Staff

Yvonne Wade is Nevada State University’s first Director of Athletics. Prior to joining Nevada State, she served as the Director of Athletics at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) from July 2023, following her tenure as Assistant Athletic Director from 2021 to 2023. Prior to her leadership role at CSN, she spent 14 years at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where she served as the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country beginning in 2007. During her time at UNLV, she was a three-time Mountain West Coach of the Year, guiding her teams to multiple conference championships and helping numerous student-athletes compete at the NCAA Championships, Olympic Trials, and Olympic Games. Her programs consistently excelled both on the track and in the classroom, earning All-Academic honors, maintaining high team GPAs, and achieving strong graduation rates.

As an athlete, Wade was a standout at the University of Colorado, where she won multiple Big Eight Conference championships and NCAA All-American status. She was inducted into the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014. Internationally, she represented Japan at the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Summer Olympic Games and was an eight-time national champion in the 100-meter hurdles. She held the Japanese national record in the event for more than 20 years, originally set in 1996.

With a lifelong passion for mentorship, leadership, and empowering young people, Yvonne Wade continues to champion causes and initiatives that provide opportunities and support for the next generation of student-athletes.

She and her husband, Larry Wade, have two sons, Jordan and Brandon.

Dance Coach Brittany Barksdale is a Southern California native who relocated to Las Vegas in 2017. While living in Virginia, she was a member of her college’s dance club and spent her summers teaching dance classes in her hometown of San Pedro, California. Her dance background includes competitive cheer and hip hop, culminating in a state championship win during her senior year in high school.

In addition to her role as the Spirit Squad dance coach, Brittany serves as the full-time social media specialist at Nevada State University. Driven by her passion for dance, she founded the Scorpion Spirit Dance Squad in 2022 with just four members. Since then, the team has grown significantly, and she is excited about the continued development and future of the dance program.

Nick Claus joined the Nevada State marketing and communications department in 2019 after seven years working for the Vegas Chamber in marketing, communications, and government affairs. He has been involved in many of the branding efforts to launch athletics at Nevada State, including creating a school spirit mark and eventual athletic logos, updating the school mascot, the institution’s name change and brand refresh to Nevada State University, and launching the first athletics website.

Nick is a first-generation college graduate and earned his degree from the Reynold’s School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno where he met his wife, Kelsey. They now have a son, Logan, and are loving introducing him to sports and seeing him grow in them.

Any media inquiries about Nevada State athletics can be directed to him at nick.claus@nevadastate.edu.

Sting took over the role of Nevada State University’s mascot in fall 2022, replacing the school’s first-ever mascot, SCOTTY the Scorpion. SCOTTY didn’t go anywhere, though, and can now be found supporting the university’s youngest Scorpions at the Early Childhood Education Center.

In 2022, with collegiate athletics on the horizon, and a new scorpion spirit mark recently unveiled, the campus community expressed excitement and desire for a fierce and strong mascot. Following a naming contest for students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members, Sting was born. Since then, Sting has been seen around campus at various events, performing alongside the dance team, and even texting students (with the help of AI) to ensure they feel supported and have what they need to succeed each semester.

With the launch of athletics, Sting will take their place on the sidelines with the rest of the community cheering on the Scorpions and always reminding everyone to put their #StingersUp!