Trinity Catholic athletes sign with universities
Jake Slaughter, who will be playing football at U.F., Garner Langlo, who will be playing football at Auburn University, Caleb Johnson, who will be playing football at Notre Dame and Chloe Teter, who wil be playing volleyball at Life University, left to right, place their hands over their hearts as the National Anthem is performed during the signing ceremony at Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala, Fla. on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Jake Slaughter, who will be playing football at U.F., Garner Langlo, who will be playing football at Auburn University, Caleb Johnson, who will be playing football at Notre Dame and Chloe Teter, who will be playing volleyball at Life University, all signed their letters of intent during the ceremony at Trinity Catholic. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2020.
Together, Teter, joined by Caleb Johnson, Garner Langlo and Jake Slaughter were celebrated in the Marino Gymnasium on Trinity Catholic’s campus on Wednesday morning as they signed their letters of intent to their respective universities.
“It signifies the next step in their athletic and academic careers,” Trinity Catholic Athletic Director Tommy Bond said to the crowd of students and family members. “It also signifies the bittersweet end of their high school careers and an exciting new beginning as they move on to the college level.”
Chloe Teter – Life University volleyball
After four years at Trinity Catholic, Teter will leave with a resume that anyone would envy – one that includes two state championships, split by a season where the Celtics finished as the state runner-up.Her contributions during her career as a Celtic earned her an offer to play volleyball at Life University in Marietta, Ga.
According to Bond, Teter had an opportunity to visit Life’s campus before recruiting was restricted due to the Coronavirus.
“She said that she felt great there,” Bond said. “She said she trusted the feelings she had, she enjoyed being with the girls and she also liked the fact that it’s close to Atlanta. She liked being around a big city.”
After Bond joked with her that if she needed help wearing two championship rings she could ask Trinity Catholic volleyball coach Jeff Reavis or Trinity Catholic football coach John Brantley, Teter thanked her coaches, Trinity Catholic’s faculty, her friends, family and teammates.
“I can’t wait to start the next chapter of my life,” Teter concluded.
Caleb Johnson – Notre Dame football
Despite previously being committed to play football at Auburn University, Trinity Catholic’s 6-foot-7, 295-pound offensive tackle will be graduating from one Catholic institution to another.“Obviously being part of a Catholic school here and moving on to, again, arguably the best Catholic school in the country, Notre Dame got something special,” Bond said of Johnson.
Johnson’s jump from sunny Ocala to South Bend, Indiana, will likely be reason for some clothes shopping in the near future, but it’s nothing that will catch him by surprise. According to Bond, Johnson has family in the Fort Wayne area of Indiana.
After having conversations with his family, Johnson ultimately decided that Notre Dame was the right place to call home for the next four years. However, the coaches at Notre Dame were quick to remind him that, “It’s not a four-year decision, it’s a 40-year decision.”
This year, as the 2020 college football season wraps up, the Fighting Irish are ranked as the second-best team in the country and are in contention for a national title.
After thanking his parents, coaches and friends, Johnson was quick to plug his future team.
“Go Irish, Go Celtics, Beat Clemson,” he said.
Garner Langlo – Auburn University football
Though his teammate jumped ship from Auburn, Garner Langlo never thought twice about it.The 6-foot-7, 270-pound offensive guard, who only started reeling in college offers in the last year, took his visit to Auburn during Auburn’s junior day in the spring and had fielded an offer by April 16.
With other offers in his pocket, such as Mississippi State, Florida State and Kentucky, just under a month after Auburn’s off, Langlo verbally committed on May 15.
According to Bond, Langlo felt that Auburn was the best offer he had and that they would make him a better person and a better football player.
During Langlo’s visit to Auburn, Alabama, Langlo had an opportunity to visit Jordan-Hare Stadium and the infamous Toomer’s Corner.
“As soon as I walked out on that field, during that junior day, it just felt like home,” Langlo said. “I’m all about it. I can’t wait… And Toomer’s Corner, too.”
Langlo will get a head start on his college football career as he has opted to enroll early at Auburn, meaning he will leave for college in under a month.
“Of course there’s nerves, but I’m more nervous to leave my family,” Langlo said. “I’m a big momma’s boy, so that’s going to be tough.”
Jake Slaughter – University of Florida football
Back in April, no one would have told you that Jake Slaughter would wear a Florida Gators hat to the signing table.Trinity Catholic’s 6-foot-4, 290-pound offensive lineman had verbally committed to Florida State back in April. In May, the Gators threw an offer out to Slaughter to see if it would stick to the wall.
Little did Florida’s staff know, the University of Florida was Slaughter’s dream offer and that come September the Trinity Catholic Celtic would be backing off his pledge to the Seminoles and committing to the Gators.
“It was just where I needed to be,” Slaughter said of UF. “It’s a program on the rise, you know, competing for a national championship, SEC championship every year. It was just the best fit for me and where I needed to be.”
Slaughter comes from a lineage of Gators, as both his grandparents are University of Florida alumni.
“They’re telling me all about it and everything that’s great about it,” Slaughter said. “It just makes it that much more special that I get to go up there.”