2015-16 Pacific West Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year

IRVINE, Calif. -- After being named Academy of Art University's first CoSIDA Academic All-American last week, men's track & field/cross country runner Valentin Pepiot further epitomized the "artist-athlete" with the honor of Pacific West Conference Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year as announced on Tuesday. Pepiot completed his senior year as a three-time All-American athletically and worked his way to a cumulative 3.69 GPA in the School of Multimedia Communications.

The Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, which feature one per PacWest sport, are selected based on nominees and subsequent vote by the conference's sports information directors, honoring the most accomplished athletes in and outside the classroom.

"This is what collegiate athletics is all about," said track & field head coach Kevin LaSure. "Academic and athletic performance should go hand and hand. Val Pepiot has exhibited throughout this year what it truly means to be a student-athlete and has set the standard for what our expectations are within our program. He has earned all the accolades that are coming his way as a result of his hard work and dedication both in the classroom and on the track."

The program's first male cross country NCAA All-American after finishing 7th at Nationals, Pepiot was ART U's leader in every cross country race over the past two seasons. The native of Besançon, France was a two-time PacWest Cross Country Runner of the Year and All-PacWest First Team, seven-time PacWest Weekly award winner (combining cross country and track), two-time USTFCCCA All-Academic Team, two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, and D2ADA Academic Achievement Award recipient in 2014-15.

Pepiot's success continued into track & field season where he closed out his collegiate career as a two-time NCAA All-American with inspired performances in both the 1500m and 5000m at Nationals. In recognition of both his postseason success and the 28 points he scored at the 2016 PacWest Championships (titles in both the 1500m and 5000m), Pepiot would go on to be named PacWest Conference Track Athlete of the Year and most recently CoSIDA Academic All-American as well.

"I'm proud of all that Val accomplished this year and each recognition is well deserved," said director of track & field/cross country Torrey Olson. "His commitment to success across the board is a great example for our athletes."

Pepiot is the third PacWest Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Academy of Art Athletics history and the first from the men's cross country program. Women's cross country runner McKaela Christenson won the award in 2014-15 and women's golfer Crystal Superal earned the first honor in 2012-13.

Each of the PacWest Scholar-Athlete winners will now be placed on the 2015-16 Scholar-Athlete of Year ballot to determine the top men's and women's student-athlete among all the competitors in the conference.