Magic earn top honors at MN Swim and Dive All-State Awards Banquet

Nobody cleans up like the Monticello Magic. At the Minnesota Swimming Coaches Association Swim and Dive All-State Awards Banquet on Friday, April 26, the Monticello Magic continued their dominance of the sport, this time out of the pool.

Leading the charge was freshman Adalynn Biegler, who won the Class A Female Athlete of the Year and former Coach Tom Cannon, who was inducted into the MN Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame.

In the fall of 2023, Biegler set 24 individual records and 10 relay records. She defended her two state titles in the 50 Free (AA Automatic 22.80) and 100 Free (AA Consideration 50.25). She also helped the 200 freestyle relay (AA Consideration) and 200 medley relay to second-place finishes at the MSHSL state championships.

Girls Head Coach Stacy Biegler and boys’ Head Coach Dirk Westveer were both nominated for the State Coach of the Year Award. Eight girls and six boys’ were named All-State.

On the girls team: Adalynn Biegler, McKenna Biegler, Elsie Farnsworth, Chloe Schwietering, Rose Urick, Scarlet Urick, Ella Vagle and Adrienne Yender. Carson Callstrom, Santiago Castro, Paul Fasen, Gabe McDermott, Josh Miller and Grant Stahlback made All-State for the boys’ team.

Cannon is an icon in the Monticello swimming and diving community. He started the Monticello swim and dive program in 1973 and the Magic won one dual meet during the inaugural season.

That motivated Cannon to start a summer club and in the end of year two, Cannon led Monticello to a winning record in dual meets and qualified a swimmer in the state tournament. Monticello won a section meet for the first time in 1992. He won the section meet again in 1993 but retired following that season.

He returned to coaching in 1997 with the Monticello girls’ swim and dive team. He won the section title every year from 2003-2011 and they never finished worse than second.

Cannon was named Section Coach of the Year 11 times, State Coach of the Year twice, had five state event champions and five state meet records, won two True Team state championships and had two runner-up finishes at the MSHSL state meet.

He won over 300 dual meets coaching between the boys and girls teams and helped set the foundation for what Monticello swimming and diving has become.