Whether it was less than a second or 51 of them, the Marshalltown girls’ swimming squad saw the time melt off during Saturday’s regional meet at the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA.

The end result was more than the Bobcats had even hoped for.

Marshalltown emerged with nine total entries for the Iowa Girls High School State Swimming and Diving Championships, earning eight state meet berths for its swim squad on Saturday inside the Linda Bloom Natatorium.

“It was a really good day,” said MHS head coach Angie Nelson. “These girls have worked hard. We talked all week long about just doing your job, forgetting about the stuff that can flood your mind. … You just learned to zone it out and not let it really sink in.

“You have one job to do and that’s improve your performance. And if you do that, then today’s a success, so I would definitely say today was a huge success. Probably better than I had ever imagined it.”

Each Bobcat relay team or individual swimmer posted season-best times during the meet, highlighted by sophomore Adele Beek’s rise to the regional championship in the 100-yard breaststroke. Beek was seeded second for the event but took nearly three seconds off her qualifying time to overtake Iowa City West freshman Ariana Swanson for the top spot on the podium and the automatic berth into state.

Beek won with a time of 1 minute, 9.51 seconds, beating Swanson to the wall by two-tenths of a second. After qualifying at 1:12.47, she had plenty of reason to pause when she saw the scoreboard.

“I knew I was seeded second and I have been wanting first (place) for so long and I knew I could do it,” Beek said. “My nerves got in my head before the race and then everything just went away as soon as I got off the wall.

“That’s the time I really wanted (last year) and I didn’t quite get it, so this year I really worked hard for it and I really wanted it. I was so happy to see that time.”

Beek was one of only two Bobcats to leave Saturday’s regional meet with the assurance of having already qualified for state. Only regional champions and those who meet the time standards in each event are guaranteed entry. MHS junior sprinter Leia Hernandez added her name to that short list when she finished third in the 100-yard freestyle, and she later learned she went 4-for-4 in getting all her swims to state.

Hernandez qualified seeded fifth for the 100 freestyle in 55.96, and she swam to third in 54.03.

“It’s exciting, it makes me feel really proud of myself for all the work I put in for these last three months,” she said. “It just makes me feel excited for my next chapter in this season.”

Hernandez will be seeded ninth in the event at state — highest of all the Bobcats qualifiers.

“Going home and not knowing you’re going to state, there’s a 50-50 chance you do or you don’t go, it makes me nervous,” Hernandez said. “Knowing I beat the standard and I’m going home knowing I’m going to state is exciting and it makes me feel really proud of myself.”

Hernandez swam 55.96 to win the Iowa Alliance Conference title two weeks earlier in Mason City, and on Saturday she took another 1.93 seconds off to get to state.

“I just recently broke 56 for the first time two weeks ago at conference, so going a low 54 is exciting,” she said. “It made me feel that adrenaline rush where it’s like ‘oh my gosh, I made it.’

“I was expecting to see a 55, a 56, but seeing that 54 made me so shocked.”

Hernandez also qualified for state in the 50 freestyle and both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, all of them advancing comfortably as one of the top 32 regional times from across the state. She finished third in the 50 freestyle with a 25.07 — four-tenths faster than her qualifying time — and will be seeded 19th at state.

Marshalltown opened the meet with one state qualifier already in tow. Junior Harlie Thatcher made it 10 years in a row for the Bobcats to advance a diver to state, and she’ll be seeded 15th for Thursday’s diving finals at the University of Iowa’s Campus Recreation and Wellness Center in Iowa City.

On Saturday, the Bobcats began their day in the pool by pulling 5.74 seconds off their season-best time in the 200 medley relay. The quartet of Addison Elmore, Beek, Emma Case and Rachel Case climbed from their No. 6 seed to place third in 1:54.70, qualifying for state as the No. 16 seed.

Emma Case, a sophomore, added to her suspense with two strong times that cut a total of nearly 10 seconds off her season-bests. She placed fourth in the 200 individual medley in 2:20.90 and was sixth in the 100 butterfly in 1:02.51, and both eventually qualfied for state.

She’s seeded 28th in the 100 butterfly and 32nd in the 200 IM with the final qualifying time.

“Emma had two awesome times today,” said Nelson. “They’re on the bubble. It would be phenomenal if she has the opportunity to swim at state with both of those.”

Rachel Case, a senior, swam the opening leg of the 200 freestyle relay and, along with Beek, Drea Ceren and Hernandez, improved 2.34 seconds to finish fourth and qualify for state with their combined time of 1:43.72.

Rachel’s highlight, however, came with her qualification in the 100 breaststroke. She became the fifth Bobcat who was seeded outside the state’s top 32 going into regionals to earn a spot at state. She was seeded 13th in the regional itself but took 5.54 seconds off her qualifying time (1:18.48), won the second heat with a time of 1:12.94 to earn fifth place, and she made the podium alongside Beek.

Beek will be seeded 12th at state and Case will be 29th.

Marshalltown’s 400 freestyle relay quartet of Elmore, Libby Meyer, Ceren and Hernandez held their seeding despite taking 6.14 seconds off their qualifying time, finishing fifth in the regional with a 3:48.44. The Bobcats qualified comfortably and will be seeded 21st for state.

“It’s really inspiring to see how far you’ve gone through the school year and how much we’ve improved and how all our hard work has paid off,” said Beek.

Some of Marshalltown’s most considerable time cuts came from swimmers who won’t be going to state. Maisie Gummert took 3.9 off her 500 freestyle, while fellow senior Morgan Bear pulled 51.05 off her time.

Freshman Zoey Pals took more than 10 seconds off her combined times in the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly, while junior Frankie Long eliminated 8.87 seconds off her 100 backstroke to close out her first season on the squad.

Alex Lasack, a junior, trimmed 7.5 seconds off her 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. Even Meyer, who is going to state in one event, took a combined 13.65 off her times in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke.

In all, Marshalltown erased 2 minutes, 24.3 seconds off its qualifying times in the regional meet, earning third place in the final team standings. Waukee won with 399 points, followed by Iowa City West (390), Marshalltown (267) and Iowa City High (266) in the nine-team meet. Newton (254), Southeast Polk (234), Burlington (177), Tipton (55) and Keokuk (0) rounded out the field.

“I’m just so proud of our team getting third overall,” Beek added. “I didn’t think we were going to get third but that’s really, really good.”

The state swimming preliminaries begin at noon on Thursday, Nov. 13, and the diving finals follow at 3:30 p.m. The swimming finals are Friday, Nov. 14, at noon.

“Next week is the gravy,” Nelson said. “For some it’s just an honor, but let’s cut a little bit more time and let’s move up in rank.”

This week’s state meet will be the first since 2003 that won’t be held at the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA. The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union signed a four-year contract with the University of Iowa’s natatorium after holding the state meet in Marshalltown for the previous 21 seasons.

“It’s a different environment, it’s a different kind of meet, it’s a different flow,” Nelson said. “It’ll be new for everybody. Our girls are not new to higher pressure situations, but the goal there is fairly simple: cut a little time, move up some places.

“You’re already there, you made it, you earned it, you own it.”

Regional Girls Swimming

At Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA

Athlete of the Meet — Addalyn Worster, Keokuk.

Team Standings — 1. Waukee 399, 2. Iowa City West 390, 3. Marshalltown 267, 4. Iowa City High 266, 5. Newton 254, 6. Southeast Polk 234, 7. Burlington 177, 8. Tipton 55.

EVENT RESULTS

(Champion plus MHS placewinners)

200 MEDLEY RELAY — 1. WAU (Popp, Hoffman, Burns, Hepler) 1:53.01; 3. MHS (Elmore, Beek, E. Case, R. Case) 1:54.70.

200 FREESTYLE — 1. Tori Kettles, WAU, 1:57.11; 10. Maisie Gummert, MHS, 2:06.63; 11. Drea Ceren, MHS, 2:09.33; 15. Libby Meyer, MHS, 2:15.49.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY — 1. Ava Remme, ICH, 2:15.12; 4. Emma Case, MHS, 2:20.90; 8. Adele Beek, MHS, 2:24.66; 15. Zoey Pals, MHS, 2:49.96.

50 FREESTYLE — 1. Nora Landon, ICW, 24.39; 3. Leia Hernandez, MHS, 25.07; 10. Rachel Case, MHS, 25.99; 15. Addison Elmore, MHS, 26.55.

100 BUTTERFLY — 1. Landon, ICW, 58.28; 6. E. Case, MHS, 1:02.51; 13. Alex Lasack, MHS, 1:12.95; 16. Pals, MHS, 1:17.10.

100 FREESTYLE — 1. Kettles, WAU, 53.59; 3. Hernandez, MHS, 54.03; 11. Elmore, MHS, 57.82; 14. Ceren, MHS, 58.63.

500 FREESTYLE — 7. Gummert, MHS, 5:38.50.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY — 1. NWT (White, T. Barton, McCloud, H. Barton) 1:41.48; 4. MHS (R. Case, Beek, Ceren, Hernandez) 1:43.72.

100 BACKSTROKE — 1. Tori White, NWT, 1:01.07; 11. Lasack, MHS, 1:10.34; 16. Meyer, MHS, 1:13.43.

100 BREASTSTROKE — 1. Beek, MHS, 1:09.51; 5. R. Case, MHS, 1:12.94.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY — 1. NWT (McCloud, T. Barton, White, H. Barton) 3:41.46; 5. MHS (Elmore, Meyer, Ceren, Hernandez) 3:48.44.