MINNEAPOLIS — The fifth time was a charm for Austin’s Averi Splinter.

After four years of not reaching the individual finals, the Packers junior finally reached the podium at the Class ‘A’ state swimming and diving meet at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center Saturday.

Splinter, a junior, took sixth in the 100-yard butterfly with the second best time of her career (59.98 seconds).

“It was much awaited and it felt very good,” Splinter said. “You stand up there and you feel like the weight of the world is off your shoulders and now you get to soak up the moment.”

Her finals time was .38 seconds faster than her time at Friday’s prelims.

“I am pleased with it,” she said. “It’s really hard to go faster in the finals than in the prelims. Yesterday I was a little disappointed with my swim, but today I feel like I left it in the pool.”

Audrey Krumm of Hutchinson won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.81 seconds and three swimmers were below the 59 second mark on Saturday.

“That’s where I hope to be next year. Hopefully I’ll be right up there with them,” Splinter said of the top finishers.

Austin junior Brooke Johnson took 13th in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:03.39. That time was just a notch slower than her preliminary time.

“That’s as good as I can do, I guess,” she said.

Johnson and Splinter teamed up with Kelli Bednar, a junior, and Helen Heimark, a freshman, in the 200-yard medley relay, where Austin took 13th place. The Packers swam a time of 1:54.90, which was almost a full second slower than their preliminary time.

“Next year we’re going to do a lot better,” Johnson, a junior, said. “We know what we did wrong and we’ll do better.”