Joaquin Baldonado, a senior on the West Haven High School Boys’ Track & Field Team, has qualified for the 2024 Nike Outdoor Nationals scheduled for June 12-15 at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. Joaquin will compete in the Discus Throw after qualifying with a personal-best mark of 152’2”.
“It honestly hasn’t hit me yet,” responded Joaquin, when asked about competing at the national meet. “If you told me 4 years ago, that I would be going to Nationals for track, I’d ask you what track is. I’m serious, I had no idea.
“I have to thank my friends that recruited me – the captains – they encouraged me because once I quit basketball and they saw me at the gym, they told me I should throw and I thought, ‘why not’.”
Thanks to Joaquin’s friends, who pushed him to compete in a sport he was unfamiliar with, the senior, who just started throwing last spring, is now heading to the National Championship meet in Eugene, Oregon.
Joaquin threw a personal record and National-qualifying toss of 152’2” on May 1st during a 3-team meet between West Haven, Branford, and North Haven.
“Everyone was screaming for me, nobody else really understood what was going on, but our team all knew because I had to hit 152′ to make it, and when we heard the number 152′, everyone started freaking out. I started jumping,” said Joaquin.
It’s an incredibly impressive feature, especially considering he joined the outdoor track & field team during the 2023 spring season. Before that, Joaquin had played basketball most of his life, starting in second grade. He played for West Haven High School and made varsity as a sophomore, but following his basketball-playing days, he figured he was done with sports.
Fast forward to now, Joaquin is considering joining the track & field team at UMass Lowell, where he will attend next year. The thought of throwing at the next level began during the indoor track & field season.
It has been an incredible journey for Joaquin, a former 2nd-degree blackbelt in taekwondo and a 12-time gold medalist, who will wrap up his high school career with a national championship experience in a sport he knew little about two years ago.
“It’s something he and his family can take with them and will have as a life-long memory,” said his throwing coach, Cindy Latham.
Hi, good day to you. Just a question, where did Baldino come from. My son’s name is Baldonado, and it’s on the article. Is there anyway to correct this. It will be nice to have this framed with the right name. Thanks
Hi, we apologize for the typo. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. It has been corrected on the website.