O'Hagan paces Warriors' effort at State

Maine West senior Matt O'Hagan concluded a stellar high-school career with a 20th-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke during the 2008 state meet at Evanston on Friday. It marked O'Hagan's third consecutive finish among the top 22 in State.
(Dan Luedert/Staff Photographer)

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Great athletes set goals so high that even when they fall slightly short of reaching them, it takes a while to realize their achievement was still pretty darned terrific.

Maine West senior Matt O'Hagan swam the 100-yard breaststroke in 1 minute, .51 seconds in the state meet at Evanston on Friday. Just 14-hundredths of a second off his own school record, he finished in 20th place, the third straight year in which O'Hagan competed at State and placed among the top 22.

Underscoring his legacy as one of the greatest athletes in West history, O'Hagan gave a performance for the ages in the Glenbrook North Sectional Feb. 16.

He won the breaststroke in a record 1:00.37, led the 200 medley relay to the first State berth of any Warrior relay team since 1979, and added the second-best 200 IM time (2:03.20) in school history.

But O'Hagan was disappointed Friday because he'd fallen short of his goals of getting under a minute and advancing to Saturday's finals by making the top 12.

"I am a little disappointed. I can't tell you what went wrong. I just felt a little off. It wasn't quite all there (Friday)," said O'Hagan, whose brother Tim was a 2004 state qualifier in the 100 fly. "But I still feel really good about our medley relay team making State. We had a great bunch of guys, and it was great achieving that."

"We built the program around Matt," said an emotional Warriors head coach Ryan Claus, who's been with the program the past nine years. "It's been a great run with him for four years. He's part of two school records. He has a lot of potential to be a good college swimmer. I've had eight years of O'Hagans, including four years of (them at) State."

The Warriors were disqualified in the relay when their third swimmer released too soon, but just getting there and breaking West's 29-year relay dry spell was a tremendous accomplishment. O'Hagan, fellow seniors Freddy Wittmann and Nick Weijhner, and junior Pat Cullen combined for a school-record -- and first-place finish -- in 1:39.51 during sectionals to make the cut by almost a full second.

Claus waves a wistful good-bye to five of his six all-CSL swimmers. Cullen, next year's leader, made the team along with seniors O'Hagan, Wittmann, Weijhner, Sebastian Cyran and Mark Cooper. Cyran's 100 free was second-best in the conference meet, and he helped the 400 relay team finish in 3:22.67 in the sectional, just .45 off the West record.

Claus also loses quality backstroker Eric Babczak and Chris Nienart, who helped the 200 free relay team post a time of 1:32.89 in the sectional, second-fastest in school history.

Wittmann and Weijhner richly deserved the State spotlight after memorable sectional feats. Wittmann's 22.29 in the 50 free was just three one-hundredths off a stringent State-qualifying cut. He somehow recovered just two races later and swam the 100 free in 49.37 to set a school record, surpassing Josh Kaye's previous mark.

Weijhner excelled in four events, including a time of 54.83 in the 100 fly, third-best in West annals and just ahead of Cullen.

"My times kept getting faster and faster. I kept wanting more. I started practicing harder and worked on taking fewer breaths," Weijhner said. "Everyone kept getting faster. It was a lot of fun, especially getting to State."

Cullen notched 1:50.70 in the 200 free, also the fourth-fastest in Warriors history.

"I was glad to get the experience of a state meet. It's pretty overwhelming the first time," Cullen said. "I fell a little short of my goals this year. I wanted to make State in the 100 fly. I know I'll have to be a good leader next year, and I'll be ready to do that."

This season, West won the pentathlon-style Don Davis Invitational for the first time under Claus and finished third in the CSL North before their scintillating fifth-place sectional performance.

Next time around, Claus will rebuild around Cullen, sophomore sprinter Steve Woodford, junior Joe Brzezinski (100 fly), junior sprinter Matt Zych and sophomore diver Brian Madalinski.

Neuqua Valley (144) edged two-time defending champ New Trier (139) to win its first state crown. The Wildcats were led by senior Brian Alden, who became the first Illinois swimmer to win two events (50 free, 100 free) three years in a row. He also and anchored the winning 200 free relay team.