VIDEO: Sierra Madre Resident Nick Budincich Qualifies for State in Discus

Nick Budincich, a life long resident of Sierra Madre, and junior at Loyola High School in Los Angeles, qualified in the discus for the California State Track and Field Championships at Buchanan High School in Clovis this Friday and Saturday, June 3rd and 4th.

Budincich qualified with a toss of 174 feet, 4 inches during last Friday's CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet at Cerritos College. Budincich's personal record in the discus in 176-9.

The 6-foot-2, 238-pound 17-year-old junior narrowly missed qualifying for state in the shot put.

Prelims for the discus are on Friday with the finals slated for Saturday. His coach, Matt Pentecost, is the current shot put and discus school record holder at Loyola. Budincich is only three feet away from Pentecost's school record discus mark. Budincich hopes to pass Pentecost's records by the end of his senior year, and he hopes to attend a Division I University and compete in track and field while pursing a degree in mathematics with a minor in music.

Budincich's earlier accomplishments in the shot put came at High Point Academy in Pasadena where he set the school and league record in the eighth grade boy's shot put at more than 48 feet.

-- This article was submitted by Catherine Budincich