Jarrett Slaven '62

Jarrett was a three-year letter winner in Track and Field at Poland Seminary High School, and helped lead his squad to the Tri-County Championship each of these three seasons. Jarrett competed in numerous events including the Mile, Half-Mile (880 Yard Run), 4 X 400 Relay and the Pole Vault. He was a County Champion in both the Mile and the Half-Mile Run. Jarrett also finished third at the District Meet in 1962.

He was also a two-year letter winner in Cross Country and was part of the first-ever Cross Country program that was started at Poland in 1961. Jarrett was on the 1962 Cross Country team that went undefeated and he individually won every single County and District meet that year, including setting the course record at Boardman Park in 1962. The Cross Country team was also County Champions in both 1961 and 1962.

After high school, Jarrett attended the University of Florida, where he ran Track and participated in the Mile, Half-Mile and 5K runs. In 1971, he was fifth in the AAU National Mile Run and trained with 1972 Olympic Gold Medalist Frank Shorter as well as other Olympians. Jarrett went on to coach Track and Field for many years including the last 23 at the University of Tampa, where he was the Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year a record setting 15 times. Jarrett is a graduate of Youngstown State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, then furthered his education with a Master’s Degree in Physical Education at the University of Florida. He served nearly 25 years as a United States Probation Officer before retiring in 1999. He and his wife Patricia now reside in Brandon, FL. They have two daughters and a grandson. Jarrett has stated that, “Poland High School and Coach Stone gave me the passion to be an athlete and coach which has greatly enhanced my life.”