Eagle's JV Earns Five Podium Finishes at Canton 2026 JV Swim Championships
CANTON, Ohio — St. Edward High School’s Eagles men’s junior varsity swimmers turned in one of their strongest collective efforts of the season at the 2026 W.R. Timken JV Swimming Championships on Feb. 7, securing five podium placements and posting personal-best times across the lineup at C.T Branin Natatorium.
Competing in a large, multi-school timed-finals meet that featured both relay and individual events, the Eagles’ six JV swimmers made the podium at least once or more, a significant step forward from last season when the JV squad did not record a podium finish. The performance underscored the team’s growing depth and development under head coach Bob Lenart and assistant coaches Lou Matos and Keegan Manderfield.
Leading the way in individual events, distance specialist Cavan O’Malia put together a standout double. Sophomore O’Malia earned runner-up finishes in both the 200-yard freestyle (2:10.52) and 500-yard freestyle (5:55.28), giving the Eagles two of their highest individual placements of the meet and anchoring the team’s presence in the middle-distance and distance freestyle races. His performances highlighted the steady progress of the JV group in the demanding longer events.
The Eagles also picked up a key podium result from up and coming Sophomore William Willis Jr., who raced to fourth place in the 100-yard butterfly at a time of 1:12.96. Willis Jr.’s finish added another top-four showing to the Eagles’ tally and contributed to the program’s overall strength in the stroke events. Coaches noted that many of the swims, including those by O’Malia and Willis Jr., came with personal-best times, reflecting the team’s improvement over the course of the season.
St. Edward’s relays added two more strong results and valuable scoring. The 200-yard medley relay of Lucas Jameyson (JR), O’Malia, Willis Jr. and Simon Factora (SO) placed eighth, giving the Eagles a solid finish in the opening relay of the session. Later, the 400-yard freestyle relay team of O’Malia, Willis Jr., Prestyn Perea (FR) and Xavier Scalish (SO) moved up the standings with a seventh-place finish, closing the meet on a high note for the JV squad.
Every St. Edward JV swimmer reached the podium this year where last year no Eagle had climbed the podium; a testament to the group’s progress from last season. The Eagles credited the program’s strong brotherhood culture and the leadership of Lenart, Matos, and Manderfield for the improvement, noting that the weekend’s results capped a season of steady development and positioned the JV group well for future varsity contributions.
