The Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association Championships took place in Webster, N.Y. over the weekend. The men’s swimming and diving team competed against Alfred, Clarkson, Hartwick, Ithaca, LeMoyne, Nazareth, RIT, St. Lawrence, Skidmore, Union, Utica, and Vassar.
Ithaca won the three-day meet with 1453 points. RPI finished in third with 1022 points.
Divers Greg Derevianko, Bobby Monahon, Anthony Motisi, and Randy LaFleur combined for 163 points in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events.
All of the divers finished in the top 11, with Derevianko leading the way, finishing fifth in both of his events.
For the swimmers, Pat Fell won the 500 yard freestyle event with a NCAA qualifying time of 4:36.98. Freshman Mike Scibelli finished fifth in the same event.
Fell came in second in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:57.45 and swam the 200 freestyle in 1:43.28 to finish third with another NCAA qualifying time.
Scibelli placed third in the 400 yard individual medley with a NCAA meet qualifying time of 4:10.82. He also finished third in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:11.10.
Bryan Geiger and Kacper Harabasz also swam well in the 200 breaststroke event, finishing sixth and seventh.
Alvin Peh and Rob Olivocame in seventh and eighth in the 200 backstroke with times of 2:02.09 and 2:02.86, respectively. Rick Allen finished ninth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.85 and 13th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.24.
Mike Hoefling took ninth in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.58. Geiger swam to a fourth place finish in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:00.20. Harabasz took ninth in the same event with a time of 1:01.46.
The men’s relay teams all swam well, scoring a combined 290 points. Team members Allen, Geiger, Joe Rutkowski, and Matt Digeser finished eighth in the 200 freestyle relay race.
Peh, Geiger, Fell, and Scibelli combined to finish sixth in the 400 medley relay. Peh, Geiger, Fell, and Allen took fifth in the 200 medley relay.
Fell, Peh, Hoefling, and Scibelli finished fifth in the 800 freestyle relay. Scibelli, Allen, Peh, and Fell also finished fifth in the 400 freestyle relay.
“This season has been great,” commented Fell, “We have a very young team and the freshmen really came through for us at the end of the season. Our focus has always been on swimming well at the end of the season and I think that we accomplished that goal.”
The Red Hawks swept the UCAA’s weekly awards with their impressive performances at the New York state meet this weekend. Derevianko was named Diver of the Week, Fell was selected as Swimmer of the Week, and Scibelli was chosen as Rookie of the Week.
The men’s team finished the season with an impressive 14-6 record. The men reached this mark thanks to an excellent team effort all season and several great individual performances. The women’s team posted an equally exceptional record of 12-10 and also owes much of its accomplishment to excellent teamwork as well.
It was a successful season for Rensselaer despite the Red Hawks’ inability to win the New York state meet.
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are waiting to hear who will be going to the NCAA Division III Championships in St. Louis. Several Red Hawks provisionally qualified for the NCAA meet and they will be continuing to work hard until the NCAA decides who will be participating in the NCAA championship meets.
The women’s NCAA championships will be held March 10-13 and the men’s championships will be held March 17-20.
