So many times this season, a dual meet has come down to the final events for the Albert Lea High School girls’ swimming and diving team, and too often the outcome did not fall in the Tigers’ favor.

This time it did.

The ALHS girls finished 1-3 in the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, while Rochester John Marshall had a disqualification as the Tigers rallied for a 94-92 victory in the ALHS pool Tuesday night.

&uot;It was the best meet all season,&uot; said coach LaChelle Sandon. &uot;The girls swam hard and our depth showed. Our spirits were up and you could tell.&uot;

The Tigers trailed by as many as 12 points, with three events remaining.

&uot;We picked up many second, third and fourth places that keep the score equal,&uot; said Sandon.

&uot;We had many girls with personal bests and season bests.&uot;

Lonna Vanderploeg, Jackie Elwood, Whitney Walters and Samantha Cole combined to win the 400 free relay. The Tigers were also first in the 200 medley with Kaeli Wayne, Leah Matheson, Cole and Vanderploeg.

Cole had the lone individual first, winning the 50 free.

Other ALHS places: Rachael Hagen, 2nd, 200 free and 2nd, 500 free; Emily Wirkus, 4th, 200 free and 4th, 500 free; Matheson, 2nd, 200 IM and 2nd, 100 breast; Wayne, 3rd, 200 IM and 2nd, 100 back; Brianna Gold, 5th, 200 IM; Vanderploeg, 2nd, 50 free and 2nd, 100 free; Krista Horejsi, 3rd, 50 free and 3rd, 100 breast; Kassi Gaul, 2nd, diving; Rachel Foster, 5th, diving; Cole, 2nd, 100 butterfly; Alyssa Nelson, 3rd, 100 butterfly and 4th, 100 back; Elwood, 4th, 100 butterfly and 3rd, 100 back; Walters, 5th, 100 free; Mariah McGill, 4th, 100 breast.

The Albert Lea junior varsity won 89-65. Firsts for ALHS: Walters, 50 free; Heather Carlson, 100 butterfly; Nicole Larson, 100 free; Ali Schmitz, 100 back; Carly Schmitz, 100 breast; 400 free relay team of Reindl, Sturtz, Walechka, Carstens.

The Tigers improved to 4-5-1 in dual meets. They finish the regular season Monday with a 6 p.m. home meet against Waseca. The Big Nine meet is Saturday, Oct. 25 at Faribault, and the Section 1A meet is Nov. 5 and 7 at Austin.

(Contact Jim Lutgens at sports@albertleatribune.com or 379-3437.)