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The Albert Lea boys’ swim and dive team competed at the Section 1A meet Thursday afternoon in Rochester with the hopes of qualifying someone for the state meet.

While the Tigers came close in one event, they were unable to advance any swimmers to the state meet next weekend.

In order to qualify for state, teams and individuals needed to finish in the top three or beat a standard time set by the state at the beginning of the season.

In the first event of the night, the team of sophomores Lucas Everett, Charles Brekke, Luke Wangsness and senior Joshua Everett came in seventh place of the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 2:18.80.

Senior Willam Taylor swam in the 200-yard freestyle next and came the closest the Tigers would get in terms of sending someone to the state meet. Taylor came in fourth place of the event with a time of 1:54.27, missing a trip to state by less than four seconds.

Seventh grader Brent Dahl and junior Jakob Malakowsky also swam in the event, coming in 19th place and 23rd place, respectively. 

Joshua Everett then swam in the 200-yard individual medley, coming in 23rd place with a time of 3:04.91.

In the shortest event of the meet — the 50-yard freestyle — sophomore Cannon Kermes was the top-finishing Tiger. Kermes came in 23rd place with a time of 27.39.

Lucas Everett was then the top finisher from Albert Lea in the 100-yard freestyle, coming in with a time of 1:03.32 in 24th place.

The 500-yard freestyle was up next and saw Taylor finish with the Tigers’ second-best individual placement of the day — a ninth-place finish with a time of 5:25.34.

Dahl also swam in the event, finishing in 15th place with a time of 5:49.22.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of Malakowsky, Dahl, Taylor and Pacey Brekke came in seventh place with a time of 1:48.28.

Wangsness was the lone Tiger to swim in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing in 26th place with a time of 1:27.19.

In the final individual event of the afternoon, Pacey Brekke came in 21st place of the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:20.99. Joshua Everett and Charles Brekke also swam in the event, coming in 23rd and 24th places, respectively.

Finally, in the last event, the team of Malakowsky, Taylor, Dahl and Pacey Brekke swam in the 400-yard freestyle relay and came in sixth place with a time of 3:57.97.

The Tigers finished in eight place as a team with 100 total points. Simley, the section champions, finished with a total of 404.

The Tigers end their season with a lot to look forward to. The Tigers will lose seniors Joshua Everett and Taylor, but have a number of returning athletes to build the program.