LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Seamlessly handling the challenge of excelling as a collegiate student-athlete this past year, Hunter Allen, Elise Oldham, Alexa Peters, and Jessica West proudly represented Academy of Art University softball as 2015-16 Easton Division II All-America Scholar-Athletes in a Thursday announcement by National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).

"As a program, we are very proud to have four NFCA Easton Scholar-Athletes," said head coach Sonja Garnett. "Each of these upperclassmen is driven, talented in their fields of study, and they are all great teammates. I am very proud of Hunter, Elise, Alexa, and Jessica for their work ethic last year on and off the field."

Allen, who debuted with the Urban Knights in 2016 after redshirting the 2015 season, finished the year with a 3.744 cumulative GPA as a Fashion Merchandising major. She ranked second on the team with 94.0 innings pitched, a 4.84 ERA, and 47 strikeouts. For the second consecutive year, she was Academic All-PacWest and added a D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award for 2015-16 as well.

While posting a 3.755 cumulative grade average combining last fall and spring in the School of Multimedia Communications, Oldham served as one of the team's most dangerous hitters as a senior in 2016. She was tied for the ART U lead in home runs (7), ranked second in runs batted in (22), fifth in batting average (.280), and set the program's career record for runners caught stealing (30) as a catcher. A particularly hot week of PacWest Conference action (7-for-11 with three homers and six driven in) saw Oldham earn her first PacWest Player of the Week award.

Peters wrapped up her junior year with a 3.68 GPA in the School of Multimedia Communications. Providing relief work as well as contributing to the Urban Knights' starting pitching rotation, she amassed 40.2 innings pitched and was a repeat earner of Academic All-PacWest honors.

West, who spent the summer interning with the Digital Team at Black Entertainment Television (BET), posted a 3.725 in the School of Web Design & New Media this past year. Named to the 2016 All-PacWest Second Team, West led Academy of Art with a .354 batting average, 40 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases. Her junior year highlights included a pair of home runs in the Urban Knights' 8-7 upset victory over No. 16 California Baptist, HERO Sports HERO of the Week as well as PacWest Player of the Week, and her third Academic All-PacWest honor.

Academy of Art University's quartet was among the total of 963 student-athletes represented NCAA Division II and 26 representatives from five Pacific West Conference institutions with grade-point averages of 3.5 or higher last year.

Allen, Oldham, Peters, and West make it eight student-athletes to earn NFCA All-American Scholar-Athlete honors in program history. Allen, who earned the award with Kamyle Glover in 2015, is the first repeat winner and follows 2011 honorees Kimberly Dauer and Julie Martin.