Day one of the Iowa Girls State Swimming & Diving Meet was a good one for Norwalk junior Emma Sizemore. Competing for Des Moines Lincoln on Friday, Sizemore finished 19th out of 32 state qualifiers in the 500-yard freestyle race with a time of 5:22.97 at the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA.

Sizemore improved five spots on her qualifying seed of 24th and cut more than three seconds off her personal-best time. She also placed 19th in the event at last year’s state meet.

Sizemore will be back in the pool this afternoon swimming the second leg of Lincoln’s 200-yard freestyle relay. Her teammates include Haylee Shaffer, Paola Santiago and Samantha Douds.

This is Sizemore’s third year competing in multiple events at the state meet.