“I was definitely happy with our performance on Saturday,” stated Head Coach Shannon O’Brien, “especially going out there and winning both relays right from the get-go.”

RPI started the meet strong by taking both the men’s and women’s 400-yard medley relays.

For the women, the young quartet of junior Karel Schnebele, sophomores Kelly Owens and Oya White, and freshman Sara Orndorff came in nearly seven seconds ahead of their Rochester counterparts.

“Oya started us off splitting 1:05 in her 100 backstroke, and I think that might be a lifetime best for her,” explained O’Brien. “And that gave us the lead and we just kind of held on to it.”

On the men’s side, they too relied on a young foursome to steal the first event of the meet. Sophomores Matt Hiltner and Chris Rallo and freshmen Dan Brocki and Steve Hall edged out Rochester by three-tenths of a second for the win.

“We were neck and neck, it was going back and forth,” said O’Brien of the men’s race. “Last year, we got touched out a lot at the end [of races], so this was the first time we actually touched somebody out … so that was awesome.”

Both squads also received huge contributions from their first-year swimmers.

Orndorff, after helping the women’s team win the medley relay, captured first in the 100-yard butterfly and finished second in the 1000-yard freestyle.

“Sara did a great job,” praised O’Brien. “We kind of put her in the 1000 because we needed somebody … and she did a great job for never swimming it before.”

The Liberty League also recognized Orndorff’s efforts, naming her co-Rookie of the Week.

For the men, Brocki continued to come up big. The West Hampton, N.Y., native helped the men sweep the relay competitions, swimming the anchor leg of the medley relay and the second leg of the victorious 400-yard freestyle relay. The freshman also won an individual event, taking first in the 50-yard freestyle.

“Dan did an awesome job,” commended O’Brien. “He swam faster than I thought he was going to do at this point.”

The Liberty League also thought Brocki did an “awesome” job, naming him co-Rookie of the Week as well.

The Red Hawks also received strong performances from some of their veterans.

On the women’s side, White translated her relay success to a victory in the 100-yard backstroke. Schnebele also had a solid day, grabbing second-place finishes in the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyles.

For the men, it was sophomore Kevin Sheridan leading the way. Sheridan won three events on the day, the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyles, as well as the 400-yard freestyle relay. The achievements of the Lexington, Mass., native were also noticed by the Liberty League. They named him Swimmer of the Week.

The men also dominated on the diving boards. Junior Greg Derevianko and senior Bobby Monahon went 1-2 in both the one-meter and three-meter diving events. Derevianko, who was an NCAA All-American in the one-meter and an All-American Honorable Mention in the three-meter last season, was awarded Diver of the Week honors from the Liberty League for his performance on Saturday.