A determined Hope College women's swimming & diving team added three more Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles to its of accomplishments and charged past Kalamazoo College for second place in the overall standings on Saturday.
The Flying Dutch totaled a runner-up score of 687 points during the four-day meet at Holland Community Aquatic Center. They finished 18 points ahead of third-place Kalamazoo. Calvin repeated as champion with 868 points.
"It means a lot," head coach John Patnott said. "Very few times in our career have we finished less than second. We wanted to maintain that. I'm really proud of how they responded yesterday. They were down at times. They came back today and swam tough."
Hope claimed five MIAA titles during the meet: the 1,650 freestyle (Elizabeth Fris), 200 breaststroke (Paula Nolte), and 200 backstroke (Molly Meyer) on Saturday, and the 100 butterfly (Chloe Palajac) and 100 backstroke (Meyer) on Friday.
"Their wins speak for their efforts," Patnott said. "Those kids, every single day, have a great day in practice. Even when they're not feeling good, they're working hard. They listen and try to make all the corrections. They do the things necessary to get to where they need to be."
Meyer, a senior from South Bend, Indiana (John Adams HS) repeated as 200 backstroke champion by clocking a time of 2 minutes, 2.62 seconds. Freshman Erin Emmert of Grand Blanc, Michigan (Flint Powers Catholic) was fifth in 2:08.58.
Fris led a group of five Flying Dutch to score in the 1,650 freestyle. The senior from Holland, Michigan (West Ottawa) took first with a time of 17:32.08.
Other to earn points for Hope were: sophomore Abigail Brinks of Commerce Township, Michigan (Walled Lake Northern) in third at 18:01.02, freshman Alison Sobkowski of Portage, Indiana (Portage) in eighth at 18:40.52, freshman Sophia Palajac of Dearborn, Michigan (Dearborn) in ninth at 18:40.79, and senior Payton Hoff of Clarkston, Michigan (Pontiac Notre Dame Prep) in 11th at 18:54.37.
Nolte, a freshman from Elmhurst, Illinois (York Community), won the 200 breaststroke in 2:21.64.
She was joined by three teammates who also scored: freshman Erica Slenk of Holland, Michigan (Holland Christian) in sixth at 2:31.78, junior Sarah Zieschang of Austin, Texas (Veritas Academy) in 13th at 2:42.97, and freshman Kayty Ihara of South Lyon, Michigan (East) in 14th at 2:44.72.
Palajac, a junior from Dearborn, Michigan (Dearborn) was MIAA runner-up in the 200 butterfly with a swim of 2:06.69.
Emmert placed third in 2:09.58. She was joined by two teammates: sophomore Sara Hudson of Novi, Michigan (Pontiac Notre Dame Prep) in eighth at 2;23.46, and Hoff in 10th at 2:22.84.
Hope's 400 freestyle relay took second. Chloe Palajac, Brinks, Meyer and sophomore Sydney Asselin of Holland, Michigan (Holland Christian) posted a time of 3:33.57.
Sophomore Sara Plohetski of South Lyon, Michigan (South Lyon) finished third in 1-meter diving with 387.65 points.
Asselin placed sixth in the 100 freestyle with a swim of 53.65 seconds. Sophomore Elisabeth Craig of Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids) was 15th at 57.38.
