Longtime Moses Lake High School swim and dive coach Tony St. Onge passed away on Friday due to health complications after a battle with cancer over the last year. He was 65.

St. Onge has been at the helm of the MLHS swim program since it’s inaugural season in 1979, winning a combined 19 district championships with both the boys and girls swim programs and one 4A State Championship runner-up in 1995. He was named Columbia Basin Big Nine Coach of the Year five times and was recognized as Washington State Citizen of the Year by the Jaycees Club in 1989.

St. Onge was named Moses Lake School District’s Teacher of the Year in 1998 and was instrumental in the building of the district’s pool in 2002, the Tony St. Onge Pool of Dreams. He helped launch and run the Manta Ray Aquatics swim program in Moses Lake from 1977 to 1999.