Former Halifax Academy standout swimmer Hayley Heath has donned her goggles and swim cap and taken to the pool again with her Virginia Wesleyan University Marlins.
Heath, a 2015 graduate of Halifax Academy and a junior at VWU, joined the team during this inaugural season for women’s swimming at VWU, which is a Division III university of the NCAA and is a member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
VWU women's swimming competed collegiately for the first time Saturday at the ODAC Relays hosted by Washington and Lee University. The meet featured several specialty relays not found in most traditional events as the meet was a relay-only competition.
The top scoring team for the Marlins was the 8x25 yard freestyle relay where the VWU team of Ashley Whipple, Taylor Morich, Morgan Lucas, Francesca Lanuza, Miah Kurtz, Diana Jones, Hayley Heath, and Allie Ghazaleh finished with a time of 2:00.19 to post 11 points. The 400 yard freestyle relay of Lanuza, Hayley Heath, Morich, and Carli Campoli posted a time of 4:44.57 to earn seven points for their squad. The 3x50 breaststroke relay team of Whipple, Lucas, and Heath finished with a time of 2:09.59 to earn four more points. The VWU team of Miah Kurtz, Whipple, Jones, and Ghazaleh also earned four points in the 400 yard freestyle relay.
In total, the Marlins registered 41 points to finish eighth out of the 11 teams competing. Washington & Lee University won the meet with a total of 489 points.