The Section 1A Boys’ Swimming and Diving Meet has been called a smaller version of the state meet, and Albert Lea coach Jon Schmitz says the competition will be tough.

Tuesday, February 19, 2002

The Section 1A Boys’ Swimming and Diving Meet has been called a smaller version of the state meet, and Albert Lea coach Jon Schmitz says the competition will be tough.

But it will probably be more than just a learning experience for the young Tigers. Several of them have a good shot at getting to state.

&uot;We’re excited,&uot; said Schmitz. &uot;The guys have been working hard, and I expect good things out of this team. They’ve earned it.&uot;

They’ve also earned some strong seeds in this year’s section meet, set for Thursday and Saturday at the Inver Grove Heights Veterans Memorial Community Center Aquatic Facility. The top four finishers and those meeting the time standard advance to state. The Tigers’ seed times in several events, including two of three relays, is better than the state standard.

The Tigers are seeded fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay at 3:29.88, well under the qualifying time of 3:34.53. They’re also fourth in the 200 freestyle relay at 1:36.35, with the state standard 1:36.53.

Mitch Johnson is the top individual hopeful. His seed time in the 200 freestyle is 1:51.77, under the standard of 1:54.9. He’s also swam faster than the state qualifying time in the 100 freestyle.

Here are the Tigers’ other top seeds by event, with seed times and state qualifying times: 200 freestyle – Ben Lindeman, 14th, 1:57.13, 1:54.9; Colton Jensen, 15th, 1:57.58; 200 individual medley – Ben Schreiber, eighth, 2:16.85, 2:10.64; 50 freestyle – Ethan Berg, 13th, 24.02, 23.19; 100 butterfly – Justin Elwood, ninth, 1:02.27, 58.20; 100 freestyle – Berg, 11th, 52.22, 51.33; 500 freestyle – Jensen, eighth, 5:23.19, 5:17.63; Lindeman, ninth, 5:23.29; 100 breast – Schreiber, fifth, 1:06.76, 1:06.20; Ben Matheson, 10th, 1:08.94.

The diving preliminaries are at noon Thursday, with swimming preliminaries at 5 p.m. Thursday. The finals are Saturday at 1 p.m.