Rensselaer’s fifth-place finish was a marked improvement over last year, when the Red Hawks came in ninth.

“They totally exceeded my expectations,” said head coach Shannon O’Brien. “We were thinking seventh or eighth … that’s where we thought we would be.” She continued, “We swam well in the morning, but we swam faster at night, and that was key. That’s something I don’t think we did last year.”

After the first day of competition, RPI found itself in sixth place overall, thanks in large part to the relay quartet of juniors Ashley Schaefer and Karel Schnebele, sophomore Oya White, and freshman Sara Orndorff.

In the first event of the championship—the 200-yard freestyle relay—the Red Hawk foursome took second place with a time of 1:40.10, breaking the previous school record and earning 56 points for the team.

Schnebele and Orndorff each enjoyed individual success as well. The junior co-captain would go on to take fourth place in the 50-yard freestyle, while the freshman upstart placed sixth in the 500-yard freestyle.

Schaefer and White were also not finished for the day. The duo teamed up with junior Tara Murnane and sophomore Kelly Owens to take seventh in the day’s other relay event—the 400-yard medley relay.

Day two saw the Red Hawks move up the leaderboard into fifth as Schnebele, Orndorff, and the RPI relays continued to make waves. The freshman-junior tandem finished second and third in the 200-yard freestyle, respectively, earning major points for Rensselaer.

In the two relays—the 200-yard medley and the 800-yard freestyle—RPI enjoyed fifth place finishes. Schnebele and Orndorff joined Owens and Schaefer on the 200-yard medley relay squad, while it was Schnebele, Orndorff, and Owens teaming up with Murnane in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Rensselaer’s time of 8:05.70 in the 800-yard freestyle also broke the school record.

On the final day, the Red Hawks cemented their fifth-place position thanks to Schnebele, Orndorff, Owens, and White. Individually, Owens finished third in the 200-yard breaststroke while Schnebele, Orndorff, and White came in second, third, and eighth, respectively, in the 100-yard freestyle.

“That was the first time I’ve ever had three women in the top eight final,” said O’Brien.

In the meet’s final event—the 400-yard freestyle relay—the quartet teamed up to finish fourth and continue RPI’s championship-long success in the relay races. “The key to major points is the relays,” declared O’Brien. “You have to be top eight in relays.”

O’Brien’s swimmers must have listened, as no top RPI relay squad finished lower than seventh at the championship.

In the end, the Red Hawks finished with 650 points, edging out league rival Vassar College for fifth place overall. “We finished behind them at Liberty Leagues,” O’Brien remarked of the Brewers. “So, to come back and beat them in February was huge.”

Orndorff contributed 287 of the team’s 650 points in her first state championship appearance. “I knew she would do that well,” said O’Brien of her first-year phenom. “You don’t know with freshmen because it’s such a big meet and you don’t know what they’re going to do. But she definitely swam well.”

The Liberty League also recognized Orndorff, naming her Co-Rookie of the Week for the third time this season.

As a team, the Red Hawks garnered most of their points in the freestyle events, much like they have all season. According to O’Brien, the squad targeted the freestyle races because the vast number of them provided several scoring opportunities.

With the season officially over, the Rensselaer women will say goodbye to their departing seniors. With Jessica Magnus returning next season for another year of eligibility, however, O’Brien will only have to replace Co-captain Kelly Heinonen. The Red Hawks will also welcome back junior Lea Marlor, who took this season off, as well as all of the team’s top performers. All this, coupled with the upcoming freshman class, makes next year’s outlook very optimistic.