The Hope College women's swimming and diving team closed out the NCAA Division III Championships with the program's best finish in 25 years on Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The Flying Dutch finished ninth overall with 139 points, marking the highest finish for the program since the 1999-2000 campaign.

The feat is the 18th Top 10 finish at the NCAA meet in program history, and the second time in three years after not reaching the Top 10 for 23 seasons. The showing is also the highest finish for the women's program under head coach Jake Taber.

"Our women stated at the beginning of the season they wanted to be Top 10," Taber said. "That doesn't happen by accident. They worked hard. The fun, energy and resilience we had on the pool deck this week and throughout the season led us to that. This week, we embraced the opportunity and had a blast playing our sport."

Three individual All-American swims as well as an All-American relay finish capped the final night of competition for Hope. The Flying Dutch finished the meet earning All-America honors in all five relays to become the first team since the 1998 squad to accomplish that milestone.

The 400 freestyle relay team of senior Greta Gidley (Franklin, Michigan / Mercy HS), senior Lauren Ryle (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Catholic Central), junior Bella Turner (Chelsea, Michigan / Chelsea), and junior Laurel Wasiniak (Northville, Michigan / Northville) placed seventh to close out the meet, improving upon their preliminary seeding by one position. 

The quartet combined for a time of 3 minutes, 22.43 seconds, just two-hundredths of a second shy of the school record set at the 2025 MIAA Championships. The squad is also the 17th All-American 400 freestyle relay team in program history. 

Swimming her final collegiate race on Saturday evening, senior Sara Kraus (Rockford, Michigan / Rockford) captured her fourth career individual All-America honor in the 200 backstroke. 

After placing fifth as a freshman in 2022, seventh as a sophomore in 2023 and 10th as a junior in 2024, Kraus completed her career with a fourth-place touch to take home First Team All-America accolades. 

Her finals time of 1:59.22 was nearly a second faster than her heat-winning preliminary time of 2:00.20. 

Kraus finishes her career as a five-time individual All-American – earning one in the 100 backstroke and four in the 200 backstroke. 

"She's been a staple of this national team. She's become a household name among backstrokers across the country," Taber said. "For her best individual finish at the NCAA Championships to be her last race, we're so happy for her to go out that way."

In the 100 freestyle, Wasiniak and Gidley took home Second Team All-America laurels. Wasiniak jumped two spots from her preliminary seeding to win the consolation final and finish ninth overall. Her time of 49.74 was just four-hundredths shy of her school record. 

Gidley finished 15th at the NCAA meet last season and was able to improve upon her showing from a year ago to earn Second Team All-American honors for the second straight year. She placed 14th in her final collegiate individual race with a time of 50.73. 

The duo also took part in all five of Hope's All-American relay teams.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology won the meet with 497 points, finishing 27 points ahead of second-place New York University. Kenyon College (Ohio) was third with 438 points. 

With the season concluded, the Flying Dutch will graduate nine seniors from the program: Gidley, Kraus, Ryle, Abby Koops (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Forest Hills Northern), Molly Leonard (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Catholic Central), Norah Martin (Middleton, Wisconsin / Middleton), Hope Weeda (Grandville, Michigan / Calvin Christian), Katie Weedon (Whitinsville, Massachusetts / Whitinsville Christian) and Grace Wesley (Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan / Grosse Pointe North).