More than 700 male and female boxers ranging in age from 8 to 40 will compete in the 2018 USA Boxing Elite and Youth National Championships and Junior Open this week at the Salt Palace Convention Center.
Once again, Utah’s best hope for a national championship lies in the hands of two women who took up the sport later in life than most, Park City’s Maryguenn Vellinga and Herriman’s Whitney Gomez. Vellinga, a 36-year-old mother of two, is seeded fourth in the Elite Women’s flyweight division (112 lbs., or 51 kilograms), while Gomez is seeded second in the Elite Women’s light welterweight division (141 lbs.