Des Moines Lincoln had the depth to grind out a 98-86 victory over the Bobcats at the Marshalltown High School pool.

“They surprised me, I underestimated them,” MHS head coach Angie Nelson said. “They’re much stronger than what their stats show.”

Marshalltown won four swimming events on Tuesday — Rachel Case in the 50 freestyle, Leia Hernandez in the 100 free, Emma Case in the 500 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay team of Rachel Case, Maisie Gummert, Adele Beek and Hernandez.

Kate Hauser added a win in diving, but the Bobcats were ultimately outgunned by the Railsplitters — Lincoln and Ames are the only two Alliance teams to beat MHS thus far this season.

Nelson still believes the Bobcats have a better shot at competing with Lincoln in a conference meet format where there will be longer breaks between events than there were on Tuesday’s breezy meet — but the gauntlet has been laid down.

“They’re going to give us a run for our money,” Nelson said. “We were missing Morgan Bear today who usually scores points for us, and a couple of our girls weren’t feeling the best, but I don’t want to make any excuses, I just felt we would perform a little bit better. … Our girls are working hard, they’re tired, but it’s time we start shaping up and start turning our focus a little bit.”

The 400 freestyle relay had some excitement at the end of the night as Gummert and Emma Case chased down the Rails in their respective legs, but Lincoln’s Samantha Douds, who also won the 100 backstroke and was part of the winning 200 medley relay team, closed the door on the Bobcats’ hopes of going out on a win.

While Ames is the runaway favorite to win the Alliance meet at the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA on Oct. 24, Nelson doesn’t want the girls to assume anything beyond that.

“We’re going to have to step up our game,” Nelson said. “We need to rest up a little bit here, get our health back, and understand that the grind is near the end, so we’ve just got to give it everything we’ve got. We’ve still got a ways to go this season.”

Tuesday was also Senior Night for the Bobcats’ final meet of the season in the MHS pool. Hauser and Addison Gannaway, along with manager Zander Stupp, were recognized.

“Their leadership skills are super important,” Nelson said. “They’ve got their pre-match hype, they help us facilitate practices making sure everyone’s having a good time and learning, making tweaks and changes. They’re guiding the program and making sure that they leave the program stronger for the younger girls. They’ve both been great contributors. And Zander as one of our managers, our managers run our meets, they’re problem solvers, and that’s what I appreciate the most.”

The Bobcats’ final regular season dual is next Tuesday at Des Moines East.

Des Moines Lincoln 98, Marshalltown 86

EVENT RESULTS

(Champion plus MHS placewinners)

200 MEDLEY RELAY — 1. DML (Clayton, Shaffer, Douds, Betts) 2:04.99; 2. MHS (Ceren, Hernandez, E. Case, Hauser) 2:05.62; 3. MHS (Lasack, Beek, Meyer, Reyes) 2:14.39.

200 FREESTYLE — 1. Emma Sizemore, DML, 2:15.77; 3. Drea Ceren, MHS, 2:17.43; 4. Alex Lasack, MHS, 2:28.85.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY — 1. Haylee Shaffer, DML, 2:27.73; 2. Emma Case, MHS, 2:31.15; 4. Maisie Gummert, MHS, 2:36.76.

50 FREESTYLE — 1. Rachel Case, MHS, 27.63; 2. Libby Meyer, MHS, 28.11.

DIVING — 1. Kate Hauser, MHS, 216.75; 2. Ella DeMonte, MHS, 157.45.

100 BUTTERFLY — 1. Madelline De Meyer, DML, 1:08.33; 3. Gummert, MHS, 1:11.99; 4. Adele Beek, MHS, 1:15.62.

100 FREESTYLE — 1. Leia Hernandez, MHS, 57.84; 3. R. Case, MHS, 1:00.77.

500 FREESTYLE — 1. E. Case, MHS, 5:55.39; 5. Meyer, MHS, 6:23.34.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY — 1. MHS (R. Case, Gummert, Beek, Hernandez) 1:50.35; 3. MHS (Hauser, Lasack, Reyes, Meyer) 2:01.98.

100 BACKSTROKE — 1. Samantha Douds, DML, 1:06.72; 2. Ceren, MHS, 1:14.10; 3. Lasack, MHS, 1:14.98.

100 BREASTSTROKE — 1. Shaffer, DML, 1:12.15; 2. Beek, MHS, 1:15.16; 3. Hernandez, MHS, 1:19.49.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY — 1. DML (Sizemore, Betts, Shaffer, Douds) 4:08.55; 2. MHS (R. Case, Gummert, E. Case, Ceren) 4:10.51.