The Saint Patrick swimming & diving team placed second in the Illinois High School Association’s Oak Park (Fenwick) Sectional. The Shamrocks’ total of 283.5 points trailed only the host Friars, who posted a total of 328 to capture the sectional championship. Oak Park-River Forest came in third place with 245.5 team points. The Shamrocks qualified two individuals in four events and two relay teams for the state meet next week in Winnetka.

James Ridgeway won the sectional championship in both the 100 Yard Breaststroke, where he is the defending state champion, and the 200 Yard Individual Medley. Ridgeway’s times in both events were the second best qualifying times in the state. In the breaststroke, Ridgeway’s time of 57.87 trailed only the 57.61 of Kevin Puskaric of Lincoln-Way East, while his 1:55.07 in the individual medley was behind only Brett Lullo of Naperville Central.

Sophomore Dan Kapulski wasn’t able to win a sectional championship, but he finished second in both the 200 Yard Freestyle and 500 Yard Freestyle, qualifying for the state meet in both events.

The Shamrock relay team in the 200 Yard Medley Relay won the sectional, defeating Fenwick by .14 seconds. Their time of 1:38.23 was the seventh best in the state. The 400 Yard Freestyle Relay qualified for the state meet as well with a time of 3:16.45.

The IHSA State Swimming Championships will be held this Friday and Saturday at New Trier High School’s Winnetka Campus. Details can be found on the web clicking here.