When you think about Saint Louis athletics, the first thing that comes to mind is football, basketball or baseball, respectively. Some other sports fly under the radar when it comes to fame, even while having success. Water polo, for example, had a great year last season, making it to the Division II ILH Championship. Unfortunately, the team fell short by one point and was defeated at the hands of the defending champions Punahou.

Although Saint Louis doesn’t have their own water polo team, their players combine with Le Jardin Academy to field a team. One standout player from Saint Louis for the Bulldogs is First Team All-State defender, Joe Lyons. Lyons, a senior, has been playing water polo ever since he moved to Saint Louis in the 6th grade. He played for Pac-5 for three years, and then joined Le Jardin’s team in his sophomore year.

With the outstanding results and scores from last year in Division II, the team has decided that they will move up to Division I for this year. “ I believe the entire team will benefit from a more challenging schedule this year. It will only make us better as a team and also as individual players,” said Lyons. Even with the big step up this coming year, this team is as confident as ever. The Bulldogs are only losing two seniors to graduation, and will have most of their starters back for this season, including the league’s Co-Most Valuable Player last season, James LaReaux.

The crusader brothers on the Le Jardin water polo team are looking forward to a challenging, yet bright season of water polo ahead.