Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Pike makes first splash at Haas Hall-Bentonville, signs with Purdue
BENTONVILLE — Before Hayley Pike signed her letter of intent, she had told her mother Kim not to cry so the event could look “a little professional.”
It was the Haas Hall-Bentonville swimming standout who eventually shed the tears Friday afternoon after she signed with Purdue and became the first student from her school to have such an event.
“It’s just become a dream come true for me,” Pike said. “This day took so long to get here. I knew it was going to be here, but it felt so long. Now that it’s here, it just doesn’t feel real.”
Pike has constantly rewritten the state swimming record book since she began swimming with the Lady Huskies as a freshman. She broke the Class 1A-5A state record in the girls 500-yard freestyle as a freshman with her time of 4 minutes, 54 seconds, broke it again the following year with her time of 4:52.42 and broke it again last year at 4:51.51.
Pike foresees herself continuing the distance swims for Purdue as she will go up to the 1,000 and the mile, which are her specialties. She will compete next summer in the U.S. Olympic Trials in the mile and hopes to do it again in the 800 when she swims next month in the U.S. Open, but she won’t count out shorter events just yet.
“I’m sure I will do those events from time to time,” Pike said. “But I’m sure I will mostly be doing my best events, the distance events, from now on.”
Pike, who was a member of the U.S. National Swim Team in 2016-17 and swam for the team that summer in the Netherlands, said she originally had her mind set on signing with Ohio State. That all changed last year when she made her official visit to Purdue — located in West Lafayette, Ind.
She then committed to the Boilermakers in December and never wavered.
“It was just the perfect balance of swim and academics,” Pike said. “It was too good to pass up. The team, the swimmers and the coaches there were perfect for me, and I thought I would fit in immediately.
“It was that gut feeling. Obviously, the academics and the swimming were important in the decision. It was just where I thought I belonged, which was the biggest part of the decision for me. Purdue gave me that feeling.”