2021 Pacific West Conference Athletes of the Year

IRVINE, Calif. – A two-time NCAA Division II National Champion in 2021, Academy of Art track & field's James Young concluded his historic run as the Pacific West Conference Male Athlete of the Year, the most prestigious individual honor given by the conference. The award, voted on by the PacWest's directors of athletics, was announced by the conference's media relations office on Tuesday.

Returning to the track for the first time in nearly a full year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Young made the most of every opportunity he had during a limited indoor season. After qualifying for Indoor Nationals with a 4:05.06 indoor mile time on the first day of the Indoor Gorilla Classic and his anchor leg in the men's 9:45.51 automatically-qualifying distance medley relay which broke the school record, Young earned USTFCCCA West Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year along with a pair of All-Region selections heading into the indoor finale. An All-American in both events, the Advertising major's incredible finish in the mile not only was the second-fastest time in National Championship meet history and fourth-fastest in NCAA DII history all-time, but it also resulted in him becoming a National Champion.

Young's momentum from that achievement carried into an impressive outdoor season as well. In his first outdoor race, the 5000m at the APU Invitational on Apr. 3, he debuted at third in program history with a time of 14:09.50 which has remained among the nation's top 30 as an Outdoor Nationals provisional qualifier. Two weeks later, however, the Blyth, England native's biggest highlight of the season came at the Bryan Clay Invitational where he delivered the second-fastest 1500m effort in NCAA DII history at 3:37.72.

First among NCAA DII runners by nearly four seconds through the end of the regular season, the performance led the Advertising major to be named both USTFCCCA DII National Athlete of the Week and PacWest Track Athlete of the Week in addition to breaking the program record. Those stellar outings behind him, Young cruised to PacWest titles in both the 1500m and 5000m on May 1.

The PacWest Track Athlete of the Year and eventual USTFCCCA West Region Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year and two-time All-Region honoree thereafter, he closed out the regular season with the third-fastest 1500m time in NCAA DII history, 3:38.31, at Sound Running's "Track Meet" on May 15. In action one last time in the 1500m at Outdoor Nationals, Young was the favorite going into the final where he incredibly dove across the finish line to become a National Champion once more. On the season, Young was a three-time All-American.

Young is the third student-athlete in ART U Athletics history to earn the distinction of being a PacWest Athlete of the Year. The department's Hall of Famer Mobolade Ajomale received the honor twice in 2018 and 2019 while two-time Hall of Famer Vashti Thomas (2013) was the first Urban Knight to be selected for the award.