This year’s USA Boxing National Championships at Fort Carson start Feb. 27.
The annual tournament is an important part of the qualification process for male boxers for the Olympic Games in London this summer in the seven non- qualified weight divisions. The event’s champions advance to the final international Olympic qualifier in Brazil in May.
The last-chance qualifier leaves the Olympic door open for Denver’s Louie Byrd, a three-time national champion and four-time Golden Gloves champion who was upset in the finals last June. Byrd is seeking his first trip to the Olympics.
Doherty alum leaving Nebraska. Taylor Simpson, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter from Doherty High School in Colorado Springs, has left the Nebraska volleyball team to transfer. Nebraska coach John Cook said he released Simpson from her scholarship so she can transfer to another school and play in the fall.
Nebraska was the Big Ten Conference champion in 2011 and was ranked No. 1 nationally for part of the season. Simpson played in 12 of Nebraska’s 30 matches as a freshman. According to , she was among the nation’s top-10 high school players as a Doherty senior. She was Colorado’s Class 5A player of the year in 2009.
