Swimmer Sara Kraus Sets 400 IM School Record on Day 1 of D3Shootout

Season-best swims, NCAA "B" cuts and a school record highlighted the first day of competition at the D3 Shootout for the 13th-ranked Hope College women's swimming and diving team on Friday.

The University of Chicago is hosting the two-day event at the Myers-McLoraine Pool.

Hope is tied for third place with Washington University in St. Louis after the opening session with 268 points. The host Maroons lead the field with 344 points after a day that saw some of the fastest times in NCAA Division III this season.

Chicago is hosting the fourth edition of the D3 Shootout, where each of the 10 teams participating entered eight swimmers plus a diver to compete. The format of the meet allows each team to enter two swimmers in each event – one in an A flight and the other in a B flight.

The meet features some of the best teams in NCAA Division III from across the country, including #7 Chicago, #8 Pomona-Pitzer, #11 Swarthmore, #16 WashU, #18 Trinity (Texas), #23 SUNY-Geneseo, and #25 UW-Eau Claire, along with the Rochester Institute of Technology and Washington & Lee.

Senior Sara Kraus (Rockford, Michigan / Rockford HS) led the Flying Dutch with a pair of NCAA "B" cuts.

Kraus swam a school-record 4 minutes, 29.21 seconds in the 400 individual medley to place second in the B final for her first "B" cut of the evening. She passed Greta Gidley's two-year-old record of 4:30.98.

Kraus added another with a third-place finish in the A final of the 100 backstroke, touching the wall in 56.60 as the top four swimmers all finished under 57 seconds.

The 200 medley relay team of junior Katie Hermann (Canton, Michigan / Mercy), senior Lauren Ryle (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Catholic Central), junior Laurel Wasiniak (Northville, Michigan / Northville), and junior Bella Turner (Chelsea, Michigan / Chelsea) established an NCAA "B" cut with a fourth-place finish in their event.

In the 200 freestyle, Wasiniak was .4 seconds shy of an NCAA "B" cut, placing second in the A final with a season-best time of 1:52.55.

Freshman Emme D'Errico (Farmington Hills, Michigan / Farmington) also posted a second-place finish for the Dutch with a 2:05.55 in the A final of the 200 butterfly.

In the 100 breaststroke, Ryle touched the wall in a season-best 1:05.45 to finish third in the A final.

Hope also placed second in the mixed 400 medley relay, as the team of Gidley (Franklin, Michigan / Mercy), senior Dallas Fisher (Highland, Michigan / Detroit Catholic Central), Kraus, and sophomore Josh Bordovsky (Herndon, Virginia / South Lakes) each swam a 100 IM to combine for a time of 3:41.48.

The D3 Shootout concludes on Saturday, Nov. 9, with 10 events taking place during the final session, which begins at 11:30 a.m. Central.

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