SAN FRANCISCO – Officially reaching double figures with its 10th Annual ARTYs Awards, Academy of Art University student-athletes, coaches, and staff closed April by coming together to celebrate the department's accomplishments from the 2022-23 season. The end-of-the-year presentation recognized Urban Knights from all 14 teams and featured honors for community service, academics, and athletic excellence.

Continuing a tradition started in 2016, members from the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee played a major role in the ceremony hosting and presenting awards throughout the evening.

The show's opening ARTY went to softball for their extraordinary efforts in serving the community and giving back to San Francisco. The team averaged over 24 hours per student-athlete for a total of more than 411 combined hours, earning them the Community Service Award.

The first individual awards presented were the ARTYs for the Best Male and Female Student-Athlete Grade Point Averages from the past two semesters (Spring 2022 and Fall 2022). Baseball, women's tennis, and volleyball were represented as Cannon Secrist's 3.63 GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies was highlighted along with two perfect 4.00 GPAs from Yun "Nicole" Shiau also in the School of Communications & Media Technologies and Jillian Wheaton in the School of Animation & Visual Effects. For the fourth consecutive occasion, the ARTY for Best Team GPA went to women's tennis who collectively delivered a 3.69 GPA over the last two semesters.

"Every individual of the team puts in the work every day to make sure their GPA continues to improve year to year," Women's Tennis Head Coach Clarisse Baca said.

Starting in the realm of athletic achievement, the new Outdoor 4x400m relay record from the men's track & field quartet of Makarios Page, Robin Black, Shareez Hamm, and Duncan Agyemang won the ARTY for Record-Breaking Performance. The Urban Knights' eye-popping 3:05.20 at the Mt. SAC Relays bettered a nearly 10-year ART U record, ranked sixth-fastest in NCAA Division II history, and has kept them atop the nation's leaderboard ever since.

Transitioning from that great feat to the ARTY for Best Moment, men's basketball was honored for its history-making victory in the NCAA DII Tournament. With clutch shots and tough defense forcing an extra period versus Saint Martin's, the higher seed, Academy of Art turned in a complete team effort with all seven of its players scoring seven or more points toward a 93-89 victory that marked the first for the Knights to date in the postseason tournament.

The next ARTY recognizing the Freshman of the Year went to Lisa Redlinger of women's cross country and track & field. On her way to becoming a three-time All-Region honoree, Redlinger first excelled during the fall, leading the cross country team in three races. She then proceeded to break program records in the Indoor 5000m as well as the Outdoor mile and 10,000m all in her first year at the collegiate level.

A memorable debut season with the men's track & field program came from Robin Black who followed by earning the ARTY for Newcomer of the Year. Amassing 10 All-Region selections across the indoor and outdoor campaigns, Black broke program records in the Indoor 60m hurdles plus the Outdoor 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles in addition to contributing to the Knights' new Outdoor 4x100m and 4x400m relay records.

Introduced in 2015, two more awards were announced that focused on "servant leadership" or a student-athlete's responsibility to serve as a positive role model for others in all aspects of life. The gender-specific honors were named after two individuals dedicated to this concept, inaugural Director of Athletics Dr. Jamie Williams and former Associate Athletics Director/Senior Woman Administrator Meghan Bushnell. Each for their work in the community, dedication to their craft in the classroom, and inspirational athletic efforts, baseball's Ricky Salas was bestowed the Dr. Jamie Williams Male Servant Leadership Award and, for the second consecutive year, Haley Randall of softball received the Meghan Bushnell Female Servant Leadership Award. Salas dedicated 31 community service hours while Randall gave back with more than 38 community service hours.

The various Most Valuable Player honors were assigned by the respective head coaches and the men's side included Hayato Niki (baseball), Klay Brown (basketball), Hudson Lockette (cross country), Giulio Zanichelli (golf), Gilly Miller (soccer), and Robin Black (track & field).

On the women's side, the respective head coaches selected Alisha Wilson (basketball), Audrey Rosencrans (cross country), Jae Eun Park (golf), Avica Robings (soccer), Julia Ortega (tennis), Marie-Jeanne Ourega (track & field), Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki (softball), and Maya McClellan (volleyball).
 
From the collection of MVPs emerged the Male Athlete of the Year, track & field's Robin Black and the Female Individual Athlete of the Year, women's track & field's Marie-Jeanne Ourega. With only Outdoor Nationals left to contend, Black's year saw him named PacWest Track Athlete of the Year, rank inside the country's top 26 in seven individual events plus top three relays, collect three conference titles, and score over 28 points as the PacWest Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet. Ourega captured the National Championship in the Indoor long jump, added three All-American honors to give her 16 in her career, was among the top 10 in NCAA DII in six different events, and defended her PacWest title in the triple jump.
 
The announcement of the 2023 Richard & Clara Gil Stephens Urban Knight of the Year saw Ajani Ince of men's track & field take the stage. Ince earned a 3.32 GPA in the School of Architecture, completed 22 hours of community service, was a five-time All-Region honoree while contributing to program top five marks in four individual events plus three relays including the ART U record and PacWest title in the 4x100m relay to embody the quintessential Academy of Art student-athlete.

Ince then rejoined his teammates from men's track & field as the night concluded with the group's honor as the Team of the Year. Finishing fourth place overall with seven All-American trophies at Indoor Nationals, the Knights collected 32 All-Region selections, seven PacWest Championships, and broke six program records.

"It's always an honor to be recognized for the work your team puts in," said Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Kevin LaSure. "Those young men have set goals and standards for themselves and have worked to achieve them. It's a blessing to see them reaping the rewards of their work."

  Full list of ARTYs winners below:
 

Community Service Award	Softball
Best Individual GPA	Cannon Secrist (BASE), Yun "Nicole" Shiau (WT), & Jillian Wheaton (VB)
Best Team GPA	Women's Tennis
Record-Breaking Performance	Men's Track & Field Outdoor 4x400m relay recording fastest time in ART U history and the sixth-fastest time in NCAA DII history (3:05.20 - Makarios Page, Robin Black, Shareez Hamm, Duncan Agyemang)
Best Moment	Men's Basketball winning their first NCAA Tournament game in overtime
Freshman of the Year	Lisa Redlinger (WXC/T&F)
Newcomer of the Year	Robin Black (MT&F)
Dr. Jamie Williams Male Servant Leadership Award	Ricky Salas (BASE)
Meghan Bushnell Female Servant Leadership Award	Haley Randall (SB)
Male Team MVPs	Hudson Lockette (XC), Gilly Miller (SOC), Robin Black (T&F), Klay Brown (MBB), Hayato Niki (BASE), Giulio Zanichelli (MG)
Male Individual Athlete of the Year	Robin Black (T&F)
Female Team MVPs	Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki (SB), Avica Robings (SOC), Jae Eun Park (WG), Alisha Wilson (WBB), Audrey Rosencrans (XC), Maya McClellan (VB), Julia Ortega (WT), Marie-Jeanne Ourega (T&F)
Female Individual Athlete of the Year	Marie-Jeanne Ourega (WT&F)
Richard & Clara Gil Stephens Urban Knight of the Year	Ajani Ince (MT&F)
Team of the Year	Men's Track & Field