American sports reporter
Kristen Lee "Kris" Budden
(born March 9, 1984) is an American sports reporter currently working for
ESPN
. Budden is known for reporting on the
San Diego Padres
as well as being a current sideline reporter for
college football
and
college basketball
.
Background
[
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Born in
Atlanta, Georgia
, on March 9, 1984, Budden moved with her family at age 10 to
Dallas, Texas
. As a teenager, she
shadowed
her godfather at his anchor job at
WFAA
. She attended
Trinity Christian Academy
, in the Dallas suburb of
Addison
, where she was a two-time state champion with the school's tennis team. She went on to graduate with honors from
University of Missouri
's
School of Journalism
with a broadcast journalism degree.
[1]
[2]
Career
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Budden's first job was as a weekend sports anchor at
WCAV
in
Charlottesville, Virginia
. Within 18 months, she moved to
WBIR
in
Knoxville, Tennessee
, to work as both a sports anchor and reporter covering the
Tennessee Volunteers
' athletics programs. Over the course of six years, Budden covered the
men's
and
women's
NCAA
and
SEC
basketball tournaments, the
2012 Summer Olympics
and
Pat Summitt
's retirement. At WBIR, Budden received the Tennessee Associated Press Broadcasters' award for Best Breaking Sports News and posted four consecutive second-place finishes in the Best Sports Feature category.
[1]
In August 2013, Budden moved to
San Diego, California
, after accepting a position with
Fox Sports
. She was, at first, a part of the
Fox NFL
broadcast crew. In March 2014, she became the sideline reporter for the
Padres
broadcasts and a fill-in host for the team's pre- and post-game shows. Prior to the 2014
NCAA college football
season, she began coverage, mainly as a sideline reporter, for Fox Sports.
[1]
Personal life
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Budden is married to Mario Toledo, who was a member of the University of Tennessee men's tennis team from 2000 to 2002.
[1]
They met in 2012, when she took a lesson from him at a Knoxville racquet club. They were married in
Charleston, South Carolina
, in April 2014.
[3]
During Budden's career covering the Padres, Toledo got a job as the assistant tennis coach at
Pepperdine University
. The couple then moved to
Los Angeles
, and she switched to covering college football.
[4]
She has two kids and is based in Frisco, Texas.
[5]
[6]
See also
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References
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