The 12th-ranked Hope College women's swimming and diving team added another MIAA championship to its collection on Saturday evening at Calvin University, winning its fifth straight league meet in historic fashion. 

The Flying Dutch led wire-to-wire over the weekend and amassed a league-record 1,170 points while winning by a margin of 268 points. The previous record was 1,131, recorded by Hope in 2023. 

The MIAA Championship is the 27th overall for Hope, which is the most among MIAA schools.  

Senior Sara Kraus (Rockford, Michigan / Rockford HS), junior Laurel Wasiniak (Northville, Michigan / Northville) and freshman Emme D'Errico (Farmington Hills, Michigan / Farmington) captured individual event titles for Hope. The Flying Dutch also posted a relay win to finish the weekend with gold medals in 13 of the meet's 20 events. 

Hope also became the first MIAA school to sweep all five relay events in the conference meet since Calvin in 2007. 

"We put a lot of thought into our relays before we got here," head coach Jake Taber said. "We felt good about who we marched out, but we've got great competition here with some really elite relays where they rank nationally. I wouldn't say that's a goal we talked about, but we wanted to be in position to win each of them. The way it came together is something this group is going to remember for a long time."

Kraus – who won three events during the weekend to receive Most Valuable Swimmer honors – took home gold in the 200 backstroke for the fourth consecutive year with a time of 1:58.29. She became the first MIAA swimmer to win four consecutive titles in the 100 and 200 backstroke events since Hope's Lori Gano accomplished the feat in 1988-91.

Her time in the 200 back is the fastest in NCAA Division III this season.

Kraus also earned Most Valuable Swimmer honors for the third time in her career and finishes her league meet career with 10 individual MIAA titles. She joins Dawn Hoving (1992, 1993, 1994) and Shelly Schafer (1987, 1988, 1989) as the only Hope swimmers to win the award three times. Kraus also received the accolade in 2022 and 2023. 

"Sara's been utterly dominant in the backstroke," Taber said. "Tonight she was more aggressive than she's ever been going out and was fortunate to hang on, finish the way she did."

Wasiniak picked up her second MIAA title of the weekend with a record-setting swim in the 100 freestyle. The MIAA 100 and 200 freestyle champion set school, meet and pool records with a time of 49.71, outdueling teammate senior Greta Gidley (Franklin, Michigan / Mercy), who placed second with a 50.14 finish. Junior Bella Turner (Chelsea, Michigan / Chelsea) finished fourth.

In the process, Wasiniak became the first Hope swimmer to break the 50-second barrier in the 100 free, as well as the first female swimmer to break the 50-second barrier in the 100 free at Calvin's Venema Aquatic Center. 

In a shade of drama, Wasiniak lost and regained ownership of the 100 freestyle school record on Saturday. Entering the day, Wasiniak owned the mark with a time of 50.55. Gidley topped that in the morning preliminaries, touching the wall in 50.34 to earn the top seed for the evening finals.

In the A final, both Gidley and Wasiniak went under the record, with Wasiniak taking back the record. 

D'Errico captured her first career MIAA title with a victory in the 200 butterfly as the Flying Dutch grabbed the top five positions. After taking the top seed in the morning preliminaries, D'Errico dropped time in the final, finishing in 2:05.68. 

The final event of the weekend proved historical for Hope, as the 400 freestyle relay team of senior Lauren Ryle (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Catholic Central), Turner, Gidley and Wasiniak took down the school, meet and pool records with a time of 3:22.41. That mark is the fifth fastest in NCAA Division III this season.

The old school record of 3:26.32, set in 2023, was held by Delaney Wesolek, Bella Turner, Wasiniak, and Gidley. 

The B relay team of freshman Emmy Sower (Midland, Michigan / H.H. Dow), freshman Megan Wedeking (Lexington, Kentucky / Lafayette), junior Katie Hermann (Canton, Michigan / Mercy) and D'Errico was also victorious. 

Hope cemented its victory with multiple podium finishes in nearly every event on the final day of competition, and saw all of its individual swimmers qualify for the A final in every event during the meet. 

In the 1650 freestyle, senior Norah Martin (Middleton, Wisconsin / Middleton) and Pitera took silver and bronze after dropping over 20 seconds each from their seeded times. Martin completed the mile in 17:48.82, while Pitera touched the wall in 17:59.38.

Hermann captured bronze in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:01.48, while sophomore Paige Potter (Lake Orion, Michigan / Lake Orion) placed fifth in 2:10.97.

Senior Grace Wesley (Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan / Grosse Pointe North) and Wedeking completed the podium sweep for Hope in the 200 fly, finishing within less than a half-second of each other to place second and third. Sophomore Natalie Pitera (Livonia, Michigan / Stevenson) took fourth and junior Ashlea Swingewood (Carmel, Indiana / Carmel) touched fifth. 

The 200 breaststroke saw Hope take four of the top five spots. Ryle grabbed silver with a time of 2:20.38, while junior Madi Remenschneider (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) earned bronze in 2:24.57. Sophomore Anna Stolle (Fishers, Indiana / Hamilton Southeastern) and sophomore Dillon Horsley (Indianapolis, Indiana / North Central) also scored for the Flying Dutch, finishing fourth and fifth.

Calvin finished in second place with 902 points. Albion College was third with 431 points and was followed by Kalamazoo College (416), Alma College (381) and The University of Olivet (223). 

Hope will now await invitations to the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships, which are scheduled for Wednesday-Saturday, March 19-22, at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina.