Berkeley High Grad Takes Silver in US National Judo Tournament

Spencer Augustine took the silver medal at the USA Judo Senior Nationals tournament in Las Vegas earlier this month. 

The 2010 graduate from Berkeley High School, won the silver in the 66K (145 lbs) weight division. This was Augustine’s second try in the national tournament.

 “This is a dream come true,” says the 21-year-old Augustine who has been doing judo since he was eight-years-old.

His success at the tournament keeps alive a family traditional of US national judo champions. His grandfather, Emilio “Mel” Augustine, was a national champion in 1963 and was a judo official at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games.

His father, Dan Augustine, won the US Senior National title in 1984 when he was 21, and he also took the silver medal at the tournament when Spencer was a year old. 

The Augustine’s are the only family in America to have three generations of national judo medalists.

“We laid the base for Spencer,” Dan explained.

Augustine graduates from Boston College later this month with a major in Economics. He took advantage of his four years on the East Coast to train with the coach of the US Olympic Judo team, Jimmy Pedro. 

“Boston has strong judo and Spencer has had a chance to train with many international players which has sharpened his skills,” says Dan Augustine, who beams when he mentions that working out at Pedro’s club allowed his son to train against the only US Olympian to ever win a gold medal in judo, Kayla Harrison, who took the gold at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

“He called me to tell me he threw Kayla for the first time and I was like WOW! She weighs a good 25 pounds more than he does, but Spencer said to me: ‘No Dad, it’s not such a big thing.’”    

Augustine represents Hanabi Judo in Albany.