The Bobcats had a number of lifetime bests, which was a bit surprising (and encouraging for) head coach Mike Loupee considering the team swam twice Monday and multiple swimmers mentioned they felt sore heading into Tuesday’s meet.

The meet started with victories in the 200-yard medley relay for Dane Petty, Ethan Benscoter, Stephen Blom and Carter Hunt and continued with Benscoter setting a lifetime best in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:55.02.

Blom set one of his multiple lifetimes bests in the 200-yard IM, finishing the event in 2:08.81.

Blom was another swimmer who caught Loupee’s attention with a big night.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

“Steven swam really well,” Loupee said. “Had a really nice LTB [lifetime best] in the 200 IM, and then he comes back and has an LTB in the butterfly and an LTB in the 400-yard free relay.”

Aaron Seberger picked up a win in the 50-yard freestyle with a 22.69 time, and Blom won the 100-yard butterfly with another lifetime best of 1:00.44. Marcus Barker was victorious in the 100-yard freestyle, swimming to a 49.67 time for the win. Drake Stalzer swam in the No. 1 spot for the 500-yard freestyle and then won the event in style with a time of 5:40.84, drawing praise from Loupee for his performance.

Benscoter, Seberger, Hunt and Barker continued the winning run for the Bobcats in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a 1:33.81 time. Seberger won the 100-yard backstroke, an event which Loupee said he hadn’t done in a while this season, and held off East’s Andrew Lein with a time of 58.08. Barker continued his strong night with a 1:06.67 in the 100-yard breaststroke, and the night ended with Stalzer, Petty, Kaden Case and Aaron Seberger finishing the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:44.03 while Marco Herrera, Blom, Cohen Thatcher and Barker finished in 3:41.40. but were DQ’ed.

All in all it was a needed day for the Bobcats as they try to work into a busy second half of the season. With tapering for districts just three weeks away, Loupee said it will be interesting to see how the team handles the busy week ahead.

“It’s gonna be interesting to see if we can still be swimming fast by the end of this seven-day stretch,” Loupee said. “We keep getting faster and we’re swimming tired, so to be swimming faster and be tired is exciting. Things are set up pretty well if we stay healthy.”

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

Marshalltown hosts Mason City Thursday.

Marshalltown 105, Des Moines East 58

At Marshalltown

EVENT RESULTS

(Champion plus MHS placewinners only)

200 MEDLEY RELAY — 1. MHS (Petty, Benscoter, Blom, Hunt) 1:50.41.

200 FREESTYLE — 1. Ethan Benscoter, MHS, 1:55.02; 2. Dane Petty, MHS, 1:58.85; 3. Cohen Thatcher, MHS, 2:09.42.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY — 1. Stephen Blom, MHS, 2:08.81; 3. Drake Stalzer, MHS, 2:25.36; 5. Brevon Gibson, MHS, 2:53.80.

50 FREESTYLE — 1. Aaron Seberger, MHS, 22.69; 2. Carter Hunt, MHS, 24.32; 3. Marco Herrera, MHS, 27.97.

100 BUTTERFLY — 1. Blom, MHS, 1:00.44; 2. Benscoter, MHS, 1:02.01; 4. Kaden Case, MHS, 1:10.57.

100 FREESTYLE — 1. Marcus Barker, MHS, 49.67; 2. Hunt, MHS, 54.90; 3. Thatcher, MHS, 58.95.

500 FREESTYLE — 1. Stalzer, MHS, 5:40.84, 2. Nick Swanson, MHS, 6:03.28; 3. Herrera, MHS, 6:04.51.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY — 1. MHS (Benscoter, Seberger, Hunt, Barker) 1:33.81; 2. MHS (Thatcher, Kodis, Herrera, Case) 1:47.84.

100 BACKSTROKE — 1. Seberger, MHS, 58.08; 3. Petty, MHS, 1:00.22; 4. Case, MHS, 1:10.60.

100 BREASTSTROKE — 1. Barker, MHS, 1:06.67; 3. Andrew Kodis, MHS, 1:20.82; 4. Michael Minix, MHS, 1:28.42.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY — 1. MHS (Stalzer, Petty, Case, Seberger) 3:44.03.