With revenge on their minds, the swimming and diving Continentals of Hamilton stormed Robison Pool on Saturday, February 5, and left with a 156-85 victory on the men’s side and a 135-90 triumph for the women.
The Hamilton men were avenging a loss at the hands of the Red Hawks at the Liberty League Championships earlier this season.
“I was overall happy with the way we did,” explained Head Coach Shannon O’Brien of her squad’s performance. “We had some good swims. Pat [Fell] swam real well in his 5. Scibs [Mike Scibelli] had a great 4 IM [and] a great 200 breaststroke. Karel [Schnebele] swam well in the 50.”
The senior captain and sophomore tandem of Fell and Scibelli accounted for all three of the RPI men’s victories of the day.
Fell took first in the 500-yard freestyle, as well as grabbing second place finishes in the 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relay.
Scibelli won the 200-yard breaststroke for the third time in his last four meets. He also prevailed in the 400-yard individual medley, and anchored the third place 400-yard medley relay quartet.
Senior Rick Allen joined Scibelli on the 400-yard medley relay team, and added an individual third place finish in the 50-yard freestyle.
On the diving boards, the men received outstanding accomplishments from sophomore Greg Derevianko and junior Bobby Monahon. The pair finished second and third, respectively, in both the one-meter and three-meter events.
The women experienced numerous successes on the diving platforms.
Senior captain Melissa Hershey swept both events, en route to being named Female Diver of the Week by the Liberty League.
Joining Hershey was fellow senior Jennifer Keyes, who took third and second in the one-meter and three-meter events, respectively.
The three-meter event was especially significant for the ladies, as not only did Hershey and Keyes take first and second, but teammates Stephanie Tomasulo and Elisa Prange completed the 1-4 sweep.
“The divers did real well on their end,” praised O’Brien. “They threw some higher degree of difficulty dives that they had never done in competition before.”
Leading the way for the women in the lanes was Schnebele. Schnebele continued her torrid spring semester with wins in the 50-yard and 400-yard freestyle relays. She also took third in the 500-yard freestyle.
Also chipping in for the Red Hawk women were senior Katie Fredlund, freshman Marguerite Harrington, and junior Jessica Magnus.
Fredlund joined Schnebele on the 400-yard freestyle relay squad and added a personal third place finish in the 50-yard freestyle.
Harrington and Magnus finished first and second, respectively, in the 200-yard breaststroke. It was the second win for Harrington in two weeks.
RPI has concluded its swimming and diving dual-meet season. The men posted a regular season record of 17-3 heading into the state championships in Syracuse on February 23-26. The women finished at 10-10, and head to Syracuse a week earlier, February 16-19, for their state meet.
“I think the season’s been a tremendous success,” said junior swimmer Dan Fabius. “We’ve had some injuries [and] we’ve lost a few people for school stuff and so forth, but we have done great.”
“I was surprised with the men that we did so well the first semester; beating Hartwick, beating Ithaca, and winning Liberty Leagues,” reflected O’Brien.
The good feelings weren’t reserved just for the men, however.
“I’d say our season’s been a big success so far,” commented sophomore swimmer Katherine Gifford. “With the ladies, it’s completely different because our team is so much smaller than the men’s and a lot smaller than the teams we compete against.”
When asked if a 19-member roster presented a disadvantage for the women, O’Brien agreed, “They definitely have to work a little harder because we don’t have that depth and that play with the line-up that we do with the men’s side.”
Despite the lack in numbers, the women still enjoyed excellent showings throughout the year. “We had a big win against Hartwick first semester,” recalled O’Brien. “We’d never beaten them before.” O’Brien also highlighted the Liberty League Championships as another bright spot the women’s squad.
Looking forward, hopes and expectations are high for the coming weeks for both the men and women, who will graduate a combined 14 seniors in May. Although saddened by the big loss, O’Brien remained optimistic. When asked for a prediction on how her two squads will fare in Syracuse, the coach said, with her many seniors in mind, “I think we’re going to go out with a bang.”
