Jul. 4—Former DCHS, KWC standout will jump for Gators
Former Daviess County High School and Kentucky Wesleyan College standout Adam Bouchard is continuing his track and field career at the University of Florida.
Bouchard, who has a career-best jump of 6-foot-11, announced his decision Saturday on Twitter. It had been in the works for several months, Bouchard said, but now it’s official.
“Once the NCAA announced we would have an extra year of eligibility (following the COVID-19 pandemic), that’s when I started reaching out to big-time programs to see if they were interested,” Bouchard told the Messenger-Inquirer. “I reached out and got in contact, and they immediately got back to me.”
For Bouchard, who was a multi-sport star at Daviess County and went on to see tremendous success at Wesleyan, his announcement was “a dream come true.”
“I’m pumped to have the opportunity to go down there and jump for an SEC school,” said Bouchard, 23, who will seek a Master’s degree in sports management as a graduate transfer. “Growing up as a Florida Gator fan, it’s exciting. You always think about competing for your dream school.”
He’ll be joining a program that finished fourth in the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships last month in Eugene, Oregon. The Gators also featured a national champion sprinter, along with jumper Clayton Brown placing fifth in both the high jump and triple jump. Currently, numerous Gators are on the docket to compete at the Olympics in Tokyo.
Not intimidated by the high-level competition he’ll face, Bouchard’s confidence is sky-high — a trait he fostered at KWC.
“We went to University of Kentucky meets and other top-level meets, so we competed against tough competition,” said Bouchard, who has aspirations to reach a 7-2 high jump someday.
“A lot of programs’ big things for me was ways they’d help me add to that. Overall, it’s just about working hard to get there.”