by Eva Dean Folkert
A school record in the 200-yard medley relay highlighted the last night of competition for the No. 20 Hope College women's swimming and diving team at the Kenyon College Invitational on Saturday.
The Flying Dutch finished in fourth place overall with 1,334 points at the three-day meet in Gambier, Ohio. Host Kenyon won the six-team event with a total of 2,961 points.
The new school record by freshman Sara Kraus (Rockford, Michigan / Rockford), senior Emma Schaefer (DeWitt, Michigan / Saint Johns), junior Alyssa Kerkman (South Bend, Indiana / Saint Joseph), and sophomore Madeline Tessin (Waxhaw, North Carolina / Marvin Ridge) clocked in at 1:44.05 during a time trial. The foursome broken the previous mark held by Alli Eppinga, Schaefer, Betsy Craig, and Meg Peel who swam in at 1:44.61 in 2019.
"We actually DQed in that relay earlier," said head coach Jake Taber. "But our time was pretty good so we decided to swim a time trial. And obviously, it went great. That record swim got everyone excited to start off the night, and we really rode the momentum from there."
Freshman diver Abby Koops (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Forest Hills Northern), pictured left, was Hope's top individual finisher at the meet as she took first place on the 3-meter board with a total of 444.60 points. Sophomore Sophia Farbarzhevich (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Forest Hills Northern) claimed second place just behind her teammate with 412.85 points in the same event. Both Flying Dutch divers earned NCAA regional qualifying cuts with their scores.
On the swim side, Schaefer took fourth place in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:20.89. Kraus finished seventh in the event by touching in at 2:22.42.
Other top-ten Flying Dutch finishers on Saturday were freshman Norah Martin (Middleton, Wisconsin / Middleton) in ninth place (2:09.28) in the 200 backstroke, and the 400 freestyle relay team of Kraus, freshman Lauren Ryle (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Catholic Central), sophomore Delaney Wesolek (Bay City, Michigan / John Glenn) and Tessin who took fourth place (3:33.28).
Hope saw several swimmers enter Hope's All-Time Top Ten list in several events with their swims at the multi-day Kenyon Invite.
- Kraus entered Hope's all-time Top Ten in five events: second in the 100 backstroke (56.44); third in the 200 backstroke (2:03.27); second in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.24); fifth in the 200 breaststroke (2:22.29); and first in the 200 individual medley (2:03.55).
- Grace Wesley took her spot in three Hope top-ten lists: eighth in 200 butterfly (2:08.85); tenth in the 200 backstroke (2:06.50); and sixth in the 400 individual medley (4:36.31).
- Schaefer moved up to third place all-time for Hope in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:31.96, just .21 second away from the school record.
"It was a great meet for both of our teams (men's and women's)," Taber said. "In many ways we saw some of the best swimmers and divers in the country and we swam up. I feel like we're prepared for leagues and even nationals because of it. And it being a three-day meet was one of the reasons for that. We got a good look at things. We stepped up and rose to the occasion, and I think we're better because of this weekend."
