Feb. 21, 2015
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The Nevada swimming and diving team claimed four out of five Mountain West postseason awards following the 2015 MW Championships at the Palo Alto College Aquatics Center. Abby Steketee was named Coach of the Year, Jian Li You was named Diving Coach of the Year, junior Yawen Li was named Swimmer of the Year and junior Krysta Palmer was named Diver of the Year.
The quartet of Wolf Pack coaches and student-athletes led the Wolf Pack to a third place finish with 554 points. Nevada matched its best finish in the Mountain West in any sport, combined for seven individual gold medals and added three points to Nevada's tally in the Governor's Series.
"The award we won tonight are a reflection of smart work, hard work and of never, ever giving up," said Steketee. "I'm so proud of how our team fought in race after race, day after day, and I am so grateful for the many people in the department, campus and community who have helped us this year."
Steketee was named MW coach of the year in recognition for establishing Nevada as an upcoming program and conference contender in just her third season at the helm. After being named head coach in 2012, Steketee has set Nevada on an upward trajectory. The Wolf Pack was predicted to finish eighth at the 2012 MW Championships before placing fifth and was slotted to finish fifth in 2013 before placing third. This season, Nevada beat the fourth-place finishing team by 134 points - proving its status in the upper echelon of the conference.
Steketee arrived at Nevada after spending the previous four seasons as an assistant coach of the men's and women's swimming and diving teams at South Carolina. Prior to that, Steketee was a graduate assistant at West Virginia and graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern University.
Li You's award caps an already illustrious coaching career. The former Chinese national championship diver has been named the MW Diving Coach of the Year in three straight seasons, earning her sixth career conference diving coach of the year honor. One of the top diving coaches in the country, Li You is in her 19th season at Nevada. Li You has coached a conference diver of the year in four consecutive seasons.
Junior Yawen Li - a reigning NCAA competitor in three events in 2014 - becomes the first Wolf Pack student-athlete to be named conference swimmer of the year since Courtney Eads in 2009 (WAC). The native of Wuhan, China, won three gold medals at the 2015 MW Championship, placing first in the 200-yard IM (1:57.59), 400-yard IM (4:07.65) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:08.49). Today, Li's time in the 200 breaststroke broke her own school record, set a MW Championships record and broke the pool record.
Palmer, a product of Carson City, Nev., swept all three MW Championship diving titles. Palmer won the 1-meter (336.30), 3-meter (359.40) and platform (343.40) dives to highlight one of the top seasons in Wolf Pack history. The two-time All-MW selection has won all 11 diving events she competed in this season, earning four MW Diver of the Week awards. Palmer broke the meet record in the 1-meter dive and set a Mountain West overall record in the platform dive this week. Last season, Palmer placed in the top three in all each dive at the MW Championship and advanced to the NCAA Zone E Diving Regional. The Wolf Pack boasts four consecutive conference divers of the year; Palmer (2015, MW), Grace Huang (2014, MW; 2012, WAC) and Stephanie Hansen (2013, MW).
2015 Mountain West Championship Postseason Awards
Coach of the Year: Abby Steketee, Nevada
Diving Coach of the Year: Jian Li You, Nevada
Swimmer of the Year: Yawen Li, Nevada
Diver of the Year: Krysta Palmer, Nevada
Freshman of the Year: Morgan McCormick, San Jose State
