The Hope College women's swimming & diving team had plenty of reason to cheer on Friday during the 2017 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championship at Holland Community Aquatic Center.
Senior Molly Meyer of South Bend, Indiana (John Adams HS) outsprinted the championship field in the 100 backstroke for the MIAA title. She recorded a time of 57.67 seconds.
Junior Chloe Palajac of Dearborn, Michigan (Dearborn) claimed the 100 butterfly title with a time of 57.11 seconds. She edged Kalamazoo's Christina Park by nine one-hundredths of a second.
Sophomore Elisabeth Craig of Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids) came in third at 58.20 seconds. Two teammates also scored in the event: sophomore Sara Hudson of Novi, Michigan (Pontiac Notre Dame Prep) in 10th at 1:01.22 and junior Adrienne Smith of Grand Haven, Michigan (Grand Haven) in 16th at 1:04.99.
Senior Elizabeth Fris of Holland, Michigan (West Ottawa) took second in the 400 individual medley at 4:38.54.
Hope's 200-yard medley relay clocked a runner-up swim of 1 minute, 46.23 seconds with freshman Paula Nolte of Elmhurst, Illinois (York Community), Craig and sophomore Sydney Asselin of Holland, Michigan (Holland Christian).
Nolte finished third in the 100 breaststroke with a swim of 1:05.77. Freshman Erica Slenk of Zeeland, Michigan (Holland Christian) placed ninth at 1:09.19. Senior Sarah Zieschang of Austin, Texas (Veritas Academy) was 16th at 1L14.17.
Asselin came in fourth in the 200 freestyle at 1:57.81. Sophomore Abigail Brinks of Commerce Township, Michigan (Walled Lake Northern took fifth at 1:57.95, while freshman Alison Sobkowski of Portage, Indiana (Portage) was 16th at 2:04.66.
Hope is in third place with 426 points — 15 more than fourth-place Albion. Calvin (571) is in first, while Kalamazoo (458) is in second.
Saturday's competition finale features preliminaries at 10 a.m. and finals at 5:30 p.m.
