WOMEN’S SWIMMING
Hope College's Meg Peel confidently thought she could go faster in the 100-yard backstroke, despite a record-setting swim earlier in the day at the NCAA Division III Championships.
The sophomore for Spring Lake, Michigan (Spring Lake HS) was on target with her prediction.
Peel won Friday evening's consolation race to finish ninth in the nation by clocking a school-record time of 55.64 seconds.
During the morning's preliminaries, Peel passed her own 100 backstroke best by posting a swim of 55.78 seconds.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
Carly Pieri scored with 18 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Hope College women’s lacrosse team to a 12-11 victory against Frostburg State (Maryland) on Friday in Hilton Head, S.C.
The sophomore from Alto, Michigan (Caledonia HS) capitalized after a Frostburg State yellow card foul gave her a free-position shot.
The Flying Dutch improved to 4-2 on the season.
Sophomore Jane Ragains of Western Springs, Illinois (Lyons Township) finished with a career-high five goals. She also registered one assist.
SOFTBALL
The Hope College softball team concluded its spring break trip in the same manner they started it — with two victories in Clermont, Florida.
When they began their season last Friday, March 15, the Flying Dutch opened with a pair of wins. A week later, they ended their southern swing by defeating Wisconsin-Whitewater, 3-2, and Bethany (W.V.), 14-10.
In-between, Hope won some more — three times more than they lost, in fact — and finished its opening, non-league schedule by going 9-3.
Beyond their record, the Flying Dutch's stats were impressive through 12 games in Florida.
At the plate, they batted .322, connecting for 97 hits and scoring 82 runs. Their slugging percentage was .495. On the mound, Hope pitchers had a 3.13 ERA and a .265 batting average against. On the base paths, the Flying Dutch successfully stole 25 bases while being caught just five times. They had a .425 on-base percentage. In the field, they committed just 12 errors while having a .965 fielding percentage.
WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
The Hope College women’s outdoor track & field team scored in five events during the opening day of the Emory College Invitational on Friday in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Flying Dutch are in third place out of 22 teams with 22 points.
Hope finished third in the 4×800 relay. Freshman Erin Kloostra of Kalamazoo, Michigan (Loy Norrix), junior Emily Jackson of Grayling, Michigan (Grayling), senior Avery Lowe of North Muskegon, Michigan (North Muskegon) and junior Natalie Meyer of Plainfield, Illinois (Plainfield South) clocked a time of 10 minutes, 33.09 seconds.
MEN’S TRACK & FIELD
Hope College’s Josh Izenbart posted two runner-up performances during the Emory College Invitational on Friday in Atlanta, Georgia.
The junior from Glenwood, Illinois (Homewood-Flossmoor) HS) finished second in the javelin with a toss of 48.81 meters and runner-up in the high jump by clearing 2.00 meters.
Hope is in seventh place out of 22 teams with 16.5 points. The two-day Emory Invitational resumes on Saturday, March 23 at 10 a.m.
