INVER GROVE HEIGHTS &045; Last year, they were dubbed the &8220;Fab Four,&8221; and with just one senior among them it was a pretty good bet they would be back.

Saturday, at the sectional swimming finals in Inver Grove Heights, they made good on that bet.

Seniors Ben Schreiber, Josh Anderson and Josh Elwood are all heading back to this week’s swimming state tournament along with sophomore Matt Van Fossen.

The group managed to qualify in six events and finished sixth at the sectional meet with 166 points placing just ahead of Austin.

St. Thomas Academy dominated in nearly every event winning the section title.

The four swimmers who will represent the Tigers at state started their day with a fourth place showing in the 200 medley relay to punch their state ticket with a time of 1:45.04 which was just slightly off their preliminary winning time of 1:44.71.

St. Thomas set the sectional record with a time of 1:40.00 to win.

Van Fossen, Elwood, Schreiber and Anderson also took fourth in the 200 free relay to advance to state.

Schreiber will also be swimming in a pair of individual events after finishing second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.27.

He will be challenged by St. Thomas sophomore Matt Hoyland who won the race in a section record time of 1:00.28.

Anderson gave the Tigers two state swimmers in the breaststroke finishing sixth with a time of 1:04.71 easily getting under the state cutoff time of 1:07.03.

Schreiber also moved on to state in the 200 individual medley as he swam to a ninth place finish in the consolation finals posting a time of 2:11.18 to get under the cutoff time.

Elwood was a qualifier in two individual events as well, just missing out on the top spot in the 50 free, taking second in 22.72 and earning a fourth place finish in the 100 butterfly with a mark of 55.82.

The state swim meet gets underway Thursday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.