The United States’ top female boxers have all converged on the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., for a training camp prior to the 2007 Pan American Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador..
Five-time national champion Cheryl Houlihan (Norton, Mass.) and two-time middleweight national champion Franchon Crews (Baltimore, Md.) both took home gold from the 2006 edition and hope to do the same in Ecuador. Four-time light bantamweight national champion Sacred Downing (Trenton, N.J.) and three-time lightweight national champion Caroline Barry (Colorado Springs, Colo.) both won silver at the 2006 Pan American Championships and plan to step up to the top of the medal podium in the sequel.
Two-time light flyweight national champion Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas) was too young to compete in the 2006 edition, but won bronze at the 2006 World Championships and hopes to add a second international medal to her collection. Welterweight Lisa Kuronya (Portland, Maine) will be boxing in her second Pan American Championships, and is looking to win her first international medal in Ecuador.
Pinweight Sadie Roberts (Hudson, Iowa); bantamweight Christina Cruz (New York, N.Y.); featherweight Stephanie Eggink (Ferndale, Wash.); light welterweight Queen Underwood (Federal Way, Wash.); light middleweight Jackie Davis (Zachary, La.); light heavyweight Tyler Lord-Wilder (Lansing, Mich.); and heavyweight Anne Gibbon (Odenton, Md.) will all be boxing in their first Pan American Championships in Ecuador.
2001 Women’s World Championships Head Coach Christy Halbert (Nashville, Tenn.) will join the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program’s Assistant Coach Charles Leverette (Fort Carson, Colo.) in leading the team in Ecuador. Sonny Duncan (Colorado Springs, Colo.) will serve as team manager, David Llaurado (New York, N.Y.) will work as the AIBA official, and Dr. Martha Dodson (El Paso, Texas) will join the delegation as team physician.
The Pan American Championships team will depart on October 2 before opening competition on October 5.
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).