It was another busy week for the RPI swimming & diving team as they played host to rival Union on Wednesday, January 18, before the Rensselaer women held their annual RPI Invitational on Saturday. The Red Hawk men atoned for last year’s loss to Union, dropping the Dutchmen 136-107. The women fell to their Schenectady adversaries, 153-90, but rebounded nicely with a third-place finish at the RPI Invitational.
Against Union, the men were led by freshman Daniel Brocki and their dominant diving core.
Brocki paced the Red Hawks with victories in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles. The West Hampton, N.Y., native also anchored the runner-up 400-yard freestyle relay squad. For his efforts, the Liberty League named Brocki Rookie of the Week for the second time this season.
On the diving boards, RPI continued its season-long supremacy. The trio of junior Greg Derevianko, freshman Matthew Culen, and senior captain Bobby Monahon swept the top three spots in both the one- and three-meter dives.
On the one-meter board, Derevianko set a new school record and made an NCAA Championship cut with a score of 286.28 points, crushing the old school record, which was also held by the Wilmington, Del., native. Culen placed first on the three-meter board, and also made an NCAA provisional score with his second-place finish in the one-meter. Monahon rounded out the sweep with third-place finishes on both boards.
“Things go in cycles, and it seems RPI is on a real high cycle right now with diving,” commented diving Coach Maria Coomaraswamy. “It’s been a really good year.”
A big part of the success has been the emergence of Culen to add to the one-two punch of Derevianko and Monahon. “He is a really talented diver,” praised Coomaraswamy of the freshman. “He’s still somewhat new to it, but he has very good basics.” She added, “Plus, he’s got really good examples from Bobby and Greg.”
Derevianko has also come into his own, arguably showing better form than last year when he earned All-American status in the one-meter and an All-American honorable mention in the three-meter. “He’s definitely a much stronger diver now than he was a year ago,” said Coomaraswamy.
Despite losing to Union, the Red Hawk women did enjoy some success, especially in the freestyle events. In the 50-yard free, sophomore Oya White finished second. In the 100-yard free, junior captain Karel Schnebele came in first and White added a third-place finish. In the 200-yard free, freshman Sara Orndorff and Schnebele swept the top two spots. In the 500- and 1000-yard frees, freshman Emmiline Gilbert chipped in a second-place finish and a third-place finish, respectively. And, for a freestyle finale, Orndorff, White, and Schnebele teamed up with freshman Amanda Moyer to win the 400-yard freestyle relay.
RPI also enjoyed success elsewhere as sophomore Kelly Owens led a 2-5 sweep in the 200-yard breaststroke.
“I thought we actually had a pretty good meet for it, being a Wednesday and right after the training trip,” said Schnebele of the Union meet. “Compared to last year, we did pretty well.”
On Saturday, the RPI women were back in the pool, hosting the RPI Invitational. The team mirrored last year’s third-place finish, a performance the squad was definitely pleased with.
“People had season-best times at this meet right after training, so that’s kind of exciting for what might happen at States,” said Schnebele.
Schnebele, Orndorff, and Owens led the way for the Red Hawks as each posted a victory for the home team. Schnebele topped the field in the 200-yard freestyle, Orndorff’s win came in the 1000-yard freestyle, and Owens triumphed in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Both the men and women have two more dual meets before their respective state championships. They will travel to Skidmore this Saturday and then to Hamilton next Saturday as preparation.
