The Red Hawk men downed the Continentals 130-113, improving their dual meet record to 13-0 on the season and giving O’Brien her first coaching victory over Hamilton.

“I’m very proud of the men for stepping it up and going there and swimming fast and winning that meet,” beamed O’Brien. “I had never beaten them before, and we had never gone undefeated before, so that’s a pretty big step for us.”

The idea of a perfect season was also on the minds of O’Brien’s swimmers. “It definitely mattered to us to stay undefeated,” said junior captain Mike Scibelli. “Throughout the season, we were seeing our record improve, getting all these wins. Coming into the last meet against a tough team, you really want to beat them, and you don’t want to lose your undefeated record.”

Scibelli proved to be a big factor in the squad’s success as he topped the field in the 200-yard individual medley and anchored both the victorious 400-yard medley and the 400-yard freestyle relay quartets.

Sophomore Kevin Sheridan and freshman Dan Brocki made their presences felt in the freestyle events. They both joined Scibelli on the 400-yard freestyle relay team. Sheridan added wins in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles and Brocki tallyed a victory in the 100-yard freestyle and a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle.

The Liberty League recognized both young swimmers, naming Sheridan Co-Swimmer of the Week and Brocki Co-Rookie of the Week.

The Rensselaer men also received another strong performance from their diving core. The trio of junior All-American Greg Derevianko, senior captain Bobby Monahon, and freshman upstart Matt Culen finished second, third, and fourth, respectively, in the one- and three-meter diving events.

The RPI women also enjoyed success in the pool on Saturday, despite falling to Hamilton 132-100.

“We’re probably just two women short of beating them,” O’Brien remarked regarding Hamilton. “Stephanie Tomasulo winning the diving, that was big for us. And we had some good swims along the way.”

Tomasulo, a sophomore, continued her hot streak, grabbing first place in both the one- and three-meter boards. She has now won three of the last four diving events she has entered.

“She’s been diving well the last couple weeks,” said O’Brien. “I think it’s all just coming together.”

In the lanes, junior captain Karel Schnebele and freshman Sara Orndorff tallied several points for the Red Hawks. Schnebele finished second in the 200-yard freestyle, and swam the anchor leg for the victorious 400-yard freestyle relay team and the runner-up 400-yard medley relay squad. Orndorff joined Schnebele on both relay squads, and added a second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle.

So with that, the 2005-2006 regular season draws to a close. Both the men and the women will now spend the next couple weeks preparing for their respective state championships. The women will compete February 15-18, and the men will battle February 22-25. Both championships will be held in Syracuse, N.Y.

Spirits are high for both teams as they look to improve on last year’s finishes. “I think we’re a little stronger than we were last year,” O’Brien said of her women’s squad that came in ninth out of 15 teams last year. “Our relays are definitely stronger. We’re going to try to break a couple school records on the relay side and hopefully finish better than ninth.” She added, “They just have to have some confidence in themselves. We’re going to swim fast … I’m not worried.”

Orndorff echoed her coach’s optimism, saying, “I think we’re going to do well this year. I trust Shannon; she’s a good coach.”

On the men’s side, Scibelli and the rest of the Red Hawks will be looking to carry their dual meet success into the championship and possibly to a state title. Last year, the men finished fourth out of 13 teams, with the top spots being hotly contested.