(photo submitted by Joanie Holton)
Tyler Magalis 1st place: one-meter dive
Brian Huls 1st place: 50 and 100 freestyle
An already outstanding season got even better for the Tiger swimmers and divers at the Section 1AA Championships held last Saturday in Rochester.
Farmington not only placed placed second in the eight-team meet but also qualified for this week's Class AA state meet in six of the 12 events.
To add an exclamation point to the day's happenings, Ryan Hamen was selected as the Section 1AA Coach of the Year; Gregg Rappe was named Diving Coach of the Year and senior Tyler Magalis was selected Diver of the Year.
"The boys went into this meet optimistic," Hamen said, "but they knew they had to put in the work. It was their goal to win and with the effort they put in, it feels like they won. I am very proud of them."
Rochester Century took home the section team title with 397 points. The Tigers finished with 322, followed by Rochester Mayo 248, Northfield 235, Hastings 234, Rochester John Marshall 230, Owatonna 214 and Winona 174.
Leading the way for the Tigers was the senior duo of Brian Huls and Magalis who combined to earn seven state qualifications.
Huls won both the 50 and 100 freestyle races and in the process broke his brother Erik's school record in both. He also swam a leg on the state-qualifying 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams.
For his part, Magalis won the one-meter diving competition by almost 100 points and his 496.75 point total eclipsed the old school mark owned by 2005 state champion RJ Rappe. Magalis also qualified in the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays.
Loren Hatten and Zach Holton teamed up with Huls and Magalis in the 200 medley relay while Allen Berg and Christopher Kirchmann filled out the 200 freestyle lineup headed to state.
Berg provided the other Tiger state-qualifying performance when he broke his own school record in the 500 freestyle. In the preliminaries, Berg also surpassed Devon Meeks old school mark in the 200 freestyle.
Hamen was pleased with his state qualifiers but was quick to point out many other highlights from the section meet.
"Conner Kealy (500 freestyle), Aaron Lane (200 medley), Matt Stephan (200 medley and 100 breaststroke), Tyler Lerbakken (500 freestyle), Cameron Cain (100 backstroke), Loren Hatten (100 breaststroke) and Nick Stephan (100 breaststroke) all dropped times," he said, "and assistant coach Amy Stoks was instrumental in helping our breaststrokers drop their times."
The Class AA state meet begins this Friday, March 3, at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
