Graduate Spotlight: Student athlete Gabriel Martin finds calling at Lipscomb
Kim Chaudoin |
When Gabriel Martin sat in a French philosophy class during his freshman year at UCLA four years ago, everything on paper looked perfect. He was a student at a prestigious university, accepted into its Herb Alpert Music Program and competing on the Bruins’ track and field team.
But as he looked out a classroom window one day, he said he sensed something deeper tugging at his heart.
“I remember sitting there and just feeling it strongly, ‘This is not where I am meant to be,’” Martin said.
That moment of clarity set in motion a journey that would eventually lead Martin from Los Angeles toLipscomb University and from a focus on his own plans to a calling to serve others through ministry. On Dec. 13, Martin graduated from Lipscomb with a Bachelor of Arts degree in pastoral leadership, closing a chapter of a story that he says only God could have written.
A new beginning
Around the same time Martin was wrestling with his future at UCLA, some of his family members relocated to Tennessee. Curious about what might be possible in a new place, he began searching for faith-based universities in the area. Lipscomb was not initially on his radar.
That changed when he took a lifeguard job with Williamson County Parks and Recreation. There, he met a coworker, Lucy Litwin, who is in her fourth year on Lipscomb’s track and field team. She told Martin about Lipscomb and encouraged him to consider attending the university and joining the track and field team. Still unsure, Martin did what he had been learning to do more and more. He prayed.
“On my drive home that day, I prayed and asked the Lord to show me where I should go … to give me a sign,” Martin recalled. “Shortly thereafter, at a stoplight, a car pulled in front of me with a Lipscomb bumper sticker. In that moment, I knew that was my sign.”
He went home, talked with his parents, applied to Lipscomb that night and reached out to the track coaches. He made the team and transferred and made the move to Lipscomb.
As an athlete, Martin quickly made his mark.
Competing for the Bisons in the men’s long jump and 4x100 relay, he built an impressive résumé. He won a silver medal at the 2024 ASUN indoor conference championship, then captured gold in the 2025 ASUN outdoor long jump championship with a jump of 7.31 meters. He set the indoor school record in the long jump at 7.20 meters and shares the outdoor record of 7.33 meters with teammate Dimitri Kemp. He also won bronze as part of the 4x100 relay at the 2025 ASUN outdoor championship.
Martin said those achievements were never just about medals. “The coaching staff and everyone in Lipscomb Athletics believed in me and gave me the chance to join the team late in the team-building period,” he said. “They allowed me to live out my dream in track and field at a wonderful Christ-centered college. It was my duty to train hard and win our university championships.”
His participation in track and field has been intertwined with his faith long before he put on a Bisons uniform. While a student at Oaks Christian High School in California, Martin experienced a season of deep frustration when his long jump marks would not improve despite intense training, physical therapy and careful preparation. The pressure of college recruiting and scholarship hopes increased the stress.
In a reflection that Martin wrote last year about the integration of his faith and athletics, he recalled laying in his room one night after a meet and “crying out to God.” “I prayed and asked God, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ I felt He wanted me to fully surrender everything to Him,” he shared. “Stop looking to coaches, other athletes and equipment and turn your heart and mind to Me as you cannot do this on your own.”
A favorite passage, Philippians 4:6-7, became an anchor. It reads, “The Lord is at hand, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
The breakthrough he had be waiting for eventually came, Martin recalled. He set a personal record of 23 feet, 5 inches, and only weeks later jumped 24 feet, 3 inches to break his high school’s long jump record and win the California state championship. That was the exact mark he had prayed for the night before.
“That victory allowed me to share a testimony with others,” he said. “God revealed to me that He hears our prayers, His timing is perfect and never late, and He wants us to spend time with Him.”
Personal growth
Martin describes his experience at Lipscomb as “very transformative,” both in the classroom and on the track.
“I love the small campus feel,” he said. “My professors have taught me what it takes to follow God in so many ways. There is a long list of professors, and I will be forever thankful for having the opportunity to be under their strong leadership.”
He is equally grateful for the support system that surrounded him as a student athlete.
“The entire staff of Lipscomb has been beyond supportive,” Martin said. “I cannot express my gratitude enough to Coach Nick Polk and the coaching staff, the training staff, academic support and everyone in Lipscomb Athletics. They believed in me and gave me the chance to join a team and allowed me to live out my dream.”
Balancing being an NCAA Div. 1 athlete with a demanding academic program required discipline and sacrifice. “I take my sport just as seriously as my academics, which often made it feel like there were not enough hours in the day,” he said. “Managing training, body work, eating well, travel and trying to get as much sleep as possible, all while trying to keep a strong GPA, required constant focus and discipline. It never really leaves you time for ‘fun’ stuff.”
At the same time, he said the spiritual depth of his coursework added another dimension. “It was not just about completing assignments,” Martin said. “Pursuing a degree in pastoral leadership brought deep emotional and spiritual moments with God that continuously shaped my heart. Trying to honor those experiences while staying on top of everything else was difficult at times, but also incredibly meaningful.”
Through his classes, internships, outreach opportunities and community life, Martin says he has learned to see the world differently.
“Lipscomb has shown me that there are bigger meanings outside of my own world,” he said. “I have learned to let go of perfection in areas where it was not healthy. My experience has opened my eyes to try and see with the eyes of Jesus. I have grown spiritually, emotionally and rationally. I have learned what it means to serve, to listen and to love people well and to see past my own frustrations at times.”
Martin said his faith has deepened, especially during seasons of disappointment, whether it was not winning an indoor long jump title or facing unexpected life outcomes. He recalled a time at Lipscomb when he was upset about not winning the indoor season with his other two teammates in the long jump.
“I was so disappointed that it shook me inside,” he said. “We had been working hard, and I felt that it was going to be amazing with the three of us on the podium in 1, 2, 3 order. I would have been so proud for the Bisons. Yet, that did not happen.”
Through that, Martin said that once again God showed him areas in his life where he had to learn to trust Him, even when things did not go his way.
“I prayed, and I felt a sense of reassurance that He was with me,” said Martin. “He knew what my goals were in my sport, so after a season of letting it all go, in the end, I won the entire conference for Lipscomb. Looking back, I realize that He had me in the palm of His hand all along.”
“Having to trust God in a true way, especially when things do not go my way or in the time I expected them to, has strengthened me,” he continued. “It has deepened my dependence on Him and taught me to surrender my plans so I can follow His.”
Preparing for what’s next
With his undergraduate degree complete, Martin is now focused on what he believes he has been called to do — preaching and sharing the Gospel.
“My career plans are to preach and spread the Good News of Jesus,” he said. “Whether that is through evangelism, pastoring at a church or simply talking with my neighbors, it all matters when we can point people to our loving Savior and touch lives for Him.”
He has applied for a one-year residency at a local church which he hopes to begin in January. He has also launched a small group men’s Bible study with past and current track teammates and hopes that group will continue to grow as they stay connected and rooted in their faith beyond college.
Looking back over the path that has led him to the moment of receiving his college diploma from Lipscomb with a degree in pastoral leadership and a clear calling, Martin doesn’t hesitate to summarize his story.
“Only God could have written my story,” he said.