Jillian Amaris Kraus (born December 18, 1986) is a

water polo player Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with more ...

. She won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the 2005 Junior World Championships, won four straight NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships with

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, and has played with the

United States women's national water polo team The United States women's national water polo team represents the United States in international women's water polo competitions and friendly matches. It is one of the List of water polo world medalists#Women's water polo world medalists, leading ...

Early life

Kraus was born in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

, to Robert and Pamela Kraus, and is Jewish.Paul Shapiro (April 11, 2008)
"Former Hewlett lacrosse star recognized by Hall of Fame,"
''The Jewish Star''. She has two brothers, Chris and Jeremy, and one sister, Jennifer. She later lived in

Tustin, California Tustin is a city located in Orange County, California, United States, within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2020, Tustin had a population of 80,276. The city does not include the unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated communit ...

. She competed in

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

and swimming for Foothill High School in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

. Kraus received All-

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have s ...

(CIF) and All-

Sea View League The Sea View League, along with the South Coast League in Orange County, California, make up the nine member high schools of the Coast View Athletic Association, which is part of the California Interscholastic Federation's Southern Section. For ...

recognition in 2001, 2002, and 2003, and was recognized as a CIF Scholar-Athlete each of her four years at Foothill. Kraus was awarded CIF Division I co-Player of the Year, Sea View League Co-MVP honors, and ''Los Angeles Times'' All-Star Girls' Water Polo First Team honors in 2004, and also competed for the SoCal club team and the USA National Youth Team. In 2004 she was also awarded the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

National Scholar-Athlete medal, was named to the 2003-2004 NISCA Girls All America Water Polo First Team, and earned All-Sea View League first-team honors as a swimmer. She won a

in the 2005

FINA Junior Water Polo World Championships FINA Junior Water Polo World Championships is an international water polo tournament held every two years for the players under the age of 20. It was launched by FINA in 1981 for men and in 1995 for women . Editions Men Women * World Aquatics ...

College

Kraus helped her

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

women's water polo team win four consecutive NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships, including in May 2008. In 2005 she scored 27 goals on 54 attempts, and had 36 steals, 10 assists, and six earned exclusions. She also helped lead the U.S. Junior National Team to a gold medal in Australia at the FINA Junior Women's World Championships. In 2006 she scored 40 goals on 69 attempts, scoring at a team-best 57 percent rate, and had 24 steals, eight assists, and 13 earned exclusions. She received ACWPC All-America, All-

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the Western United States, although it has added members as far east as Massachusetts. The conference participates at the NCAA Divisio ...

(MPSF) honorable mention, and MPSF All-Academic Team honors, and was named the MPSF Player of the Week on April 18. In 2007, she scored 54 goals on 110 attempts, with 28 steals, 15 assists, and 19 earned exclusions. She earned first-team ACWPC All-America, first-team All-MPSF, and MPSF All-Academic Team honors. In 2008, she scored 57 goals (tied for the 11th-highest single-season goals total in program history) on 141 attempts, with 41 steals, 36 earned exclusions, 10 assists, and seven blocks. She received MPSF Co-Player of the Year honors with classmate

Courtney Mathewson Courtney Lynn Kaiulani Mathewson (born September 14, 1986) is an American water polo player, part of the US team that won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics. She played water polo for the University of California, ...

, was named a first-team ACWPC All-America selection and first-team All-MPSF honoree for the second consecutive year, received MPSF All-Academic Team honors for the third straight season, and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament First Team. She received the 2008 Marty Glickman Outstanding Jewish Scholastic Athlete of the Year Award from the

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

. She was a finalist for the 2008

Peter J. Cutino Award The Peter J. Cutino Award, named after former college water polo player and UC Berkeley coach Peter J. Cutino, is considered the most prestigious individual award in American collegiate water polo. It is given annually to the top male and female pl ...

, which is presented annually to the outstanding female and male collegiate water polo players in the United States. Kraus and UCLA's national champion teams of 2007-08 visited the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

June 24, 2008. She received a kiss on the cheek from President George Bush. The 178 goals in her four seasons placed her as the fourth-highest career goals total in program history, and her 129 steals also placed her in the top 10. Kraus graduated UCLA with a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

Team USA, and accolades

She later received her

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

Paul Merage School of Business The Paul Merage School of Business is the business school at the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine). The business school is housed in two buildings located on the eastern side of the UC Irvine campus, which is often ranked among the saf ...

, and was an assistant coach for UC Irvine Women’s Water Polo Team for three years. She then became Vice President of Business Development at Brainard Strategy. She competed on the 2009–11 and 2013-14

s. In 2010 Kraus was inducted into the

Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jews, American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distingui ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraus, Jillian 1986 births Living people Water polo players from Newport Beach, California American female water polo players UCLA Bruins women's water polo players University of California, Irvine alumni Jewish American sportspeople Sportspeople from Tustin, California 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women