They may not be sending as many swimmers to the state meet as in seasons past, but the Marshalltown girls' swim team will still be sporting a very formidable group.
The Bobcats will be represented in just five events Friday and Saturday at the Community Y for this year's edition of the State Swimming and Diving Championships, but the few Bobcats present could make it a very memorable night.
Meredith Johnson and Emily Visser will each compete in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle Saturday. Johnson will be seeded first in both events.
Johnson and Visser are also members of the Bobcats' two relay teams to qualify for the state meet. They are joined by Mackenzie Beals and Samantha Beals for the 200 freestyle relay and Micaela McCarville and Elizabeth Barske for the 400 freestyle relay. Amy Stiehl will be the lone Bobcat participant in Friday's diving portion of the meet.
While MHS' state meet roster may be thin in comparison to recent turns at the event, it is certainly top-heavy. Johnson is undoubtedly the headliner of the group, as she has a chance to add to her collection of 12 medals earned at the state meet. She's finished in the top-6 in every event she's swam at the state meet and will be looking to become MHS' first-ever state-champion swimmer. She'll be joined in the pool in both individual events by Visser, who placed fifth at each event during the regional meet last weekend.
"Emily and Meredith have been continually improving, even under the hard work, so I think they'll do well in their individual events," said MHS head coach Angie Nelson. "Emily swam better this week than she has all season long, so I think she's ready (for Saturday)."
The Bobcat 400 freestyle relay team is seeded outside of the top-5, but Nelson believes there is plenty of room for improvement, even at this late juncture.
"The (400 freestyle) relay, it was the first time that those persons had swam on that relay together (at Saturday's regional meet). So, knowing what they're capable of, we can probably cut three seconds off that easily because we still had some folks who didn't have their best times on Saturday," Nelson said. "Even though we had our best collective time (of the season), we didn't have the best performance from everyone.
"So I know we have three or four seconds we can cut off that relay realistically."
MHS' time of 3 minutes 43.06 seconds at last weekend's regional in the 400 freestyle relay meet puts them less than three seconds off the pace set by top-seeded Ames (3:40.33).
The quartet of Johnson, Visser, Mackenzie Beals and Samantha Beals may not be able to trim three or four seconds from their time in the 200 freestyle, though Nelson believes that her fifth-seeded relay team can move up the leaderboard as well.
"We did not have all our best performances (on Saturday), but we were close," said the first-year head coach. "We reasonably can shave off a second and a half or two seconds. I'm not trying to be too hopeful, but I'm definitely confident they can be in the top three or four.
"With this team? You bet we can."
MHS' qualifying time of 1:41.28 sits nearly two seconds behind pole-sitter Decorah (1:39.42).
Stiehl's diving performance on Friday will mark her third straight appearance at the state championship. She is seeded 20th this year.
"She has the talent, we just don't have the difficulty for her to be in the top 10," Nelson commented. "Our goal is for her to make the cuts. Last year she made the second cut.
"This year, we're hoping she can get through and do all 11 dives."
The Bobcats' small contingent of swimmers will make a fourth-consecutive top-10 finish a daunting task this weekend. MHS placed second in both 2006 and 2007 before finishing ninth a year ago.
"We set a team goal at the beginning of the season of a top-10, but with the events that we have going there, it's going to be tough," said Nelson. "I would say if we're in the top 13, we should be pretty proud of ourselves.
"Top-10 might be a stretch, but I don't think we'll be very far off that."
The diving competition kicks things off at 5 p.m. Friday night with the swim portion starting at noon on Saturday.
