Jillian Kraus

Kraus was born in Newport Beach, California, to Robert and Pamela Kraus, and is Jewish.[1][2] She has two brothers, Chris and Jeremy, and one sister, Jennifer.[1] She later lived in Tustin, California.[3]

She competed in water polo and swimming for Foothill High School in Santa Ana, California.[1] Kraus received All-California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and All-Sea View League recognition in 2001, 2002, and 2003, and was recognized as a CIF Scholar-Athlete each of her four years at Foothill.[1] 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.[1][4] In 2004 she was also awarded the United States Army Reserve 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.[1][5]

She won a gold medal in the 2005 FINA Junior Water Polo World Championships.[1][6]

Kraus helped her UCLA Bruins women's water polo team win four consecutive NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships, including in May 2008.[7]

In 2005 she scored 27 goals on 54 attempts, and had 36 steals, 10 assists, and six earned exclusions.[8] She also helped lead the U.S. Junior National Team to a gold medal in Australia at the FINA Junior Women's World Championships.[8]

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.[8] She received ACWPC All-America, All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) honorable mention, and MPSF All-Academic Team honors, and was named the MPSF Player of the Week on April 18.[8]

In 2007, she scored 54 goals on 110 attempts, with 28 steals, 15 assists, and 19 earned exclusions.[8] She earned first-team ACWPC All-America, first-team All-MPSF, and MPSF All-Academic Team honors.[8]

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.[8][1] She received MPSF Co-Player of the Year honors with classmate Courtney Mathewson, 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.[8][1][9] She received the 2008 Marty Glickman Outstanding Jewish Scholastic Athlete of the Year Award from the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[2] She was a finalist for the 2008 Peter J. Cutino Award,[10] which is presented annually to the outstanding female and male collegiate water polo players in the United States.[11] Kraus and UCLA's national champion teams of 2007-08 visited the White House June 24, 2008.[1] She received a kiss on the cheek from President George Bush.[12]

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.[13] Kraus graduated UCLA with a degree in political science.[1][14]

She later received her MBA from University of California, Irvine Paul Merage School of Business, and was an assistant coach for UC Irvine Women’s Water Polo Team for three years.[14] She then became Vice President of Business Development at Brainard Strategy.[14]

She competed on the 2009–11 and 2013-14 United States women's national water polo teams.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

In 2010 Kraus was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[22]