This week, I interviewed Jarvis Gotch of Carencro, Louisiana. I wanted to get to know not just the long jumping athlete we read about in the papers, but also the student and friend we sit next to in class. Louisiana Tech Students, I introduce you to another Celebrity in a Small Town, Jarvis Gotch.
Jarvis Gotch started as a basketball player in high school. After his senior season was completed, his friend suggested that he should run track. He wasn’t sure about it, until his first meet. During his first meet, he fell in love with the sport after a 22’11” long jump. At the LHSAA State Meet in 2011 his career took off with a 24’2” long jump and a national ranking of 13th.
Since his career launched forward in 2014, Gotch became a Louisiana Tech Bulldog. He has made our University proud with a world ranking of 13th. He continually travels the world competing in professional track meets in training sessions for the Olympic Trials being held in Eugene, Oregon.
His biggest supporter he says is his mother, although she does not know much about track, after each meet he receives a phone call saying, "Did you win?"
If he didn’t, he chuckles while impersonating her, "Well, what happened? Why not?"
He often replies with, "Well, Mom, it is a different level of competitors, but I will try to do it next time."
It is not hard to see why Jarvis exemplifies the tenets of Tech, the foremost confidence. His mother knows she raised the best, and she treats him as such.
The love she shows him flutters over into his love for his daughter, Legacy. This fiery 2-year-old strikes a chord in this athlete. His entire demeanor changes when he speaks about her, “Everything I do is for my daughter,” he told me.
The late Coach Chapman was the first man to give Jarvis a Bible. He told him, he would always be successful through Christ, “You are a warrior, you can do it.” In each of his competitions, Gotch remembers this advice, and he finds confidence knowing that he earned a spot at each meet. “Even if I don’t win, I am not going to put my head down. I am going to be ready for the next meet.”
Jarvis Gotch gives all he has to everything he is a part of. He believes in thPle opportunity he was given at Louisiana Tech and professionally. Gotch pursues each opportunity as if it were his last. The Louisiana Tech family hopes to cheer on Jarvis in his competition at the Olympic Trials. No matter the outcome, it is easy to see the future Jarvis Gotch holds, and he is sure to leave a Legacy.
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
-1 Corinthians 13:13
