AMES - In their final tune-up before next week's regional meet, the Marshalltown girls' swim team placed fourth at the CIML Iowa Conference Meet at the Ames Muncipal Pool on Thursday.
West Des Moines Valley took first place with Ames and Mason City taking second and third, respectively. Fort Dodge finished behind MHS in fifth.
Meredith Johnson was the lone Bobcat swimmer to bring back a win Thursday night. In fact, the senior won two events, the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 freestyle. Her time of 24.38 was a season-best in the 50 freestyle, and the 52.81 time she posted in her win in the 100 was just three-tenths of a second behind her fastest swim of the year.
"Meredith is really swimming well and she really performed well tonight," MHS head coach Angie Nelson said. "She's a master at the time-seeded meet and the 100 [freestyle] was a little mini-state meet tonight. She just outswam everybody.
"She's shaping up really well."
Johnson is ranked first in the state in both the 50 and 100 freestyle. She took third at the state meet in the 50 and sixth in the 100 last year as a junior.
Fellow senior Emily Visser placed fifth in the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.72 and seventh in the 100 freestyle, finishing in 56.48 seconds. Alix Stewart (29.32) placed 12th in the 50 freestyle to score for the Bobcats.
MHS was just under two seconds behind Ames' winning time to place second in the 200 freestyle relay. The quartet of Visser, Johnson, Mackenzie Beals and Sam Beals finished in 1 minute, 43.97 seconds.
The Bobcats took fourth in their two other relay races on the night. Johnson, Visser, Mackenzie Beals and Elizabeth Barske posted a time of 2:00.18, shaving three seconds off their season-best time, in the opening event of the night, the 200 medley relay.
The Bobcats' 200 freestyle relay and their 200 medley relay times could put each team in contention to move along to the state meet, said Nelson.
Mackenzie Beals, Sam Beals, Barske and Micaela McCarville finished the 400 freestyle relay in 3:51.68.
McCarville also posted a ninth-place finish in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 2:07.89, and sixth in the 100 backstroke, recording a season-low time of 1:08.87.
Barske finished seventh in the 100 backstroke, completeing the race in 1:18.25 and ninth in the 200 IM, finishing in 2:28.26.
Ashley Barker (1:16.83) took 10th in the 100 butterfly with teammate Mikalie McLain (1:27.11) behind her in 11th.
Sam Beals (1:09.32) placed eighth in the 100 backstroke.
Amy Stiehl took fifth in the diving competition and Erika Hilleman placed 10th for MHS.
The Bobcats will be joined by Ankeny, Des Moines East, DM Hoover, DM North, DM Roosevelt, Grinnell, Johnston and Newton at next week's regional meet. The diving competition is Thursday with the swimming portion set to begin on Saturday. Both events will be held at the Summit Middle School pool in Johnston.
