DE PERE — It was a special day at De Pere high school as two athletes signed their NLI to continue their playing careers at the next level. One is heading to beautiful and sunny Florida to play volleyball, while the other is heading to one of our nation’s military academies to become an officer and be on the track team.
- De Pere track star Aiden Cartier is heading to the Naval Academy
- Cartier will be following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Paul Cartier who was in the Navy and served in Vietnam.
- A two year starter for the Redbirds volleyball team Hailey Jeskewitz is heading to play for NCAA Division 2 St. Leo University
“They called me down in school and I was like why am I getting called down,” Redbirds senior Aiden Cartier said. “It was 8:41 (a.m) or something, they gave a specific time, I was really nervous and I walked in and I was on a zoom call with (Representative) Mike Gallagher and it was just the coolest thing ever.”
That's how Cartier found out he was being nominated for the Naval Academy. He'll be heading to Annapolis this summer. Over the last two seasons he’s been the De Pere boys track team’s leading scorer and is on pace to do so again.
“The coaches at Navy are just amazing,” he said. “I didn’t have a connection with any other coaches like I had with them. The second I got off campus I was telling them this is the place where I want to be, this is the place I want to go. I'm just super excited to continue at that level.”
Cartier will be following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Paul Cartier who was in the Navy and served in Vietnam. Although, Aiden could still end up as an officer in the Marine Corps.
“I'm really proud of myself to be able to do that and continue that and hopefully future generations of my family will do that too,” said Cartier.
A two year starter for the Redbirds volleyball team Hailey Jeskewitz is heading to play for NCAA Division 2 St. Leo University. She earned FRCC all conference honors this past season. She's proud of her accomplishments and that her hard work has helped her leave the cold weather,
“I'm so excited,” she said. “I hate the cold in Wisconsin. It’s not my favorite and the ocean is just my thing. This is always where I've been wanting to go and I've really worked hard for it. This is something I always wanted to do as a young girl: commit somewhere and have all this honor and reward for what I've done so far.”
