Brian Huls 3 Top 10 Finishes
(photos by Jim Lindquist)
Tyler Magalis became the second Tiger diver in six years to capture a state diving championship after running away with the Class AA one-meter board competition at the 2011 state meet held last weekend at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
RJ Rappe who later went on to a stellar collegiate career at the University of Massachusetts claimed the Class A one-meter title in 2005.
Magalis put himself in position to win the gold medal by building a commanding 33.5 point lead in the preliminaries. He added a couple of more points to his lead in Saturday's finals, ultimately defeating runner-up Andrew Germain of Blaine by a 461.35-430.65 margin.
Diving coach Gregg Rappe, and father of Farmington's last state diving champion, said Magalis deserved the honor of being No. 1.
"Tyler's skills as a diver have been refined by hard work, and a little bit of hard knocks," he said. "I think he will do well in the future in his career at St. Cloud State."
Maglais wasn't the only Tiger story at the state meet. As a team Farmington racked up 62 points and finished 14th among 41 schools scoring points.
Brian Huls fashioned a trio of top 10 finishes, placing eighth in the 50 freestyle and ninth in the 100 freestyle and joining Christopher Kirchmann, Allen Berg and the versatile Magalis to take 10th in the 200 freestyle relay.
The 200 medley relay team of Huls, Loren Hatten, Zach Holton and Magalis finished in 13th place.
Berg ranked 22nd in the 500 freestyle preliminaries and didn't qualify for the finals but still came away with a new school record in the event.
"We had a great meet," Tiger coach Ryan Hamen said. "We qualified for the finals in five of six events and set a school record in the one that didn't.
"We are very proud of Tyler for winning the championship and all of our swimmers who swam for us at the state meet."
