With all the qualifiers out of the way, which covered three
months of tournaments,16-year-old Elizabeth Rodriguez, a
Christopher High School student, was as prepared as she could be
for the 2010 Junior Olympic National Championships in North
Carolina over the weekend.
With all the qualifiers out of the way, which covered three months of tournaments,16-year-old Elizabeth Rodriguez, a Christopher High School student, was as prepared as she could be for the 2010 Junior Olympic National Championships in North Carolina over the weekend.
The tournament included boxers from 14 regions.
Fighting in the 101-pound division, Rodriguez defeated two opponents to win the gold medal and become a Junior Olympic national champion.
Elizabeth’s dad and coach, Jerry Rodriguez of Left to Right Boxing, said that with the win she qualified for the 2011 Pan American games.
Elizabeth’s run to the gold began last Thursday in a bout against Jada Pereira from Hawaii and advanced to the championship where she faced Darnasia Blackman out of Cleveland.
Despite Blackman (5-foot-7) holding a distinct height advantage over Elizabeth (4-foot-11), she was able to overcome the disparity to claim gold and was named Outstanding Female Boxer.
