During the pre-game ceremonies of the season finale for Slippery Rock football, Cody Conway, senior defensive end, popped the question to his now fiancée, Alissa Kelty, 2013 SRU graduate.
“I would say I had very little doubt. I was pretty confident she would say yes,” Conway said. “I know without Rock football I’m not sure if our paths would have ever crossed. Before that moment when I first saw her at spring football, we hadn’t even seen each other on campus even once. She was busy in her studies, she’s such a nerd, and I was busy with football.”
The exact moment Conway is talking about was in 2012.
“We met during spring football,” Conway said. “She was one of the student athletic trainers for the spring season. I was a freshman at the time and she was a junior. We actually didn’t start dating until a month or so after spring football was over.”
Like most relationships, Conway and Kelty’s started off full of nervous energy.
“She actually thought I hated her because I gave her such a hard time every day at practice when in reality I was flirting with her like a two-year-old,” Conway said. “I was nervous you know, she was older than me.”
So, over the course of a spring football season, seeds for the Conway and Kelty union were planted.
“It was the first couple games of the regular season after my redshirt year when we first started dating,” Conway said. “I could always count on hearing her voice from the stands whether I had a good play or a bad one.
Though Conway and Kelty began dating in 2012, the thought of marriage didn’t come up until 2016. In fact, Conway said he didn’t seriously consider Kelty to be the one until 2015
“I would say probably after my junior year and winning the PSAC back-to-back and having her in my corner through the good times and bad,” Conway said. “We really grew to become each other’s best friends which is one of the reasons I love her so much. I can always count on her no matter what.
Conway and Kelty are now planning their lives together, including where they will raise their children and where they will go to school.
“We’re both residing in Monroeville,” Conway said. “I think our family will be born and raised in the Pittsburgh area. However, I believe that our children will be persuaded to head to The Rock for their continuing education.”
While the engagement was something to remember, the young couple is still waiting to officially tie the knot.
“We haven’t officially picked a date yet,” Conway said. “She’s actually trying to return to The Rock for the physician assistant program. We’re kind of waiting to hear back as to whether she got accepted or not. If she does, you can expect a wedding Fall 2019.
They plan to honeymoon in St. Lucia. After that, Conway is headed to the State Trooper Academy, and Kelty to physician assistant school.
“The goal would be to have us both working in the fields we desire and live happily ever after,” Conway said.
