James Ridgeway and Michael Wright went into last weekend’s Illinois High School Association Swimming and Diving Championships at Evanston Township High School with the same goal – become the first Shamrock to win an individual state title in Swimming & Diving. Ridgeway was able to pull it off, winning the 100-Yard Breaststroke by nearly a full second over his nearest competitor. Wright didn’t miss by much, placing second, 10.4 points behind Wes Villaflor of Glenbrook South in the Diving competition. Ridgeway also placed fifth in the 200-Yard Individual Medley as Thanks to the efforts of Ridgeway and Wright, Saint Patrick finished 13th in the state in the team competition with 39 points.

On Friday afternoon, Ridgeway finished second among the qualifiers for the 100-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 58.47, two one-hundredths of a second behind Jimmy Munson of New Trier. Ridgeway also secured a spot in the championship finals of the 200-Yard Individual Medley. His time of 1:57.20 was the sixth best in the qualifying round and earned him the last spot in the championship finals. On Saturday Ridgeway was able to shave nearly half a second off of his qualifying time in the 200-Yard Individual Medley, finishing the race in 1:56.75, good for fifth place. In his best event, the 100-Yard Breaststroke, Ridgeway took over a second off of his qualifying time, posting a 57.29 to easily defeat Munson for the championship.

Wright was even better than Ridgeway on Friday in the qualifying round. Wright’s score of 315.65 had him in first place heading into the finals on Saturday. On Saturday, Wright posted a score of 419.65, but he was unable to hold off Villaflor for the championship, finishing second by just over 10 points. Wright had a spectacular season for the Shamrocks, breaking every diving record, and scoring the highest finish at the IHSA State Championships for a Saint Patrick diver.

Saint Patrick hadn’t had an individual state champion in any sport in over 20 years, but they have produced two within seven days. Joe Fagiano took home the title in the 215 pound weight class at the state wrestling championships in Urbana-Champaign a week before Ridgeway claimed his state championship at Evanston.