Oct. 22, 2015
Nevada Meet Notes 
THIS WEEK
The Nevada swimming and diving team opens the 2015-16 season this week, competing at the Pacific Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23-24. The competition will be held at the Chris Kjeldsen Pool Complex in Stockton, Calif. Action will get underway at 7 p.m. PT Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday. The Wolf Pack will be competing against Pacific, San José State, Fresno State and Fresno Pacific in the meet.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
This will be the first action of the season for Nevada, Pacific, San José State and Fresno State, while Fresno Pacific has participated in two invitational on the season. The Wolf Pack will be swimming against two opponents it will see at the MW Championship in conferences foes San José State and Fresno State, who placed seventh and eighth at the MW Championship last year.
HARPER ERA TO BEGIN
The Wolf Pack hired head coach Neil Harper in July, brining 22 years of collegiate coaching experience to the program. Harper, a native of London and a former Olympian, served as the head men's and women's coach at Florida State from 1999-2013 and at Ohio State from 1997-98. Prior to his arrival to Nevada, Harper was the program director and head coach of the Aiken Augusta Swim League in Augusta, Ga. In 16 years as a collegiate women's coach, Harper posted a 77.7 winning percentage with 174 career dual victories.
2014-15 SEASON REVIEW
Nevada won its first seven dual meets before closing the regular season with an 8-2 dual record. Nevada placed third wire-to-wire at the Mountain West Championships, acquiring 554 points while collecting seven MW event titles. Junior Krysta Palmer won all three diving events and was named MW Diver of the Year, while junior Yawen Li won the 200 IM, 400 IM and 200 breast and was named MW Swimmer of the Year. The Wolf Pack sent three athletes to the NCAA Championships in Greensboro, N.C., with Palmer, Li and sophomore Teresa Baerens representing the Pack. Nevada tallied 16 points and placed 33rd overall, while Palmer and Li earned All-American honorable mention honors.
• On the season, Nevada won four yearly conference awards, broke 12 program records and set four MW Championship records.
WOLF PACK RETURNS 13 LETTER WINNERS
The Pack returns a group of experienced and proven athletes with 13 letter winners returning from last year; seniors Erin Fuss, Krysta Palmer and Yawen Li, juniors Sita Kusserow, Teresa Baerens, Riley Hilbrandt and Arantxa Medina-Alegria, and sophomores Emma Payne, Josefin Eriksen, Kate Hofmeyer, Jaeger Turner and Briana Peterson.
NEVADA WELCOMES NINE NEWCOMERS
Nevada welcomes nine newcomers to the roster for the 2015-16 season. The Wolf Pack's ranks will be bolstered by seven true freshman in Sidney Andrew (Boulder, Colo.), Caitlyn Richardson (Engadine, Australia), Rebekah Dominik (Norwalk, Calif.), Emily Goodbar (Kingsburg, Calif.), Jolene Norton (Pueblo, Colo.), Antonia Baerens (Ottobrun, Germany) and Rebecca Murray (Falkirk, Scotland). The Pack also welcomes two juniors in Lauren Cagle, who transferred from Sierra College, and Christine Lewis, who transferred from Santa Rosa Junior College.
PALMER RETURNS FOR SENIOR SEASON
Krysta Palmer enters her senior season at Nevada as the reigning Mountain West Diver of the Year. The Carson City, Nev. native had one of the top seasons in program history in 2014-15. Palmer won all 11 events she competed in during the regular season before sweeping three titles at the MW Championships to be named diver of the year. Palmer advanced to the NCAA Championships and placed 10th in the three-meter springboard and 24th on the platform to earn All-American honorable mention honors.
WOLF PACK RETURNS THE TOP SWIMMER IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST
Nevada boasts the top returning swimmer in the Mountain West as Yawen Li - the reigning MW Swimmer of the Year - returns for her senior season. The Wuhan, China native won three titles at the MW Championship last year, placing first in the 200 IM (1:57.59), 400 IM (4:07.65) and the 200 breaststroke (2:08.49). Li advanced to the NCAA Championships and placed ninth in the 400 IM to earn All-American honorable mention honors.
RECORD BOOK DEMOLITION
The Wolf Pack has re-written its record books the past two years. Nevada set seven school records in 2014 before setting 12 new school records last season.
• Nevada's top 10 record book features 36 entries from athletes currently on the roster. 2014-15
SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM
Nevada earned College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Team Scholar All-America Award honors last season. The Wolf Pack boasted a cumulative 3.40 team grade point average. Nevada had 15 members of its team earn All-Mountain West Academic honors last season.
PACK ROSTER FEATURES DIVERSITY
Eight different countries are represented on Nevada's roster. The Wolf Pack has 10 athletes from the United States, three from Germany, three from Australia, and one each from Sweden, China, Mexico, Scotland and England.
PACIFIC INVITATIONAL - LAST TIME OUT
Nevada competed in Stockton, Calif. last year in a quad-meet against Pacific, Fresno Pacific and Simon Fraser. The Wolf Pack scored 199 points to down all three teams in its season opening meet.
NEXT UP
The Wolf Pack returns to action next week with its home opener at Lombardi Pool in Reno. Nevada hosts UC Davis on Friday at 5 p.m. PT before hosting Fresno State on Saturday at noon.
