Paso Robles local signs athletic scholarship to UCLA
Gabe Katches
Gabe Katches has set records in discus throwing
– Paso Robles High School and Cuesta College graduate Gabe Katches has recently signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of California, Los Angeles on an athletic scholarship for track and field. Katches is currently ranked 29th for all college and open United States discus throwers and ranked 18th in the Division 1 college discus thrower category.
Katches was not able to compete his senior year of high school due to the pandemic. During his time at Cuesta College, he set the record for the second-longest discus throw for a California junior college at 193’ 9.5” and was the 2021-2022 Cuesta Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year.
He competed at the 2022 United State Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Oregon and at the 2022 California Community College Athletic Association State Championships, where he won the State Title and placed the earlier Cuesta College record.
“Gabe, a humble, quiet, kind-hearted gentle giant, has always been competitive, being the youngest of six athletic Katches kids. He has always had a strong desire to earn a scholarship to college and was happy to receive offers from many top Division 1 universities, recently deciding on UCLA as his number one choice with a full athletic scholarship,” said Bonnie Katches, Gabe’s mother.
Track and field excellence runs in the Katches family; Gabe’s father was a lauded discus thrower in high school and college and his sister, Hannah Katches, has won at conferences and is currently a track and field coach in Australia.
Katches is majoring in Sociology and in the future, aims to work in real estate and compete in the 2024 Olympics.
