2016-17 Pacific West Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year
IRVINE, Calif. -- Academy of Art University's second-ever men's cross country All-American,
Joshua Thorson added the honor of Pacific West Conference Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year to his resume on Tuesday. A thrilling fall season saw him guide the Urban Knights to their best postseason finish to date while simultaneously working his way to a cumulative 3.43 GPA in the School of Industrial Design.
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 inside and outside the classroom.
"Josh was an impressive young man to work with this year," said director of track & field/cross country
Torrey Olson. "Balancing training, industrial design, injury, and leading a new team, Josh was a living example that balance doesn't require lowering standards."
The program's first and only four-time PacWest Runner of the Week (
Sept. 6,
Sept. 20,
Oct. 4,
Oct. 11), Thorson became the third Academy of Art male to win the
PacWest Conference Championship individual title, following in the footsteps of
Valentin Pepiot and
Amos Maru. He would be named the conference's
Runner of the Year and
All-PacWest First Team prior to heading into
NCAA West Regionals where he finished 31st while helping his team reach Nationals for the first time in its nine-year history. In the final race of his collegiate cross country career, Thorson would take 40th individually to earn the
All-American honor and help the Urban Knights to a
historic 11th place finish.
Thorson is the fourth PacWest Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Academy of Art Athletics history and the second from the men's cross country program after Pepiot earned the selection
last year. 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 2016-17 Scholar-Athlete of Year ballot to determine the top men's and women's student-athlete among all the competitors in the conference.
