Women's Swim/Dive Posts First Top 10 Team Finish at NCAA Championships Since 2007

Four more All-America swims joyfully capped a memorable week and significant achievement at the NCAA Division III championships for the Hope College women's swimming and diving team on Saturday.

The Flying Dutch soared to a 10th-place total of 132 points at the four-day national meet at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C.

Hope's 17th all-time Top 10 finish — and the first in 16 years — was satisfying, head coach Jake Taber said.

"We felt like this was a special group before the season started. Through the ebbs and flows and the long season we have here … for this to come together like it did this weekend, on the biggest stage, I'm just so proud of these women," Taber said. "It's one of those experiences that you're going to hang onto for a lifetime."

The MIAA champion Flying Dutch held off Johns Hopkins University (Md.) for 10th place in the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay.

In the 'B' final, freshman Bella Turner (Chelsea, Michigan / Chelsea), sophomore Greta Gidley (Franklin, Michigan / Mercy), freshman Laurel Wasiniak (Northville, Michigan / Northville), and junior Delaney Wesolek (Bay City, Michigan / John Glenn) clocked a 12th-place and season-best swim of 3 minutes, 26.69 seconds.

The relay placed one spot behind Johns Hopkins and allowed Hope to finish ahead of Johns Hopkins by 5 ½ points. The relay earned Second Team All-America honors.

Earlier in the meet, the Flying Dutch claimed two First Team All-America swims in the 200-yard backstroke for the first time in program history.

Sophomore Sara Kraus (Rockford, Michigan / Rockford) finished seventh with a time of 2:00.80. Freshman Katie Hermann (Canton, Michigan / Mercy) took eighth after posting a swim of 2:01.85.

Hermann, who came into the meet seeded 29th in the 200 backstroke, qualified for the 'A' Final with a season-best time of 2:01.35 during the morning's preliims.

On Friday, Hermann and Kraus became the second Flying Dutch duo to both earn First Team All-America honors in the 100 backstroke.

In the 100 freestyle, Gidley swam to Second Team All-America honors by tying for 12th place with a time of 51.31 seconds. Gidley went 51.15 during prelims.

Hope's large contingent to nationals — nine swimmers, including senior Alyssa Kerkman, sophomore Lauren Ryle, and freshman Ashlea Swingewood (Carmel, indiana / Carmel), and one diver, sophomore Abby Koops (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Forest Hills Northern) — made a Top 10 finish possible.

"Part of it is a belief system, believing in what we're doing and in each other, going out and having confidence in each other. Part of it is being resilient. You're not going to come into a meet that has many swims throughout eight sessions and catch all the breaks," Taber said. "I think when something didn't exactly go the way we wanted, we turned right around and zeroed in on our next opportunity.

"We did some things pretty well, too. In a meet like this, getting it done in the morning and having the opportunities to have those night swims was instrumental in our ability to accumulate points throughout the weekend the way we did."

Print Friendly Version