big deal for any high school student-athlete, but being the first to get All-State on your team in 10 years is an even bigger deal. Senior girls basketball player Katie Konareski was recently named All-State, becoming the first Jonathan Law girls basketball player to go All-State in 10 years. Advocate News Editor Gillian Rees interviewed Konareski about her accomplishment.

Gillian Rees: When you found out you were named All-State, what was your initial reaction?

Katie Konareski: As soon as I found out I got All-State I started crying because I was so happy and proud of all the work I put in. Personally, I thought I had it in me to be able to accomplish this but it has been one of the highest goals I’ve set for myself that I really wanted to accomplish.

GR: How long have you played basketball?

KK: I started playing basketball in first grade and haven’t stopped playing since then. 

GR: How much work did it take for you to make this accomplishment?

KK: I’ve put in countless hours of work every week since sophomore year to get to be where I’m at now as a player and person. Eventually I fell in love with the sport to a point where I would come back from a two-hour practice and still want to shoot around or play pick up afterwards. I spent my whole summer going into junior year playing against girls better than me on the court and working with a trainer in the gym as well. Summer going into senior year I spent my whole summer doing the same thing, as well as playing on an AAU team traveling around New England playing against some of the best players on the east coast. 

GR: Who/what motivates you to work harder and to be able to make such accomplishments? 

KK: What motivates me most is knowing my potential, but I’m nearly as close to it as I could be. The accomplishments that I’ve gotten along the journey have also pushed me to keep working and I’m excited to see how I perform at the next level.

GR: What are your post-high school goals for basketball? 

KK:  For the next 4 years I will be playing basketball at Endicott College. I want to accomplish a lot at that school academically and also as an athlete I feel I can really excel if I keep working with the mentality I have now.