2020 IHSA Boys Swimming & Diving State Finals
- February 28-29, 2020
- Evanston, IL
- State Series Info
- Final Results
It was a big week in the Midwest as high school championship season is in our midst. At Evanston High School, the St. Charles North boys repeated as team champions after earning their first-ever title in 2019. During the battle on Saturday, four Evanston pool records and one IHSA state record was broken.
Top Six Teams
- 1. St. Charles North- 137
- 2. Loyola- 135
- 3. Glenbrook South- 128
- 4. Oak Park-River Forest (OPRF)- 98
- 5. Waubonsie Valley- 85
- 6. Lyons Township- 82
State Finals Highlights
200 Medley Relay Tie
In the 200 medley relay, Hinsdale Central was holding a comfy one-second lead until Glenbrook South senior Mike Hadjiivanov dove in for the free anchor. Hadjiivanov quickly gained on Hinsdale Central’s Erkan Ozgen, with the two nearly simultaneous under the flags.
In a surprise twist, Hinsdale Central and Glenbrook tied for the IHSA title, both clocking in 1:31.31. Also in contention was OPRF, who took third at 1:31.55. Finishing in fourth was St. Charles North, clocking in another 1:31 time (1:31.81).
Comparative Splits- 2020 IHSA Boys 200 Medley Relay
| Hinsdale Central (1:31.31) |
Glenbrook South (1:31.31)
|
| Nolan Lahmann (23.16) | Adam Zuiker (24.77) |
| Alexander Cho (25.50) | Max Iida (24.53) |
| Cullen Cochlan (21.85) | Nick Khatkovyy (22.14) |
| Erkan Ozgen (20.80) | Mike Hadjiivanov (19.87) |
Max Iida Goes 2-For-2
Glenbrook South’s Max Iida, after splitting 24.53 breast in the winning 200 medley relay, went on to win both of his individual events. The UVA commit first dominated the 200 IM with a new Evanston pool record of 1:47.40, powered by his 30.55 breast and 26.20 free splits.
Iida then made a splash in the 100 breast final, clocking in a 54.62. Metamora’s Justin Alderson was right on Iida’s tail, touching in at 54.93. Marmion’s Ty Spillane was also in the tight three-man finish, touching in at 54.99.
Luke Maurer Breaks Reed Malone’s State Record
Loyola senior Luke Maurer had an epic battle against St. Charles East’s Calvin Windle during the 200 free final. At the finish, Maurer was able to clinch an IHSA title, winning at 1:36.35. Windle settled for second at 1:36.95.
During prelims on Friday afternoon, Maurer blasted out to a 1:34.49, breaking Reed Malone‘s 2013 IHSA state record of 1:35.60.
Comparative Splits- 2020 Maurer V. 2013 Malone, 200 FR IHSA Record
(*both were set in prelims)
| 2020 Maurer (1:34.49) |
2013 Malone (1:35.60)
|
| 21.85 | 22.40 |
| 45.47 (23.62) |
46.29 (23.89)
|
| 1:10.04 (24.57) |
1:10.95 (24.66)
|
| 1:34.49 (24.45) |
1:35.65 (24.65)
|
St. Charles North V. Loyola
The 50/100 free and 100 fly were huge events for St. Charles North (SCN) and Loyola, who became the top duo after these events. In the 50 free, Neuqua Valley champion Connor Boyle flirted with the 20-second barrier, winning the title at 20.04. Finishing in second was SCN’s Aleksej Filipovic, touching in at 20.48. Third place went to Lyons Township (LT) senior Jack Thorell (20.61).
During the diving break, Homewood-Flossmoor senior Jack Williams went on to take down the 2019 pool record (537.65) with 544.20 points. The remaining top 3 divers, RB’s Harrison Nolan (522.95) and St. Charles East’s Joey Scimeca (506.90), also scored over 500 points.
Back into the swim events, Filipovic came back in the 100 fly final to zip past Brother Rice’s Seth Miller (48.87) to win his first IHSA title at 48.25. Yet right after, 50 free champ Boyle and 200 free champ Maurer met up in the 100 free final.
Neuqua Valley’s Boyle was out like a rocket, going 20.89 off the first 50 while Loyola’s Maurer took the race out in 21.45. Maurer’s 200 free talent then allowed him to bring the race home in 22.46, slowly inching in on Boyle. However, Boyle was able to hold off Maurer (43.91), sweeping the sprint events with his title-winning time of 43.82.
After Maurer’s 29-point pick-up, Loyola teammates Everet Andrew (4:24.50) and Rex Maurer (4:26.35) went on to go a 1-2 finish in the 500 free final, swiping up another 29 points.
Into the 200 free relay final, Loyola was in the slight lead heading into the anchor leg, with LT and SCN right on their tails. LT senior Thorell blasted a 20.25 to easily take up the lead off the turn, churning up open water.
At the finish, LT took the title at 1:22.70, just three-tenths off their Friday pool record of 1:22.40. The state record remains at 1:22.15, set by Glenbrook South in 2009. Loyola held on for second at 1:23.59, touching ahead of Glenbrook South (1:23.93) and SCN (1:24.17).
In the 100 back final, Jones senior Jaden Olson (49.29) out-touched Barrington sophomore Griffin O’Leary (49.43) to win the IHSA title.
Ending the session was the 400 free relay, which handly was won by Loyola (3:02.80) thanks to L. Maurer’s 43.23 anchor split. However, it was not enough for Loyola to win the title. St. Charles North (SCN), despite taking 5th (3:07.18), was able to win the IHSA team title by 2 points over Loyola to defend their 2019 state title.
🏆🏊♂️ St. Charles North wins #IHSA Boys Swimming and Diving Team State Championship! Congrats! pic.twitter.com/myOr0DeVoM
— IHSA State (@IHSAState) March 1, 2020
🏆 Here are the 2020 #IHSA Boys Swimming and Diving State Champions! 🏊♂️
Congrats to all those who competed this weekend! pic.twitter.com/oSDDrVrHXL
— IHSA State (@IHSAState) March 1, 2020
State champion Jaden Olson of Jones-Payton… man that sounds good! First CPS champion in over 30 years! @suntimes_preps @ChicagoSports pic.twitter.com/Usi7BxHekC
— Why Sox? (@pasoxandswim) February 29, 2020
Woo Hoo, we win again!
Wow Maurer is looking good! That stanford 2024 class is looking really fast!
A fast meet held in a crackerjack box venue…… and a possible fire code violation. Reminds me of the old gymnasiums from the film “Hoosiers”.
This event will be much better at an adequate venue.
As a parent of one of the St Charles North boys (Nate Baxter) I can tell you that the excitement level is unreal at both locations (New Trier and then Evanston this year). Only thing that I’ve ever been to that’s crazier was Final Four when my school (Illinois) was in it in 05. Back to back state champs! Way to go St Charles North bringing another state swim title back to StC!!!
You need to get out to more sporting events if your #1 event is the Final Four and your #2 is a high school swim meet.
By the suits that pic is at least 10 years old
That pic is epic and was featured as one of the photos at the beginning of Sports Illustrated a long time ago, as I recall.
Correct. It was the 2008 state championship and there was a full page spread in sports illustrated. I have it framed and hanging in my office, as this was the year Neuqua Valley won.
Even older! I believe that pic was taken in 2008- I know it quite well, actually. Somewhere in the back, in a higher quality version, you can find my scrawny high school freshman self buried in the deck crowd 🙂
Is Maurer related to Olympian Lia Maurer?
Yes, he is
Dad is NCAA Champ Erik and mom is Olympic Champ and former Stanford coach Lea Loveless Maurer. Frosh brother also went 4:26 500.
Finally, some noises from the Stanford commit.
He’s got a great future. Very nice kid. Too bad he had a bad start in prelims, would have broke the state record in the 100!
The state meet takes place at that 6-lane pool? Wow. Must be loud/fun as hell in there, but strange to still be using a small pool.
It’s always in a pit. Loud, exiting, and screaming fast every year in one of two tiny old pools, one of which has no warm down facility.
Amazing swims.
Every other year it bounces between 6 lane pool and 8 lane pool. There’s a state rule that it has to be in a pool with seating on 3 sides, which severely limits the possible hosts.
Great pool for watching—very close to the action. I remember being on deck and seeing Tom Jager win the 100 back as a freshman in 79.
No restriction of 3 sides just must have enough seating. No one has 1200 seats like us. Glad that this will be our last year hosting! And we can have 16 advance to finals in the future. Good luck to FMC Natatorium it’s so nice to finally have a quality pool in Illinois.
Not the fastest pools ever, but the atmosphere and energy is comparable to some of the biggest meets nationwide.