A former NCAA Division I All-American runner who also has Division I coaching experience, Julia Budniak returns for her third season with the Cal State L.A. cross country and track and field programs as an assistant coach. She was a volunteer assistant coach at Pepperdine in 2011.
Budniak helped the Golden Eagle distance runners have a successful 2014-15 season, beginning with a solid effort by the cross country team and completed by an outstanding effort by the track and field distance teams. The highlight was an outstanding performance in the men’s steeplechase by Gonzalo Ceja, who earned All-CCAA honors and posted a national qualifying mark that is No. 2 all-time at Cal State L.A. Distance runner Alyssa Selve posted a provisional qualifying mark for the women’s team.
In her first year with the program, Budniak coached Sabrina Lopez to a fourth-place finish and All-CCAA award in cross country and distance runner Andres De La Cruz to a national qualifying mark in the steeplechase and an All-West Region award.
An accomplished runner, Budniak became the first female student-athlete at USC to earn All-America honors in the 3000m steeplechase when she finished sixth at the 2004 NCAA Championships with a then-varsity record time of 10:14.51. She then competed for USC’s cross country team in the fall.
Budniak came to Southern California from Poland, where she was the 2002 Polish national champion and record holder in the 3000m steeplechase. She was a member of the Polish National Team from 2001-04. She studied physical education for three years in Poland before transferring to USC.
Her personal record in the steeplechase is 9:52.77 and her lifetime best in the 5,000m is 16:30.56.
Budniak finished eighth overall in the Los Angeles Marathon in 2014 with a time of 2:49.30. She was running in a marathon for the first time. This spring, Budniak did even better and took the bronze medal while finishing third in the L.A. Marathon with a time of 2:44.44.
When she’s not running, Budniak enjoys extreme sports like kiteboarding and snowboarding. She is also a personal trainer.
She also works in research at the USC Davis School of Gerontology on fasting and its influence on longevity and cancer risk.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in health promotion and disease prevention from USC and earned her Master’s degree in nutritional science from Cal State L.A. in 2013. Budniak worked in sports nutrition at USC for two years, mostly with the track and field team. She will also be a team nutritionist at Cal State L.A.
