AUSTIN &045; Throughout the day, the Albert Lea Tigers and Austin Packers took turns holding the lead.

The 100-yard breaststroke decided it for good.

The Tigers finished first, third and sixth in the breaststroke, then went on to win the 400 freestyle relay to take the championship in Saturday’s Packer Invitational at Ellis Middle School in Austin.

Albert Lea won with 373.5 points, followed by Austin with 349, Mankato East 322, Northfield 286, Rochester Century 246, Mason City 205.5, Rochester Mayo 202, Owatonna 180 and Rochester John Marshall 155.

The Tigers’ relays continued to be strong. In addition to the 400 freestyle relay, which they won in 3:29.38 to beat second-place Mankato East by nearly 3 seconds, they won the 200 medley in 1:47.24 with a 2.3-second margin on runner-up Northfield. The Tigers were third in the 200 freestyle relay.

The most pivotal event, though, was the breaststroke, where Albert Lea outscored Austin 49-13. Freshman Ben Schreiber won in 1:07.44, Ben Matheson was third in 1:09.61, Chris Jackson sixth in 1:09.8.

Schreiber was first in 2:14.66 in the 200 individual medley, in which the Tigers totaled 51 points. Matheson was third in 2:17.78, Josh Elwood fourth in 2:18.88.

Mitch Johnson garnered the Tigers’ other individual win, taking the 200 freestyle in 1:51.07. Colton Jensen was second in 1:56.04.

Other Albert Lea places: Ethan Berg, second, 100 back, 1:00.19 and second, 100 butterfly, 59.69; Sean Harms, 16th, 100 back, 1:10.45; Johnson, second, 100 free, 50.43; Ryan Lowe, 10th, 100 free, 55.15 and 13th, 50 free, 24.98; Jensen, third, 500 free, 5:26.65; Matt VanFossen, 16th, 500 free, 6:22.15; Elwood, third, 100 butterfly, 1:00.34; Jackson, 12th, 50 free, 24.58.

The Tigers put their unbeaten dual-meet record on the line Thursday at Rochester Mayo.