For the Albert Lea girls’ swimming and diving team, the Big Nine Conference meet on Saturday was their chance to prove that being down didn’t mean they were out, and they finished in seventh of 10 teams.

“We were excited to put swims together that allowed us to defeat teams we had lost to during the regular season,” assistant coach Erik Johnson said.

The Tigers came out ahead of Austin, Rochester Mayo and Mankato East.

“It felt great for us to be able to do that,” Johnson said.

Rochester John Marshall won the conference meet for the third consecutive year.

“Our Relay Teams rocked today,” Albert Lea head coach Jon Schmitz said. “Each relay had their best swims for the season and they set things up for us.”

The 200-yard medley relay team, made up of Kemma Bergland, Morgan Field, Amy Horejsi and Galen Schulz finished in seventh place with a time of 1 minute and 57.78 seconds. The 200-yard free relay team, made up of Schulz, Lindsey Horejsi, Field and Amy Horejsi ended in fifth place with a time of 1:44.43.

The 400-yard free relay team of Anna Anderson, Whitney Rasmussen, Bergland and L. Horejsi was full of surprises Saturday. They started out seeded 10th and finished sixth with a time of 3:58.37, the first time they cracked four minutes all season. “We have two seventh graders on that 400-yard free team that have really been contributing,” said Schmitz, of Anderson and Horejsi.

The Tigers had quite a few girls dig deep to put themselves into scoring positions for the team.

“There were so many great swims today,” Johnson said.

In the 200-yard individual medley, Lindsey Horejsi finished in seventh place with a season-best time of 2:22.46. Morgan Field cut three seconds to finish in 16th with a personal best time of 2:26.55. Galen Schulz swam her way to seventh place in the 50-meter free and Amy Horejsi had a season best time of 26.39 to finish in 12th. Horejsi then turned around and had a season best swim in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:05.46, which was good for 12th place. Schulz had an eighth place finish in the 100-yard free with a time of 57.35 and Bergland had a personal best time of 59.77 for 13th. Bergland then turned in a 15th place showing in the 100-yard backstroke with another personal best time of 1:10.01.

The Tigers had a strong showing in the 100-yard breaststroke with Field and Lindsey Horejsi. Field swam a state-cut time of 1:11.09 to finish in fourth and Lindsey was just shy of a state-cut time, but still a personal best of 1:11.68 to end in fifth place.

In the diving event, Karli Kriewall turned in a very strong showing to finish in second place with 339.15 points only two points behind first place.

“There were so many improvements and best times today,” Schmitz said. “This is just not the same team from the beginning of the year.”

Other girls having season best swims Saturday include: Lauren Sorenson, who also had new section qualifying swims in the 200-yard free and 100-yard free, Bailey Sandon in the 200-yard IM and 100-meter backstroke, Claire Nelson in the 200-yard IM and 100-yard backstroke, Anna Anderson in the 50-yard free and 100-meter free, Carly Nelson in the 50-meter free and 100-meter butterfly, Whitney Rasmussen in the 500-yard free Ahnika Jensen in the 500-yard free, Sara Rasmussen in the 500-yard free, Haley Simon in the 100-yard backstroke and Hannah Hertling and Samantha Nielsen in the 100-yard breaststroke.

The Tigers will be focusing on the upcoming Section 1A meet which starts Nov. 10 in Austin.