“We swam so well,” complimented Head Coach Shannon O’Brien of her men’s squad. “Right from the beginning, we took a chance with the medley relay, went after it, and touched them out.” She continued, “That kind of set the tone for the meet, and after that they just swam really well.”

The medley quartet, consisting of senior veterans Bryan Geiger and Rob Olivo, sophomore standout Matt Hiltner, and freshman upstart Dan Brocki, edged out their Ithaca counterparts in the first event of the day to give RPI the early lead.

This foursome would continue to rack up points for the Red Hawks. Geiger added second-place finishes in the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard breaststroke. Olivo garnered a win in the 200-yard backstroke. Hiltner tallied victories in the 200-yard individual medley and 200-yard butterfly. Brocki took second in the 50-yard freestyle and anchored the triumphant 400-yard freestyle relay team.

Hiltner, last season’s Liberty League Rookie of the Year, received more league accolades after this weekend’s three-win performance. He was named Swimmer of the Week for the first time this season.

Brocki, a West Hampton, N.Y., native, has yet to finish lower than second in any event. When asked if he expected to have this type of success so early in his collegiate career, the sprinter humbly said, “Actually, not at all really.”

The men’s team also received huge contributions from juniors Mike Scibelli and Greg Derevianko.

Scibelli ended the meet with a trio of wins, taking first in the 100-yard and 1000-yard freestyles, as well as swimming the second leg of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay squad.

Derevianko had a historic day. The Wilmington, Del., native remained undefeated on both diving boards, winning the one- and three-meter events, and broke a 15-year-old record in the one-meter. Derevianko’s total of 263.18 points eclipsed the previous record of 247.4 points set by Mark Pollander ’90.

The big win for the men was a bit of a shock as Ithaca traditionally fields a strong team year in and year out. “I was definitely surprised we beat them by that much,” commented O’Brien.

Despite the loss on the women’s side, there were still several positives to take from the meet. “I think the women swam well,” said O’Brien. “We had some good swims, and to win events against [Ithaca] and at least be competitive against them is a huge step for the ladies’ program.”

Freshman Sara Orndorff continued her success from last week. Orndorff earned second-place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard medley relay and took first in the 1000-yard freestyle.

This was the second week in a row Orndorff has swam the 1000-yard freestyle, not her specialty. “That was an awesome swim for her,” praised O’Brien of Orndorff’s performance in the 1000.

Junior Karel Schnebele also had a strong meet. Schnebele joined Orndorff on the 200-yard medley relay team and added another second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle and a win in the 100-yard freestyle.

The women also earned several points on the diving boards as Ithaca did not bring any female divers to the meet. “They’re pretty weak on the diving,” commented O’Brien of the Bombers. She also mentioned, “I’m very lucky with the divers I have.”

Next up for the 2-0 men and 0-2 women is a trip to Oneonta, N.Y., to take on a strong Hartwick Hawks squad on Saturday. “Hartwick’s going to be another tough one,” lamented O’Brien. “Three [tough meets] in a row, I don’t know if I like that.”