LHU Hosts Annual Boxing Invite Saturday

LOCK HAVEN—Some of the country’s top collegiate boxers will be on display at Lock Haven University this Saturday as the LHU boxing club hosts its 39th annual invitational event.

13 teams from all over the United States will be participating at LHU’s Thomas Field House, including six from the host Bald Eagles. Coach Ken Cooper said this year’s invitational will also see the unveiling of the first members of the local school’s boxing hall of fame.

LHU participants will include Raul Lopez-Caveda, a junior from Quakertown and a criminal justice/Spanish major. He is a three-year member of the LHU boxing club and is following in the steps of his older brother Eric Datis who was a national champ from Lock Haven in 1999. Lopez-Caveda said he plans to join the Peace Corps for two years and then become a state policeman.

The lone female among the six LHU participants is Leah Hartzell, a junior from Danville majoring in fitness management. A multi-sport participant in high school, she came to Lock Haven to run track but said she fell in love with boxing. Hartzell said it caused her “to push” herself and found the demands of boxing more fulfilling. She also heaped praise on the veteran coach Cooper whom she described as a “phenomenal guy.” Hartzell said upon graduation she would like to open a gymnasium and teach boxing.

Other Bald Eagles competing include:
Anthony Proctor, a freshman from Harrisburg majoring in criminal justice; Avery Drake, a sophomore from Harrisburg majoring in biomedical sciences; Zachary Wiest from Mechanicsburg, a junior majoring in criminal justice; and Shaheim Mitchell, a junior from Philadelphia majoring in criminal justice.

Schools with entrants, in addition to the host Bald Eagles, are West Point, the Coast Guard Academy, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Shippensburg, Bloomsburg, Trinity, Navy, Penn State, Connecticut, Nevada-Reno, Kutztown and Miami of Ohio.

Saturday’s undercard begins at 1 p.m., the main event at 7 p.m. There are 25 members of the LHU boxing club, including four females.