From a young age, Westlake High School graduate Tristan Goodly had the sports bug. And it’s no wonder he did.

He grew up hearing about the sports exploits of his father, Arthur, and trying to outduel older brother Xavier.

It led him to excel in a trio of sports, multiple state championships and the American Press Male Athlete of the Year award.

“It is the will to succeed, honestly,” Goodly said. “I get a high off of succeeding. It is just a mind-set.

“For instance, during track season, I was also playing basketball, but I was focusing more of my time on track. But I was still at every basketball practice. Outside of that, there were multiple times a week when I did basketball and then I walked over to track.

“If you have a goal in mind, you are going to do it and accomplish it.”

His father, a defensive back at McNeese State, was the 1997 American Press Athlete of the Year as an all-state football player with two state track titles and a pair of runners-up at Elton High School. His older brother was twice named the American Press Cagle Award winner in 2018 and ’19.

Tristan upped the ante in his senior season. He won four state track titles, was an all-district forward for the Rams basketball team and was a first-team all-district and American Press All-Southwest Louisiana wide receiver.

“Being a really competitive athlete is a big part of me as well,” Goodly said. “I just wanted to be better than both of them.

“We all got paid to go to school — full scholarship, but I wanted to be the best out of all of them. I think I was. We were talking about it the other day. He said I took the crown of being the best in the house. It is always good to hear that. Then I am taller than them both. I say something about being the tallest every day.”

And his multi-sport pursuits are not over. He will attend Southeastern Louisiana this fall on a football scholarship and will study business management and join the track team in the spring.

While he says he has an equal love for track and football, it was track that brought him the most accolades.

“I like to say track is my favorite, but it depends, honestly,” Goodly said. “I like them both.”

Like his older brother, he accomplished his goal of sweeping both the indoor and outdoor state championships in the long and triple jumps in his final season. He posted the top indoor (47-41/2) and outdoor (48-93/4) triple jump distances in the state this season, according to la.milesplit.com.

“I feel like I did everything I wanted to do, honestly,” Goodly said. “I had a blast.

“It was like a weight lifted off of my shoulders. I was like ‘Jeez, finally I did it, I did it.’ It was a very special moment for me.”

As one of the top receivers in Southwest Louisiana, Goodly helped lead the Rams to the regional round of the playoffs for a second consecutive season. He scored 15 total touchdowns, 10 of them as a receiver. He had 30 catches for 544 yards and 235 yards on the ground on 31 carries plus a pair of special teams touchdowns.