Kayak accident victim was mother of SMSU coach

The woman who died in a kayaking accident on Hawk Creek near Sacred Heart was the mother of Southwest Minnesota State University men's head basketball coach Brad Bigler, the university confirmed Monday.

The Renville County sheriff's Office said 55-year-old Diane Bigler-Hagenow, of Newhall, Iowa, likely died from drowning Saturday evening after her kayak overturned.

Officers were sent to the scene just after 6 p.m. after it was reported that Bigler-Hagenow went missing underwater.

Four people who were kayaking with her, including Brad Bigler, were not injured. Officers say she was wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident.

"On behalf of the university, our thoughts and prayers are with Brad, his wife Heather, and the entire Bigler family," SMSU Director of Athletics Chris Hmielewski said. "The entire Bigler family has been very close to Mustang athletics since Brad came to SMSU.

"We will rally our support as a Mustang family around the Biglers; anything they need we will be there for them at this time," Hmielewski added.

Funeral services for Diane Bigler-Hagenow will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at St. John's Lutheran Church in Newhall. Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Thursday at the church.

According to a detailed post on Brad Bigler's Facebook page, the group was kayaking between Granite Falls and Sacred Heart and encountered rough rapids with each boat taking on water. All but Diane Bigler-Hagenow pulled off the river to empty their kayaks out; she continued downstream.

After resuming their trip down the river, Brad Bigler saw his mother's kayak lodged in a tree. He wrote that the waves in the river were about 2 feet high. His mother was able to grab on to a tree branch above the rapids after being thrown from her kayak.

Brad Bigler wrote that his kayak eventually flipped over and he was thrown into the water. He was able to reach his mother and grab onto the branch, which eventually broke, dropping everyone into the water. Other members of the group were able to get Bigler's mother out of the river, and he ran to a deer stand to call 911, his post said. According to Bigler's post, four to five law enforcement vehicles arrived on the scene within minutes. However, they were unable to save Bigler-Hagenow.

SMSU?Director of Alumni Relations Tyler Bowen, who was a neighbor of Bigler's before coming to Marshall, said Diane Bigler-Hagenow liked to kayak and bike and enjoyed the outdoors.

Brad Bigler played basketball at SMSU, and served as a graduate assistant, assistant coach, and interim head coach before being named the permanent head coach in 2010, succeeding Greg Stemen.

Source: http://www.marshallindependent.com/page/content.detail/id/528661.html