Rest in peace! A mother of two, an award-winning singer, a track and field athlete, and a songwriter. Chloe Jarvis lost her life after a brave battle. Jarvis, who competed at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials and finished 27th in the 800m quarterfinals with a time of 2:10.97, leaves behind a legacy of achievements. Born in Syracuse, New York, and raised in Elk Grove, California, Chloe attended St. Francis High School and later became a standout student-athlete with the Golden Bears. California Track and Field is heartbroken to share the passing of alumna Chloe Jarvis, a three-time conference champion!

Chloe passed away on Thursday, December 12th, at the age of 42, after a courageous battle with breast cancer. Besides being a sportswoman, she was also interested in music. Chloe was in the UC Berkeley Gospel Choir and graduated in 2005 with a degree in Sociology and Education. After leaving Cal, she landed a two-year job at Ford Models in New York before coming back to the Bay Area to follow her passion for music.

Chloe’s debut album, Freak, was released in 2015 and co-written with Scott Urquhart, who was the Grammy nominee, and during her career, Chloe worked with other renowned producers and singers. Chloe also was one who won the WCS Songwriting Contest with “What Could Be Better” and also received “Song of the Month” for “Fall Back” and “In War” from Songwriter Universe. “Chloe was a beautiful person inside and out,” said Robyne Johnson, Director of Track & Field/Cross Country. The loss of Chloe is a blow, but at least she enjoyed an outstanding career in her lifetime!

Track and field star’s impact at Cal

Chloe Jarvis’s story at Cal is one that could well have come out of a fairytale. No one could expect such a kind of performance from a freshman the time she started running on the track, yet she became a force not only in her individual events but also in a few of the program’s most outstanding relay teams. In 2003, she made her first appearance at the NCAA Championships, finishing 21st in the 800m with a time of 2:08.07. But for Chloe, the journey was not only to get to the big stage but to progress with each step, and that she did! By the NCAA West Regional, she was hitting personal bests, taking third in the 800m with a time of 2:05.57, tying for fourth place in the record book for the fastest time of Cal.

Her growth didn’t stop there. By the end of the season, Chloe was running 800m in a time that was much better by over 13 seconds than her previous best time. Her performance at the Pac-10 Championships was one for the books—Chloe placed second in the 800m, scoring eight crucial points for her team with a time of 2:05.92, and was named Cal’s Most Outstanding Female Track Athlete. But she wasn’t only a solo star performer. Chloe was also a member of some of Cal’s most storied relay squads, running on the No. 8 & No. 10 outdoor 4 x 400m and the No. 5 indoor 4 x 400m relay squad in school history.

By her senior year of college, she was also a three-time conference 800m champion and had competed in three NCAA Championships, two outdoor (2003 and 2005) and one indoor (2005). Her personal bests, a 2:04.53 in outdoor 800m and 2:06:95 in indoor 800m, secured her status in the record books for all time on Cal-Stand, sixth and fifth, respectively. Her passing is a big blow to the track and field fraternity and even to the entire Cal community, who will always remember her from the heart!