THE FRONT ROW WITH BRUCE BOURQUIN: Friday, April 22, 2016

Whitworth University track and field senior Nick Gosselin is wasting no time after he graduates on May 21 with his bachelor’s degree in accounting.

“I’m going to the Marines,” Gosselin said. “I get commissioned and on June 25 I’m going to Quantico, Virginia.”

Eventually, the 22-year-old Lake City High graduate wants to serve in special forces, become an officer, serve during the entire 20 years as a career Marine, then possibly go into either logistics or an accounting-related field. The sprinter who is one of seven team captains is set to graduate from Whitworth, a Division III college located in Spokane, with a 3.5 overall grade-point average and primarily runs in the 100-meter dash, the 200 and the 400 events.

“The Marine Corps is cool,” Gosselin said. “Because every guy wants to be the bad ass, whether it’s as a rifleman or infantry.”

That is thanks in part to his father, Gary Gosselin, who retired from the U.S. Navy in March as a Senior Chief Electrician’s Mate. Gosselin’s parents, Gary and Melissa Kempton-Baughman, got divorced when he was 3. When he was 7 in 2001, his stepdad Nathon Baughman and Melissa and he moved from San Diego to Coeur d’Alene. San Diego is home to Naval Base San Diego and plenty of other Navy installations. Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base is in the northern part of San Diego County, 47 miles up the Pacific Ocean coastline in Oceanside.

“Ever since I was a kid, at 5 or 6, I told my parents I wanted to be a Marine,” Nick said. “I saw plenty of them down in San Diego. I talked to my dad, because he was on a Marine boat. He dissuaded me from going into the Marines; he didn’t want to pressure me into any one branch of the military. My mindset was, I’m going.”

During the summer before this season, the 6-foot Gosselin gained 15 pounds, going from 165 to 180 as he started to increase his weightlifting regimen. His season-best times are 22.89 in the 200 and 11.45 in the 100. He helped the Pirates’ 4x400-meter relay team set another season best (42.46). His personal-best times are 11.13 in the 100, 21.59 in the 200 and 48.39 in the 400.

“I went to OCS (Officer Candidate School) training,” Gosselin said. “My times don’t reflect what I can do,” Gosselin said.

WHAT GOSSELIN can do when running at his full potential is to a degree, pretty amazing. Earlier this season, at the University of Washington Open indoor meet, he broke the school indoor record in the 200 (22.6).

Last season, he was three places and .02 of a second short of finishing among the top 20 in the nation to qualify for the national meet, coming in with a time of 21.82 seconds at a NCAA national qualifier at George Fox University on May 13-14 in George Fox, Ore. The real goal Gosselin was shooting for was the 400. His best time in that event was set last year, in early May at the Ken Shannon Invitational at UW. The national qualifying time in that event was 47.90.

“I wanted to go there in the 400,” Gosselin said. “It was a bummer, a letdown. I had to be among the top 30 in order to make it. Going in the 200 would have been a bonus.”

Whitworth coach Toby Schwarz has been pretty happy with Gosselin’s performances as he’s been a part of Whitworth winning six consecutive conference championships, averaging 11th out of 430 schools in the national championships. This week, the Pirates were ranked 13th in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll.

“Nick’s a very outgoing guy,” Schwarz said. “He’s a vocal leader, he encourages people. He’ll listen and then get people excited.”

As a freshman straight out of Lake City, Gosselin made an immediate impact, winning the Northwest Conference championship in the 400 (49.39).

“He showed up on our doorstep,” Schwarz said. “He said he was interested in our team. I told him he could try out and it’s worked out. We hope we can get another conference championship.”

Gosselin’s final conference championship meet is today and Saturday at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, then the national meet, the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships, is May 26-28 at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.

NICK WAS also a school record holder at one point with Lake City in the 400 (49.97), set as a senior in 2013. The next year, Jerry Louie-McGee, who is a freshman walk-on for the University of Montana football team, broke the record (48.64).

“It was cool to be able to set the tone for that program,” Gosselin said. “We set school records in the 4x400, with Loren Oden, Jordan Porto and Josh Peters. Every kid in that freshman and sophomore class went above and beyond. They got faster. I visit them when I can.”

Currently, Porto is serving in the U.S. Army, Oden went to the University of Idaho and Peters is working.

Gosselin was also a part of a 200-meter relay team that finished second overall at the state swimming meet in 2013.

“It was our first and only state (team) championship in swimming,” Gosselin said. “Lake City was cool (as a student). I took national baccalaureate classes. During a typical day, you’d ask questions, then find your own answers, you wouldn’t just sit there and listen to the teacher give lectures all day.”

Kelly Reed was Gosselin’s track coach at LCHS.

“Just based on his body frame, he was long and gangly,” Reed said. “He had to catch up to his body. Nick was really a hard worker and he was always talented. He was a remarkable long strider. He led by example, kids followed him because of that. Nick’s intelligent, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s real successful in anything he chose to pursue.”

If this former Timberwolf and soon-to-be former Pirate performs as well with the U.S. Marines as he has as a student and runner, he should be pretty successful.

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013, via e-mail at bbourquin@cdapress.com or via Twitter @bourq25