Jillian Kraus

Jillian Amaris Kraus (born December 18, 1986) is a water polo player. She won a gold medal in the 2005 Junior World Championships, won four straight NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships with UCLA, and has played with the United States women's national water polo team.

Early life Kraus was born in Newport Beach, California, to Robert and Pamela Kraus, and is Jewish. She has two brothers, Chris and Jeremy, and one sister, Jennifer.

She competed in water polo and swimming for Foothill High School in Santa Ana, California. 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.

She won a gold medal in the 2005 FINA Junior Water Polo World Championships.

College Kraus helped her UCLA Bruins 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. She received the 2008 Marty Glickman Outstanding Jewish Scholastic Athlete of the Year Award from the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. 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 June 24, 2008.

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. She then became Vice President of Business Development at Brainard Strategy.

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