2021-22 Pacific West Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year

IRVINE, Calif. – Continuing to excel both academically and athletically, two Academy of Art Urban Knights, Natalia Novak from women's cross country and Yun "Nicole" Shiau from women's tennis, were honored as their respective sport's Pacific West Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year as announced on Thursday.

PacWest Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors are selected in a vote by the PacWest sports information directors. Each of the winners are now eligible for the PacWest Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, which will be announced on Tuesday, June 28.

Novak maintained a 3.71 cumulative grade point average in the School of Communications & Media Technologies while enjoying one of the best cross country seasons by an Urban Knight to date. En route to becoming the third PacWest Individual Champion in program history, Novak led Academy of Art in two of four races which included a third place finish at the SF State Invitational on Sept. 10. The eventual PacWest Runner of the Year then proceeded to help her team win its first PacWest title (as the USTFCCCA NCAA Division II National Athlete of the Week), finish fourth at NCAA DII West Regionals (highest in program history), and finish an All-American at Nationals with a new 6k personal record 21:20.7 that was third-fastest in ART U history.

In addition to being a USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual, Novak became the first Urban Knight to repeat as a CoSIDA Academic All-American, making the First Team after earning CoSIDA Academic All-District Team honors.

Shiau, the department's 2022 Richard & Clara Gil Stephens Urban Knight of the Year, finished the spring with a 3.97 cumulative GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies. At one time enjoying a national singles rank as high as No. 42 in NCAA DII, Shiau tallied an 9-5 record which included a 2-0 mark from the No. 1 position and a 4-1 record from the No. 2 position. Opening the season on a five-match winning streak, Shiau lost just one set across the eight matches that she won en route to being named All-PacWest Second Team. 

Along with her All-PacWest First Team doubles teammate Sofia Ragona, Shiau posted an 8-3 record this season exclusively from court one after capturing the ITA West Regional Doubles Championship. They would represent the Knights in Rome, Ga. on the national level at the ITA Cup, where they lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champions. Ranked as high as No. 6 nationally in 2022, the tandem would clinch the doubles point for ART U in their opening-round win against MSU Denver in the PacWest Championship Tournament and added another victory over Biola's top team in the quarterfinals.

In mid-May, Shiau became the first Academy of Art women's tennis student-athlete to receive CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.

This is the first time Novak or Shiau has received a PacWest Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor and they represent the ninth and 10th student-athletes in ART U history to be selected with Shiau being the first to date from the Urban Knights' tennis program.