MINNEAPOLIS &045; With an absolutely perfect meet, if everything fell into place for the Albert Lea Tigers, coach Jon Schmitz said a fifth-place finish would be the pinnacle for this year’s state swimming and diving meet.

They were half a point away.

The Tigers turned in an outstanding effort Saturday to finish sixth in the Class A state meet at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.

As expected, Section 1A champion St. Thomas Academy cruised to the championship with 342.5 points, with Hutchinson and Sauk Rapids-Rice tied for second at 204. Section 1A runner-up Simley was third with 194. Orono had 139 for fifth, the Tigers 138.5 for sixth. Breck/Blake was seventh with 133.

&uot;We expected to get sixth, and we did,&uot; said Schmitz. &uot;We had a tremendous final day.&uot;

&uot;A lot of people got better than what they were seeded,&uot; said senior Colton Jensen. &uot;Our relays did pretty good. I’m pretty happy with the way things went.&uot;

&uot;It’s been a while since we’ve had all three relays place,&uot; said Ryan Lowe, the Tigers’ other senior state entrant. &uot;It’s a great way to end my senior year.&uot;

The Tigers’ top scorer was a junior, Mitch Johnson, who brought home four medals.

Johnson was the runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle, clocking 1:46.83 to just miss the school record. Scott Lang of Simley won it in 1:44.06. Johnson tied for fourth in the 100 freestyle in 48.65 seconds.

&uot;I think it went real well,&uot; said Johnson. &uot;We came here wanting to swim good and we did, and that’s all you can ask for. My goals for this season are accomplished.&uot;

The Tigers had two other individual placewinners.

Ethan Berg, a sophomore, was sixth in the 100 butterfly in 55.95 and 14th in the 100 backstroke in 58.80. Freshman Ben Schreiber finished sixth in the 100 breaststroke, clocking 1:02.30, and junior Ben Matheson was 11th in the 100 butterfly in 57.14.

All three relays finished seventh.

The Tigers led early in the 400 freestyle relay and were still third through three legs and narrowly missed fourth with a time of 3:21.71. It included Johnson, Jensen, Berg and Lowe.

Berg, Ben Schreiber, Matehson and Jensen clocked 1:43.49 for seventh in the 200 medley relay. Johnson, Jensen, Lowe and Josh Elwood were seventh in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:31.99; first place was 1:28.34.

&uot;These kids just made up their minds to come up here and swim fast, and they either held their places or moved up,&uot; said Schmitz. &uot;I’m extremely proud of these kids. Three weekends in a row, starting with the Big Nine, we asked for tremendous efforts, and they never buckled. They just decided to have a great Big Nine meet, and then just kept hammering away.

&uot;We accomplished as much as we can this season. I believe that.&uot;