Sell Ready to Compete at ECAC's

Alison Sell (Hanover, PA) will become the first Alfred State swimmer to compete at the ECAC Winter Championships. Sell qualified for the ECAC's in the 100 breaststroke but will also swim in time trials for the 50 free and the 200 breast.

Sell enters the race with a season best performance of 1:09.41 in the 100 breast. She will be one of 39 enteries in the race. She will competing versus swimmers from NCAA DI school like Pittsburgh, Navy, Army, Bucknell, and Virginia.

Second year Pioneer swimming and diving coach RC Weston is excited about this opportunity for Sell and for his program. "Heading into this season I was hoping to take an athlete or two to ECAC's as we strive towards putting this program on the map. Alley had the best shot out of anyone to make the cut time and halfway through the year we were able to secure a spot with her qualifying time in the 100 Breast. She's put in the work this season and I couldn't be happier for her to not only be the first Lady Pioneer to represent the Women's team at ECAC's, but the first swimmer to ever qualify for this end-of-the-year meet."

"A quality student and a quality athlete, Alley is the prime example of what we want out of our student-athletes at Alfred State – she is truly representing what it means to be a Pioneer heading into this weekend."

Recently sport management student Jake Vattimo asked Sell some questions as she prepared for this weekend's event.

From Hanover, PA to Alfred State, what made you pick Alfred? I chose Alfred because it was farther away from home but not too far. Alfred has my major and my sport and I fell in love with how small the town of Alfred is and the view of the hills.

How did you become involved in swimming? I became involved with swimming when I was in sixth grade. There wasn't a particular reason why I joined other than the fact that I loved being in pools in the summers. When I first started swimming competitively, I was terrible. I never thought I would get better, but eventually improved tremendously. 

What does it mean to you being the first Pioneer to compete in the ECAC Championship? It's very exciting! It's really neat being a big part of Alfred State's swimming history.

What are your goals for this meet and moving forward in the future? I hope to beat my personal best time in my event, which I haven't beaten since my senior year of high school. I also hope more women will think about coming to Alfred to swim because it really is a great program and we've built a family upon it.

Are you superstitious at all? Do you have any pregame rituals? I'm not superstitious, but I do believe if you put the hard work into what you're doing, you are bound to get good results. One thing I always do before big meets is mentally go through my race in my head over and over. I need to believe that I can achieve my goals. And if I stay positive, I'll do just that.

Quick Hitters: 

Favorite movie? Hunger Games 

Best pool you have ever swam in? Bucknell University's pool

Swimming pool or Ocean? Swimming pool by far

CDH or Ten Elm? CDH!

Jake Vattimo or Mark Spitz? Jake Vattimo without a doubt