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MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa – Two time drops in a pair of events was a very good thing for the Muscatine girls swim team.

Unfortunately, nearly everyone else ahead of them in the state had time drops, too, as the Muskies settled for a 27th-place finish at the state swimming and diving meet Saturday at the Marshalltown Y.

Muscatine scored 14 points to tie with Grinnell for its place.

The 200 medley relay, comprised of Hannah Eichelberger, Jennifer Littlejohn, Sarah Martin and Laura Ewalt, finished in 1 minute, 55.24 seconds — about a half-second faster than their regional time.

Also, the 400 freestyle relay of Eichelberger, Haley Bartelt, Arianna Calderon and Martin improved by almost a second, racing to a 3:49.42 finish.

Several of the Muskies said they felt they could have improved more.

“I still think we could have done better,” Martin said. “Not everyone swam their best today, but I’m still happy.

“I wish I could have done better. I’m proud of the hard work (of the team) and I’m glad I got here.”

Eichelberger wasn’t pleased, either, but attributed some of her efforts to jitters.

“I did not do as well as I could have, but yeah (I’m happy),” Eichelberger said. “There are always nerves. It was a little better this year, but there’s always going to be.”

When asked about her turns, Eichelberger wasn’t pleased with those, either.

“Not so much,” she said. “My first race, I had a good one on the backstroke (in the 200 medley), but they weren’t as good as they could have been.”

In only one event, the 200 medley, did Muscatine move up from its seed time. That is because the second-seeded team, Decorah, was disqualified in the third heat of the event, allowing the Muskies to move up from 14th to 13th.

Although some members of the team were hard on themselves, Muscatine coach Judd Anderson said he was happy with his team’s efforts.

“We scored points,” Anderson said. “We did well. It was a very competitive meet with lots of good swimmers.

“It was a good meet. We did very well with not a lot of experience at this level. To get in there and not be nervous; they did well. I’m pleased.”

Littlejohn added, “It was amazing to cut time and to go one step further at state was just amazing.”

One of the events Muscatine could have used a time drop was in the 200 freestyle relay in which it fell back a seed spot to 15th. The Muskies did have two legs from Eichelberger and Littlejohn, who had splits of 26.15 and 26.14, respectively.

“I was nervous, but also ready to go,” Littlejohn said of her races. “It was my last race and I was ready to give it all I had.

“I think we all did the best we could with what we had. We did well.”

In both individual events, Eichelberger and Littlejohn fell back from their seed times and out of scoring.

“We were expecting to cut a little more,” said Eichelberger, who swam in the 50 freestyle. “You always hope for more, but anything you can get here is good.”

Mason City topped Bettendorf for the team title 275-260. The Mohawks won three events and were runners-up in four more. They also had at least three top-10 finishes in other events.

“I’m somewhat pleased because Mason City won the meet – they are similar to us in they are an isolated community and can only develop swimmers from within and they don’t have the luxury of having year-round swimming like us,” Anderson said. “If Bettendorf had won it, I had been pleased, too.”

Overall, the Muskies were pleased with the experience.

“I’m pretty satisfied,” Martin said. “I was hoping to cut more time, but I’m happy.”

Littlejohn added, “I think it was a great experience to compete against the top people in the state. I was excited we got here.”

Muscatine results

200 medley relay — 13. Hannah Eichelberger, Jennifer Littlejohn, Sarah Martin, Laura Ewalt 1:55.24.

50 freestyle — 19. Eichelberger 25.77.

200 freestyle relay — 15. Eichelberger, Littlejohn, Martin, Ewalt 1:44.04.

100 breaststroke — 24. Littlejohn 1:13.44.

400 freestyle relay — 16. Eichelberger, Haley Bartelt, Arianna Calderon, Martin 3:49.42.