Switching water polo positions turned out to be a very good thing for Ian Conway.
Read about the St. Louis area's top high school water polo players and their accomplishments throughout the 2024 season.
“I quit goalie my seventh-grade year,” the recent Parkway Central graduate said. “And then freshman year (Colts coach Andrew) Schonhoff asked me to come back to goalie, and I said, ‘I guess.’ I think it was a great decision.”
Was it ever, as Conway turned out to be one of the top — if not the top — goalies the St. Louis high school water polo community has ever produced, making an immediate impact his freshman season and never looking back.
“Obviously, we’re pretty pleased with that decision,” Schonhoff said. “Once we got into that first season his freshman year, we saw the instant success he had and there was never really a conversation of going back from that point.”
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Conway enjoyed another spectacular season this spring to put a cap on a standout career at Parkway Central, including a nod as the Missouri Water Polo Doug Hall player of the year, and then wrapping it up with a selection as the Post-Dispatch All-Metro water polo player of the year.
“I’ve been around St. Louis water polo since 2001 when I started playing and I can’t remember (a goalie as good as him),” Schonhoff said. “He was a four-year varsity starter and every one of those years we finished in the top four. He was a four-year first-team all-district player. Two-time defensive player of the year. And then the other thing is I can’t remember the last time — if ever — a goalie was selected as player of the year. It’s just a pretty rare honor.”
Conway was the rare goalie who put four elite-type seasons together between the pipes.
He was a three-time All-Metro first-team selection before this year’s player of the year nod. He led the Colts to team trophies in each of his four seasons, including a district championship in 2023 and a runner-up finish this spring.
Conway also was part of four trophy-winning swimming teams at Parkway Central, including back-to-back Class 1 state championships his last two seasons.
“Eight state trophies in the past four years of my career,” he said, with pride. “We took a picture at the water polo banquet with every single trophy my class has gotten. Me, Will Jost and Tyler Bryant. Seeing that all together and seeing the history that we made at our school really put things into perspective for everyone on how much impact my grade has had on the water sports at Parkway Central.”
Conway’s impact on the Colts water polo squad was felt in many different ways.
He put up strong stats every season, including this one when he posted a 21-5 record, an area-best 6.72 goals against average and an area-leading 254 saves.
He also piled up assist numbers over the years — 158 to be exact, including a combined 110 the last two seasons. He also chipped in with 11 goals, including tallies in each of the last two MWP district title games.
“I do (take pride in it), but most of my assists are partly due to the fact we have such good speed on our team,” Conway said. “And I love scoring goals. It’s not something that happens all the time. Don’t get me wrong, blocking shots is fun. But scoring is just a different type of feeling.”
At his final sendoff, Schonhoff recognized Conway for what he has meant to the Parkway Central program as a player and as a person.
“At our banquet, I gave him the program builder award because he’s absolutely done huge things for our program,” Schonhoff said. “Parkway Central has been on an upward trajectory the last handful of years and that is largely due in part to him. Not just because of his ability — which is incredible — but also as a leader, as a captain and as a recruiter. Ian’s been huge for our program in every facet.”
As much as he’s grown as a player over the past four years, Conway — who will play goalie for Division I Wagner College in New York City — has also grown as a person.
In the immediate aftermath of this year’s district final loss, and again weeks later, he talked about how his freshman and senior seasons ended the exact same way with a district tourney loss to SLUH at MICDS and how he handled the two situations in very different manners.
“Everything comes full circle. I remember telling my team I’ve been in this place before and I was just thinking about how much I grew as a person,” said Conway, whose brother, Alan, will be a senior on the team next season. “My freshman year, we got crushed by SLUH (in the third-place game). It was not even close, and I got out of the pool and started crying like it was my fault. I just didn’t know how to act, and I didn’t know how to take a loss. I feel like my senior year that last game losing against SLUH, I had learned how to lose, and I also realized how much I grew as a person and as a teammate. That’s really the whole part of high school sports, to just learn and grow as a person.”
Read about the St. Louis area's top high school water polo players and their accomplishments throughout the 2024 season.