The Bobcats shaved a lot of time off previous bests and claimed a runner-up team finish at the Iowa Alliance Conference swimming meet at the Linda Bloom Natatorium in the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA.

Ames ran away with the Alliance title with a 482 team score but Marshalltown stayed one stroke ahead of Fort Dodge all night to take silver with 212 points; Fort Dodge was third with 191 points and Des Moines Lincoln fourth with 150.

“What an amazing night,” MHS head coach Angie Nelson said. “The girls did such a good job of stepping up in every single race, and we dropped a ton of time tonight. The girls were excited, they were enthusiastic, and it really showed in the way they competed.”

Individually, Marshalltown had four all-conference events, all in third-place finishes — Leia Hernandez in the 50 and 100 freestyle, Maisie Gummert in the 500 freestyle and Adele Beek in the 100 breaststroke.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - Marshalltown’s Leia Hernandez competes in the 400-yard freestyle relay during Thursday’s Iowa Alliance Conference swim meet at the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA. Hernandez placed third in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races on the night.

Hernandez was also part of the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams that earned medals as third-place teams behind two all-conference Ames teams.

Hernandez dove in for the opening leg of the 200 free relay with Libby Meyer, Beek and Rachel Case following and Gummert, Drea Ceren and Emma Case set the table for Hernandez to drop the anchor in the 400 relay.

“It really shows the work I’ve put into the pool and what my coaches have given me,” Hernandez said. “It’s really good competition for me. … And our relays were amazing. The hype was there, the enthusiasm was there and every time the team was asked to step up, they stepped up and we really showed what we were made of.”

Hernandez clocked in at 25.45 in the 50 freestyle and then posted a 56.66 in the 100 free.

“She rolls through the shoulders well,” Nelson said. “She’s working on controlling her breathing and getting off the block just a little bit more solidly. She’s a great sprinter and this was a really good setup for what she’ll see at regionals in Waukee where you’ve got to stay on the tail of these girls as much as you can.”

Gummert touched the wall in 5:43.24 for bronze in the 500 freestyle.

“She’s been working on being a little more aggressive in the front half and it really showed tonight,” Nelson said. “She’s just wild with endurance. She can hold the same set of splits for a really long time, so we just wanted her to trust herself tonight and she did that.”

In one of the tighter finishes for a bronze-winning Bobcat, Beek went down to the wire with Haylee Shafer of Des Moines Lincoln and Alex Powers of Ames in the breaststroke. All three finished in 1:12, with Shafer a split-second faster than Beek in 1:12.47, who herself was a hair faster than Powers.

“She looked great,” Nelson said. “She’s got a lot of potential to drop a little bit more time here, so just looking forward to seeing what she does.”

Nelson also singled out Rachel Case’s sub-26 split in the 200 free relay as a breakthrough for the junior that had been around the 26-second mark for a while.

“All three of our relays tonight were the fastest of the season, so that’s great and those seed times will put us in a better position at the regional meet.”

Regional diving and swimming will be at the Waukee Natatorium on Thursday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 9, respectively.

“Tonight really shows how far we’ve come,” Hernandez said, “the teamwork, the friendship, the hard work. … Now we go hard next week and then kinda pull back, taper, get ready, and the hard work will show.”

Much like Thursday night, Nelson thinks it’s important for the girls to remember that in most cases they’ll be against the clock looking for those at-large bids in a meet expected to be dominated by Waukee Northwest and Waukee.

“That’s the hardest spot for us,” Nelson said. “We’ve gotta get in that mentality where we’re not going to be in front, so it’s about the time. A little more mental prep, and also trying to figure out where everybody fits. … We’ve got a lot more work to do.”

Iowa Alliance Conference Swimming and Diving Meet

At Marshalltown

Team Standings — 1. Ames 482, 2. Marshalltown 212, 3. Fort Dodge 191, 4. Des Moines Lincoln 150, 5. Des Moines Roosevelt 124.5, 6. Mason City 103, 7. Des Moines North 81.5, 8. Des Moines East 45, 9. Ottumwa 3, 10. Des Moines Hoover 2.