Women’s swim finishes ninth at State, Frericks captures first in backstroke event

The women’s swimming team wrapped up its season by placing ninth overall with 90 points at the state swimming meet at the Marshalltown YMCA on Saturday, Nov. 13. Senior Kentucky swimming commit Grace Frericks claimed an individual state title in her best event, the 100-yard backstroke, with a time of 54.67 seconds. 

Along with her first place finish, Frericks placed second in the 100-yard freestyle earlier in the day. Ames senior Meghan Donald edged her by just .16 seconds in that race. 

A 15th place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay earned Cedar Falls another four points with a quartet that is returning three of its swimmers. Frericks, along with two other seniors, Kendall Mallaro and Grace Bobeldyk and sophomore Sophia Mason took seventh in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:37.00. 

Frericks and Mallaro were also a part of a 10th place finish in the 200-yard medley relay, a team that also featured junior Sutton Paulson and sophomore Baylee Lehmann. First place to 10th place in that race was separated by just six seconds. 

Mallaro qualified for the finals in both of her individual events. She placed ninth overall in the 100-yard butterfly along with a 15th place finish in the 200-yard individual medley, earning 11 total points between the two. 

As Frericks heads off to Kentucky next fall, Cedar Falls will be returning multiple swimmers from Saturday’s state meet with high hopes for next season behind head coach Chelsea Szczyrbak.