[5] He attended Saint Genevieve High School in Panorama City, where he distinguished himself as a standout track and field athlete in the shot put and discus throw.
[6] Upon graduation, Venegas enrolled at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), lettering in track and field four times and earning Division II All-American honors as a hammer thrower.
[9] He helped Long Beach State athletes Bill Green (hammer throw) and Mike Smith (shot put) both earn All-American honors, and in 1981 and 1983 set still-standing school records.
[5] During twenty-eight years at UCLA, Bruin throwers would amass thirty-three NCAA championships, sixty-seven conference titles and claim more than one-hundred and seventy-five All-American awards.
[5] Six of Venegas' Bruin charges became Olympians: Brian Blutreich, Jessica Cosby, Veleyata Althouse, Suzy Powell,[14] Seilala Sua and John Godina.
Godina won, in addition to two Olympic medals, the World Championships three times and Sua became the winningest female athlete in NCAA history with seven titles.
[15] Venegas also coached to the 1996 NCAA indoor shot put title Jonathan Ogden, who later became a Super Bowl champion and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee.
At the invitation of the IAAF, Venegas coordinated a weeklong training camp for British throwers in London, and he worked with the Spanish national throws team in Madrid, Spain in 1988.