2020 USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams (women's track & field)
2020 USTFCCCA All-Academic Individuals (men's track & field)
2020 USTFCCCA All-Academic Individuals (women's track & field)

NEW ORLEANS -- In a Thursday announcement by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, Academy of Art University track & field had five Urban Knights earn All-Academic Individual awards in addition to the second All-Academic Team honor in program history for the women's squad. Distance runner Natalia Novak and jumper Camille Jouanno were among the individuals featured on the women's side while the men's team was represented by distance runners James Young and Rabah Houali plus sprinter Kaze Poitier.

In order to make the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team list, a program must have collectively delivered a 3.00 cumulative team grade point average or higher for the year. The academic success of nearly 20 women's track & field student-athletes was factored into a 3.23 GPA with six of those individuals posting or contributing to times/distances that were NCAA Division II provisional marks in the indoor season. There were a total of 149 women's teams honored by the USTFCCCA for their academic success.

To qualify for USTFCCCA All-Academic honors individually, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and have reached a provisional or automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships in either the indoor or outdoor seasons.

On the heels of a cross country season that saw her earn All-PacWest First Team, Novak steadily worked towards a record-breaking run that simultaneously saw her produce a 3.77 GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies. Over the course of six times contesting the mile across January and February, she steadily dropped more than 25 seconds from her first to her final time at the Boston Last Chance Meet (Feb. 28) where she bested Jenny Bergren's 2013 record (4:50.03) with a 4:48.25. Being named an All-American in the event, the mark was first in the West Region and eighth in NCAA DII.

In her second season with the Urban Knights, Jouanno contributed to a 3.32 GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies amid her return to the indoor runway for the first time since capturing the NCAA Division II Triple Jump title. After her first triple jump of the season came in early January, Jouanno progressed to what would be her best mark of the year at the end of the month. She hit a 39-7 (12.06m) at the KMS Invitational (Jan. 26) and ended up ranking 20th overall in the nation and second in the West Region. Jouanno remains the defending NCAA DII Indoor Triple Jump Champion.

The 2019-20 season served as a strong debut for Young who used the momentum of PacWest Newcomer of the Year and All-PacWest First Team honors in cross country to impress in his first indoor track & field campaign for ART U in addition to a 3.66 GPA in the School of Advertising. In just his second mile of 2020, Young broke the program record exactly four years after Valentin Pepiot's 4:06.85 in 2016. At the GVSU Big Meet (Feb. 14), the soon-to-be-named All-American proceeded to drop more than two seconds below that mark, going 4:04.14 for what ended as the best mile in the West Region (sixth in NCAA DII). Young became a two-time All-American for his contribution to the fastest Distance Medley Relay time in program history.

En route to his third consecutive USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual honor, Poitier offered a 3.48 GPA in the School of Web Design & New Media while highlighting the year with a leg on the aforementioned DMR school record which turned the quartet into All-Americans. Capping a string of the three fastest distance medley relay times in the history of the men's program over the final week of the regular season, the team of Messai, Poitier, Houali, and Young combined for the program record (9:50.24) at the BU Last Chance Meet (Feb. 28). First in the West Region, the mark ended up seventh in NCAA DII following the third-fastest mark in ART U history (9:55.91) at the GVSU Big Meet (Feb. 15).

Like Poitier, Houali earned his third straight USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual selection for individual and relay success along with a 3.51 GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies. His top mark in the 800m was a 1:51.89 at the GVSU Big Meet (Feb. 14) which ended up ranking 25th in the country by the season's end. He also added legs on three of the team's best DMR times including the aforementioned All-American result at the conclusion of the regular season.

Young, Poitier, and Houali were among the 208 Division II men to earn the honor while Novak and Jouanno were two of the 321 women awarded this distinguished USTFCCCA All-Academic honor for their combined academic and athletic accomplishments.