The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Couple honored as Bulldogs’ best seniors
Athletics have always been a major part of Justin Jaeckin and Halle Slater’s relationship.
They first started dating the summer before their freshman year at Olmsted Falls High School, with Jaeckin training for his first high school football season and Slater training for her first high school volleyball season.
By the end of the fall, they had both been bumped up to the varsity squads of their respective sports, a sign of the talent they each displayed.
Four years later, they got one final athletic accolade at Olmsted Falls, as Jaeckin was named Olmsted Falls male senior student-athlete of the year, while Slater took home the award for female studentathlete of the year.
“I was really honored to get it,” Slater said. “I think it shows people really respect us as people, both as athletes and in the classroom.”
The awards, much like everything over the past couple months, were given out virtually, with the duo finding out they won the awards through Twitter.
“I think it was really nice of them,” Jaeckin said. “I got the underclassman award last year too, so it was nice to represent my senior year.”
A three-sport athlete, Slater finished as a four-year letter winner in volleyball, along with lettering in basketball and track. She finished her career as two-time all-conference selection, along with being named to the all-district team her senior season. The Bulldogs’ season ended with a loss to the top-seeded St. Joseph Academy Jaguars in a district semifinal.
“I probably only missed a couple games over her four years,” Jaeckin said of Slater’s volleyball career. “I was kind of upset when their season ended this year because I felt like I was a part of them through their season.”
Despite having offers from numerous Division II and III schools to play volleyball, Slater instead elected to attend Youngstown State to study education.
“It was a hard decision to make since sports have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember but being able to talk to Justin about it made it a lot easier,” Slater said. “I’m still going to be involved though. I’m thinking about doing club volleyball (at Youngstown State) because I know I’m not ready to give up sports overall.”
Jaeckin’s athletic journey isn’t over just yet. After finishing his senior wrestling season as a state qualifier before the novel coronavirus ended the season, Jaeckin committed to Cleveland State, where he’ll wrestle and major in engineering.
“I’ve gone through a big mindset change in the past month from ‘Oh, I’m wrestling in college’ to ‘Oh wow, it’s time to get ready to wrestle in college,’” Jaeckin said. “I’ve been in conversations with coaches and the training staff. I can’t see or compete with them yet, but it’s cool to be coached by different people.”
Despite already being registered for classes, Jaeckin can’t start training with his teammates, as Cleveland State hasn’t opened its campus yet. That hasn’t deterred him from starting to put in the work to get ready for the next level.
“I’m training on my own right now, and coaches have been in contact with different training regimens, but they can’t mandate anything,” he said.
At some point this fall, Jaeckin and Slater will pack their bags and head off to their different colleges. While the 75-mile distance between them won’t be ideal, they’re hoping to make the best of it.
“It’ll be weird,” Jaeckin said. I’m going to be lifting weights all the time so I’m going to be a little grumpy, but we’ll be able to work through it. I know we’ll be visiting each other often.”