Chris Murray

cmurray@rgj.com

The Nevada swimming and diving team will return to Reno as champions.

The Wolf Pack won the school's second Mountain West championship in any sport Saturday night, shooting past Boise State in the penultimate event of the meet at the Texas A&M Natatorium in College Station, Texas before holding on in the final event. The only other Nevada program to win a MW title is the 2015 baseball team.

Nevada, which trailed by as many as 39.5 points Saturday, tallied 664 points to hold off second-place Boise State, which had 651. San Diego State finished a distant third with 511 points. The Wolf Pack took home its first swimming and diving conference title since winning three straight WAC titles from 2007-09.

“These ladies have worked their tails off to reach this goal and on top of that, they’ve worked hard in the classroom and in the community,” first-year coach Neil Harper said. “This is a well-earned title and I couldn’t be more proud of this team. This is an amazing group of individuals that have come together to make an amazing team. They are self-less and they do whatever it takes for each other. I think they’re the best ambassadors you can find of the athletic department and of our university.”

After winning the platform diving title, which gave Nevada the lead late in the meet, senior Krysta Palmer was named MW diver of the year for the second straight season. Nevada's Jian Li You was named the MW diving coach of the year for the fourth straight season. It is her fifth straight coach of the year award dating to the WAC and seventh overall.

The Wolf Pack entered Saturday's final day of competition 11.5 points behind Boise State, which was selected as the co-favorite with Nevada entering the meet. Nevada had lost about 30 points during Friday's competition after being disqualified from the 400-yard medley relay due to a false start, but that didn't derail the Wolf Pack's title hopes.

In the first event of the day, freshman Antoni Baerens finished fourth in the 1650 free. Nevada added two top-eight finishes in the 200 backstroke, with sophomore Kate Hofmeyer placing fifth and freshman Caitlyn Richardson coming in eighth. Freshman Rebecca Murray added more points to Nevada's ledger with a fifth-place finish in the 100 free.

The Wolf Pack made up big ground in the 200 breaststroke with Yawen Li, Arantxa Medina and Riley Hilbrandt placing first, third and fifth, respectively. It was Li's third straight MW championship in the 200 breaststroke.

Sita Kusserow picked up another title for Nevada in the 200 butterfly, which was an NCAA "B" time qualification. It also was the first MW title for Nevada in a butterfly event. Erin Fuss, one of three seniors on the team, finished fourth in the event.

Nevada was 10.5 points behind Boise State entering the platform but Palmer, Zoe Lei and Sharae Zheng went 1-2-4 in the event to give Nevada the lead. Palmer set the MW platform record in the process. The Wolf Pack has won all 12 diving events in the MW championships since moving to the conference in 2012-13.

In the final event, Boise State won the 400 free relay with a MW record time, but Nevada's quarter of Richardson, Emma Payne, Murray and Teresa Baerens placed second to hold off the Broncos for the title, firmly putting the Wolf Pack atop the Mountain West.

“We’re in the middle of Texas right now, but we feel so much love from the community and from the athletic department and we’re all incredible thankful for that,” Harper said. “It’s been a great team and family effort this week and season. We’re proud to be the Mountain West Champions and we’re proud to be the Nevada Wolf Pack.”

Nevada returns to the pool for the NCAA Zone E Diving Regionals set for March 7-9 in Flagstaff, Ariz. The 2016 Championships will be March 17-19 in Atlanta.