As the Cortland swim season approaches, we look at this year’s large graduating class with a bittersweet view on their last laps. As if 15 seniors graduating aren’t enough, a few juniors are joining the class of 2025 on their previous season and graduating a year early.
This includes the stand-out captain of the girls’ team, Alayna Miller.
Miller has been swimming for 9 years, and with enough credits completed in her psychology degree, she’s decided to end her college swimming career after her third year and graduate early.
Originally from Hilton, NY, Miller swam for the Hilton Cadets varsity swim team for 5 years and the Hilton Area Club Swim Team for 6. After completing her time competitively swimming for high school and club she decided to continue her career and committed to be on the girls’ varsity swim team here at SUNY Cortland.
In her two completed seasons here, she has already made a huge impact and accomplished many goals. Miller earned third team ALL-SUNYAC honors, placed in the top 16 in the 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly, and 50-yard freestyle, and was a member of the 3rd place 200 freestyle relay team and 200 medley relay team at the conference meet.
This season Miller is the only junior named as one of the 3 women’s team captains. Graduating early, especially as an athlete who has come this far in their athletic career and accomplishments, can be a hard or stressful choice. Miller has had mixed emotions but ultimately remains confident in her decision, “I’m mostly excited about graduating a year early because there’s a lot of goals that I have for myself career-wise and I’m looking forward to really starting to pursue those goals after this year.” Miller says,
“However, it is starting to feel bittersweet because I will miss Cortland so much. Part of me wants to stay for all four years but a larger part of me is ready to graduate…”
Although she’s cutting her time here short, that doesn’t take away her goals for the season and her passion for the sport. “My main goal is to have fun. My time in the sport of swimming went fast but I’m pleased with my accomplishments within the sport.” Miller states, “I want to soak up each and every moment in this season. Swimming has given me friends for life and has helped me learn valuable life lessons. I still have goals I want to achieve this season but the pressure to perform isn’t as prominent as it used to be.” Miller profoundly says as she continues to believe in the fun of the sport being the most important.
While having fun with teammates and holding a passion for the sport is and should be an essential part of swimming, there are also big changes in this upcoming season for the Cortland swimming and diving team. Two of Cortland’s biggest competitors, Geneseo and Brockport, leaving the SUNYAC conference could potentially shift the SUNYAC conference competition. Dynamic. “Geneseo and Brockport leaving the conference was surprising…but even though we’ve lost the competition from those two teams, I think we’ll still have good competition from the new schools we’ll be competing against.” Miller strongly states.
As said before, leaving college, especially a college team a year early could be a hard and even sad choice, however, it is best to think about all the good that has come from it. “My favorite part of my college swimming career is having the opportunity to train with new teammates and coaches every year.” Says Miller, “I think that we all learn a lot from each other, and being exposed to new people can be challenging but also inspire growth. I’ve learned a lot from the people that I’ve been surrounded by each year and if I could go back, I wouldn’t want to change any of the experiences I’ve had.”