Saint Ignatius Takes Runner-Up Honors at Renamed Mike Lehto Viking Invitational
CLEVELAND — Saint Ignatius High School turned in a strong all-around performance at the 51st Mike Lehto Viking Invitational on Saturday at Busbey Natatorium, finishing second in a deep field of 52 teams at the one-day meet hosted at Cleveland State University.
The Wildcats, competing in the invitational for the first time under its new name honoring late former head coach Mike Lehto, compiled 355 points to claim the runner-up spot. St. Xavier won the meet with 377 points. Saint Ignatius was led by a trio of standout swimmers — Thor Johannessen, Jaimeson Hong and Jude Banks — who combined for multiple individual victories and anchored two relay wins. Johannessen was recognized as the overall male high-point winner of the meet.
Banks, a senior and Georgia commit, delivered one of the meet’s signature swims in the 100-yard breaststroke. He won the event and broke his own meet record from last year, touching in 53.94 seconds. Banks also added a 13th-place finish in the 200 individual medley to contribute valuable points. Hong picked up another marquee win for the Wildcats in the 100 butterfly, posting a best time of 49.51. He narrowly missed a sweep of his butterfly events, placing second in the 50 fly after being out-touched by his club teammate, Beachwood senior Derek Fan.
Johannessen dominated the sprint freestyle events, capturing both the 50 and 100 freestyle titles on his way to securing the meet’s high-point honors. Together, Johannessen, Hong and Banks formed the core of Saint Ignatius’ relay success, joining with Aiden Malke on the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. Malke added depth individually with a 10th-place finish in both the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
Saint Ignatius’ depth across the lineup was evident in the number of swimmers advancing to finals and scoring in multiple events. In the middle-distance and stroke events, Brian Ormiston finished 14th in the 200 freestyle and 19th in the 100 butterfly, while backstroke specialist Ian Kimak took second in both the 50 and 100 back. Matthew Mudryy placed fifth in the 50 back and 14th in the 100 back, and Ben Weber added a ninth-place finish in the 50 back. In the breaststroke, Chris Saxon placed third in the 100 breast and contributed on the 200 freestyle relay with teammates Ormiston, James Yan and Kimak.
Yan added two more top-eight finishes for the Wildcats, taking sixth in the 200 individual medley and fifth in the 100 butterfly. Several varsity swimmers reached the A session and contributed to the overall team effort even without finals appearances. Parker Gildea placed 58th in the 50 free and 29th in the 100 breaststroke, while Brendan Ormiston took 22nd in the 200 IM and 16th in the 500 free. Giovanni Pianca finished 23rd in the 50 free and 26th in the 100 free, and DJ Magee placed 44th in the 100 free and 22nd in the 100 back. Maximus Chung qualified for the A session and finished 49th in the 50 free and 52nd in the 100 free, while Henry Scott took 25th in the 200 free and 17th in the 500 free.
The Wildcats’ junior varsity and B-session swimmers also contributed strong showings, underscoring the program’s depth. In the B session, Sam Bedocs placed third in the 50 free and sixth in the 100 breast, while helping the 200 medley relay to a second-place finish and the 200 free relay to a third place finish. Deandre Durr Jr. was second in the 200 IM and third in the 100 breast, also joining both scoring relays. Additional B-session performances included Fady Ghobrial, who swam in the 50 and 100 free and on the second-place medley relay; Torston Juran, who recorded a personal record in the 50 free and placed sixth in the 100 free; and Parker Kaylor, who was 19th in the 200 free and 20th in the 100 breast.
Connor Lawrence (23rd in the 200 free, 26th in the 100 back), Mark Santo Domingo (54th in the 50 free, 51st in the 100 free), Athan Willis (27th in the 50 free, fifth in the 100 breast, and a member of the third-place 200 free relay) and Christian Zadony (21st in the 50 free, 30th in the 100 free, and part of both scoring B-session relays) rounded out the B-session scoring. Combined with the varsity finalists and relay victories, those efforts helped Saint Ignatius secure second place in a large and competitive field, providing a fitting performance at an invitational renamed in honor of a coach who built the foundation for the program’s current success.
