When Kristin Carlson isn't coaching the North Park women's rowing team or in the classroom working on her graduate degree, you'll find her in the gym working on her boxing career.

“The most satisfying thing that I get out of boxing is the feeling when you outpoint an opponent, and win the fight,” Carlson said. “It's a major adrenaline rush getting into the ring to fight in front of sometimes a few hundred people in an individual sport where you and your opponent are the same weight so it's a completely level playing field apart from the fact that many have more experience than I do, which makes winning feel that much better.”

Carlson, who came to North Park after a successful collegiate rowing career where she was a member of the two-time WIRA conference championship team at Sacramento State University, first took up boxing a few months before she moved to the Chicagoland area.

“I really wasn't boxing, just taking classes at an LA Boxing gym after hearing the ads on the radio,” she said. “So in total I have been doing it for about a year and a half. I have been doing it competitively since last March. It's fun for me, and I'll continue to do it as long as it is.”

While she was taking classes and continuing to improve in her fitness as fighter, a trainer approached her one day after a class and asked if she'd ever consider competing in a fight.

“Not being one to say no to a new challenge I agreed. I added some one on one training sessions into the mix of my current workout routine to learn more about the defense and offense of boxing,” Carlson said. “I kept going because I felt like I was in the same shape if not better than I was when I was a college athlete, and I missed that feeling.”

Carlson took on the challenge and competed in the Chicago Golden Gloves tournament where she was very competitive. Shortly after, she joined Warrior Boxing in Downers Grove and started a more vigorous workout to prep for fights.

“I have taken it more seriously, and make the commute out (to Downers Grove) 5-6 times a week which has helped make me a better fighter,” Carlson said.

Since then Carlson has competed in 10 fights, but none of them have been more challenging than the opponent she faced in her most recent fight.

“In November I fought a tough left handed opponent who had nearly three times the number of fights that I had and an additional four years of experience on me,” she said. “She came out with lightening fast punches and close to the end of the first round I started to get my bearings and realize that I needed to outscore her in rounds 2 and 3 to have a shot at winning the fight. In round 2 I found my body shots that slowed her down a great deal and for the rest of the fight I was in control and ultimately ended up winning a unanimous decision.”

Carlson knew after the fight that she officially started her boxing career, but still knows it will only continue to be a greater challenge. That doesn't deter her spirits however as she gladly accepts the challenge and looks at boxing as a possible career if the right position presents itself.

“It is something that I can make time to train for while also having a full time job upon graduation,” she said. “For now I will keep working with my coach and look to compete at the 2012 Chicago Golden Gloves in March and April, then the National Golden Gloves Championships this June. I look forward to the challenge and hope it continues to be as fun as it has been since I started competitively fighting last March.”

The 2012 Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament will take place at Gordon Tech High School on the city's North Side just north of Addison and California.