MINNEAPOLIS &045; The Albert Lea girls’ swim team had a pair of relay teams swim in the preliminaries of the state meet Tuesday.

The 200 medley relay team of Amanda Walters, Leah Matheson, Samantha Cole and Whitney Walters finished 21st with a time of 1:59.41.

Despite the strong effort the team was unable to match its qualifying time which was nearly three seconds faster.

The eighth place cut-off time was 1:54.64 posted by Lakeville South.

The Tigers’ 200 freestyle relay team also struggled to swim as fast as it did to qualify for state.

The quartet of Whitney Walters, Amanda Walters, Jackie Elwood and Cole came to the wall in

1:45.17 &045; about two seconds off its qualifying time.

The eighth place cut-off time was 1:42.13 posted by Holdingfield.

Although the season has now drawn to a close, the Tigers’ future looks bright with several young swimmers comprising the core of its lineup as it looks ahead to next year.