B

RUTGERS ROUTED
n The Michigan softball team picked up 
three easy wins by a combined score of 
39-3. Page 3B

ONE STEP BEHIND

The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | April 13, 2015

n The Michigan men’s lacrosse team 
fell to Ohio State Sunday at Michigan 
Stadium, 13-8. Page 4B

For Kate Johnson, success at 
USIBA Championships fuels a 

greater goal

By MAX BULTMAN

Daily Sports Editor

A little after 3 p.m. Friday, Sandy Johnson saw 

her daughter take a punch to the face for the first 
time ever. A few minutes later, she watched her 
hoist a national championship belt.

Kate Johnson earned her second national boxing 

title when she won the 119-pound division of the 
USIBA College Boxing Championships. Before 
losing Saturday in the Golden Gloves tournament, 

she was undefeated at 9-0. Just a few years ago, her 
parents would have never seen this coming.

“She was usually pretty quiet until she got mad 

or riled up,” Ed Johnson said. “But she’ll hit her 
head on a brick wall just to get something done or 
prove a point.”

Now a senior, Johnson grew up in Farmington 

Hills, Michigan and was a swimmer at Divine Child 
High School in Dearborn. She liked to exercise, 
and joined the Michigan boxing club at FestiFall 
because she thought it might be an interesting way 
to stay in shape.

At first, she just wanted to punch the bag.
But as she dove deeper into the sport and spent 

more time honing her skills, the competitive itch 
took over. It can be difficult to schedule actual 
opponents 
in 

LORDS OF THE RING

Women win national 

championship, men finish 
second inside IM Building

By ZACH SHAW

Daily Sports Writer

The biggest athletic event in Ann Arbor this 

weekend didn’t take place at any of the sparkling, 
million-dollar Division I athletics facilities known 
nationwide.

While the new and polished fields, tracks and 

arenas baked in the early-spring sun, thousands 
of fans flocked to the sweaty, echoing gymnasium 
of the century-old Intramural Sports Building for 

the USIBA National Championships. It was, by all 
accounts, a knockout event.

“We got a lot of compliments about how the 

tournament was run, from the officials, coaches, to 
the teams and fighters that came from all over the 
country,” said Michigan coach Tony Sensoli. “They 
felt we were very organized and things ran really 
smoothly.”

With the backing of a home crowd, Michigan 

earned five individual national championships to 
claim its first-ever women’s team title. Though it 
came up short in repeating as national champion in 
the men’s group, taking second instead, the biggest 
story of the weekend was the event itself.

Drawing 150 boxers from over 30 teams and 

attended by thousands of screaming fans, the event 
showed 
that 

SportsMonday

PHOTOS BY ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

See BOXING, Page 4B
See JOHNSON, Page 2B