by Alan Babbitt
Sara Kraus made Hope College women's swimming and diving team history on Friday in Indianapolis.
The freshman from Rockford, Michigan (Rockford HS) became the Flying Dutch's seventh All-America honors in the 100-yard backstroke at the NCAA Division III Championships.
Kraus, pictured, clocked a seventh-place time of 55.82 seconds in the A Final. Kraus moved up one spot after her qualifying swim of 55.93 seconds during the morning's preliminaries.
Hope's All-America Performances
During prelims, Kraus took the last spot for the A Final by .02 of a second.
Kraus joined Susan Looman (national champ in 1994), Sara Looman (national runner-up in 1994), Laurel Horton (national runner-up in 1998), Brittany Reest (fifth in 2006 and eighth in 2008), and Lori Gano (sixth in 1991).
Senior Emma Schaefer (DeWitt, Michigan / St. Johns) finished 21st in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.74 during preliminaries.
Hope took 21st in the 800 freestyle relay. Schaefer, Kraus, freshman Katie Weedon (Whitinsville, Massachusetts / Whitinsville Christian), and sophomore Delaney Wesolek (Bay City, Michigan / John Glenn) clocked a time of 7:44.42 during preliminaries.
Schaefer opened with a 200-yard split of 1:56.72. Kraus followed at a 1:55.47 clip. Weedon finished in 1:56.19. Wesolek went 1:56.04.
The four-day meet at Indiana University Purdue University at Indiainapolis concludes on Saturday, March 18, beginning with preliminaries at 10 a.m.