When last we left him, young Andrew Strode was on a hot streak, punching his way to a Colorado Junior Golden Gloves boxing championship and a National Silver Gloves title in less than two weeks.
That was 11 months ago, when Strode, then 14, fought in the 80-pound division. Back then, he dreamed of one day fighting in the Olympics.
On Saturday, he got one giant step closer to that dream. Strode, now a 15-year-old freshman at Aurora's Gateway High, rallied over the final two rounds to win another National Silver Gloves title, in Independence, Mo.
This time, Strode upset three-time national champion Jordan White of Maryland, a YouTube highlight star and the favorite in the 90-pound division.
"I came back in the second and third rounds," Strode said by phone Saturday. "I started thinking, instead of just throwing punches. I knew I had to make the right decisions, keeping my reach and throwing my jab."
Strode is a two-time Silver Gloves winner, and his belt is both an invitation to the U.S. junior national team and a ticket to the U.S. Junior Olympics in May, at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Strode was The Denver Post's Youth Excellence in Sports March award winner, given to a Colorado athlete 17 or younger excelling in their sport.
He's also 2011's yearly YES! winner.
But the Olympics are still Strode's goal.
"I need to train harder," he said. "I've been training, getting stronger and smarter. But I need to train harder."
Strode counts Floyd Mayweather and Adrien Broner among the boxing pros he looks up to — "because they're smart about their boxing."
Strode has two coaches in his corner helping build his chops: father Andre Strode and veteran boxing coach and referee Stephen Blea.
Andre Strode is a former standout football player at Montbello High and cornerback at Colorado State from 1990 to 1995 , who is now a Denver Police officer. Blea is a WBC- sanctioned referee and coach at the Denver Police Brotherhood boxing program, where Andrew Strode trains.
"Nothing's been easy for him," said Blea, who has trained 25 national amatuer champions from the Brotherhood gym. "But he's an (Olympic) prospect for 2016. He's got good lateral movement, he's fast, he's well-disciplined. A lot of that comes from his father.
"I tell a lot of the other young fighters, 'Look at him. You guys should be on that platform too. But you have to work at it. Nothing's free in life.' "
For now, Strode joins Denver 11-year-old Elmer Monarrez of the Backyard Brawlers gym as the 2012 Silver Gloves champs from Colorado. Strode, though, is looking forward."
"I want to win some more," he said.
Nick Groke: 303-954-1015 or firstname.lastname@example.org
January: Dylan Emery
The 10-year-old football player from Parker returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown to help the West team prevail in the Jan. 1 Offense-Defense Youth All-American Bowl in Myrtle Beach, S.C. He was named the game's defensive MVP.
February: Alex Ferreira
The Aspen High School sophomore won Gatorade Free Flow Tour freeski superpipe regional and national events at Wyoming's Jackson Hole and Utah's Snowbasin to earn an automatic berth on the prestigious Dew Tour.
March: Andrew Strode
Fighting for the Denver Police Brotherhood Youth Boxing Club, Strode defeated Martin Delgado of Dallas by decision to win a National Silver Gloves title in Kansas City, Mo. It was the fourth national title for the son of former CSU cornerback Andre Strode.
April: Dean Travers
The Aspen High School student won the super-G at the Whistler Cup in British Columbia. For Travers, it was a return to the podium in Canada, having won a bronze medal in the Whistler Cup's giant slalom in 2009.
May: Parker Warhawks
The 11-under baseball team won three consecutive tournaments — the Mother's Day Super Series in Woodland Park, the May Melee in Longmont and the Pikes Peak Invitational in Colorado Springs — playing up a level in age (U12).
June: Team ABC Boulder
The team of 30 rock climbers ages 7 to 14 won the 2011 Sport Climbing Series divisional championships and sent 19 athletes to the SCS youth national championships in Atlanta after enjoying an undefeated season.
July: Jalen and Jordan Dyer
The Dyer boys became the first set of brothers to win titles at the NHRA Junior Drag Racing League Western Conference Finals on July 9 at Bandimere Speedway. Jalen won the junior comp division, and Jordan took the 12-under junior dragster crown.
August: Brandie Jay
With an eye focused on the London Olympics, the Rocky Mountain High School senior posted 11th-, seventh- and third-place finishes in the all-around, uneven bars and vault, respectively, at the Visa Championships in St. Paul, Minn.
September: Samantha Peters
The Everitt Middle School eighth-grader overcame serious injuries suffered during an early-season accident to win Rocky Mountain Motocross Association women's B division races on consecutive weekends in Sterling and Milliken.
October: Kamran Madani
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Broomfield High School sophomore won a bronze medal at the World Junior Karate Championships from Oct. 13-16 in Melaka, Malaysia. The 15-year-old competitor won the bronze-medal match 2-0.
November: Collin Hudson
Having already won two world BMX championships, the Niwot High School freshman finally took the one title that had evaded him — winning at the ABA Grand Nationals in Tulsa, Okla. Months earlier, Hudson won the world title in Copenhagen.
December: Littleton HawksThe Hawks won Colorado Amateur Hockey Association championships at Tier II's two highest levels, successfully defending their 2010 titles in midget-major (18-under) and midget-minor (16-under) to advance to the national championships.
Know a top athlete?
Youth Excellence in Sports honors those 17 or younger who have excelled in any athletic endeavor unaffiliated with the Colorado High School Activities Association. To submit your choice for the top individual or team achievement that occurred during February, visit denverpost.com/youthsports for an online form or fax a brief description of the achievement to 303-866-9004 (Attention: "Youth Excellence"). Pictures of the monthly winners go on display at the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.