Charles Gilbertson

MASON CITY — The Marshalltown boys’ swimming squad finished in fourth place at the Iowa Alliance Conference meet on Saturday led by 100-yard butterfly champion Charles Gilbertson.

Gilbertson clocked in at a season-best 55.34 seconds to win the fifth event of the day and carry the standard of swimming faster for the Bobcats.

Marshalltown’s top-three finishers in each individual race recorded season-best times, while all three leading Bobcat relays lowered their respective clockings in a competive conference meet hosted by Mason City.

Ames won the conference team title with 317 points, followed by Des Moines Roosevelt (269), Ottumwa (219) and the Bobcats (207). Mason City was a distant fifth (90) in the nine-team invitational.

Gilbertson, a senior, beat Des Moines Roosevelt’s Jack Franks to the wall in a highly competitive race in the 100 butterfly. Franks was second in 56.69. Marshalltown senior Isaac Seberger scored points for his seventh-place finish in a time of 1:03.14.

The Bobcats’ only runner-up result came in the last race of the day — the 400 freestyle relay. Ames captured the title in 3:27.31, while the MHS quartet of Gilbertson, Kade Randall, Lincoln Barker and Sam Greazel scored silver in 3:30.78.

Marshalltown opened the meet with a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay, as Landon Stanley, Greazel, Gilbertson and Michael Lechnir notched the bronze in 1:47.16. Barker followed it up with a third-place finish of his own in the 200 freestyle, hitting the wall in 1:54.18.

Gilbertson added a third-place result in the 100 backstroke as well, timing in at 59.43.

MHS had three finishers in the top-nine in the 200 individual medley. Greazel led the Bobcats in fourth place in 2:12.94, Randall was fifth in 2:14.08, and Seberger was ninth in 2:19.00.

Greazel was fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.17, while sophomore Jacob Seberger was eighth in 1:10.84.

Lechnir logged fifth-place points in the 50 freestyle (23.85) and added an eighth-place result in the 100 freestyle (52.88). He was also a part of the 200 free relay, which finished fifth. Lechnir, Jacob Seberger, Randall and Barker combined on a time of 1:37.17.

Barker banked sixth place in the 500 freestyle (5:18.73) to round out the Bobcats’ podium finishes.

Marshalltown closes out the regular season with a dual meet on Tuesday at Indianola. The Bobcats then turn their attention to the district meet on Feb. 8 at Ames.