SAN FRANCISCO – Academy of Art University student-athletes, coaches, and staff began the month of May by coming together to celebrate the department's accomplishments from the 2023-24 season with the 11th Annual ARTYs Awards. The end-of-the-year presentation recognized Urban Knights from all 13 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 29 hours per student-athlete for a total of more than 592 combined hours, earning them the Community Service Award for the second consecutive year.

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 2023 and Fall 2023). Men's basketball and women's soccer were represented as Jamal Fuller's 3.57 GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies was highlighted along with a perfect 4.00 GPA from Brooklyn Villapudua in the School of Fashion Styling. For the fifth consecutive occasion, the ARTY for Best Team GPA went to women's tennis who collectively delivered a 3.76 GPA over the last two semesters.

Starting in the realm of athletic achievement, the four new men's basketball program records achieved by Latrell Williams this season were recognized with the ARTY for Record-Breaking Performance. The Gary, Ind. native closed out a stellar three-year stint with Academy of Art by standing atop career lists in rebounds (745), steals (157), and double-doubles (25) after breaking his own single-season rebounds record (264).

The next ARTY recognizing the Freshman of the Year went to Amelija Supulniece of tennis. Over a season that has seen her named Pacific West Conference Freshman of the Year as well as All-PacWest First Team in singles and Second Team in doubles, Supulniece has excelled with a 13-4 singles record and 9-5 doubles record, both in the team's top position. While contributing to the team's PacWest title, she was nationally ranked as high as No. 48 in singles and No. 21 in doubles this year.

A memorable debut run with the women's track & field program came from Lauryn James who followed by earning the ARTY for Newcomer of the Year. The West Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and three-time All-Region honoree would go on to become an All-American in the Indoor 200m dash then break the program's 100m dash record, collect PacWest titles in both the 200m dash and 4x400m relay, and earn the honor of PacWest Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet.

Transitioning from those impressive campaigns to the ARTY for Best Moment of the Year, tennis was honored for achieving the program's first PacWest Tournament Championship. The Urban Knights won four matches over four hot days in Arizona, bettering three nationally ranked teams in the process to ultimately sweep No. 19 Azusa Pacific 4-0 for the title and what would soon be ART U's first top seed in West Regionals.

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, Tristen Banquil of men's soccer was bestowed the Dr. Jamie Williams Male Servant Leadership Award and Ashana Hinds of women's basketball received the Meghan Bushnell Female Servant Leadership Award. Banquil dedicated 20 community service hours while Hinds gave back with more than 29 community service hours.

On the men's side, the respective head coaches selected Latrell Williams (basketball), Jaden Singleton (cross country), Giulio Zanichelli (golf), Joey Glaab (soccer), and Ajani Ince (track & field).

The various Most Valuable Player honors were assigned by the respective head coaches and the women's side included Alba Rovira Ayuso (basketball), Grace Southern (cross country), Nicole Yang (golf), Haley Vaughan (soccer), Jessica Plazas (tennis), Lauryn James (track & field), Katie Humphreys (softball), and Maya McClellan (volleyball).
 
From the collection of MVPs emerged the Male Athlete of the Year, men's basketball's Latrell Williams, and the Female Individual Athlete of the Year, women's track & field's Lauryn James. A contributor to the most wins by an Urban Knight in men's basketball program history across his career, Williams became the first student-athlete ever to be named both PacWest Player and Defender of the Year, was honored on the D2CCA All-West Region First Team, and broke the aforementioned four program records all while guiding ART U to its first PacWest regular season title. James was an All-American in the Indoor 200m dash, distinguished as the West Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year along with three All-Region selections, broke the program's 100m dash record, claimed PacWest titles in both the 200m dash and 4x400m relay, and earned the honor of PacWest Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet.

"I would just like to say the feeling was surreal and it is an honor to receive recognition for the season I had," Williams said. "I did not go hard for any individual award. I went hard to produce as much as I could to the process of bringing wins to the program, and with winning comes awards. And I am grateful that my hard work and dedication to the game left me to be on the receiving end of those awards. Thank you to everyone who voted and supported me at this year's ARTYs." 

The announcement of the 2024 Richard & Clara Gil Stephens Urban Knight of the Year saw Jessica Plazas return to the stage. Plazas earned a 3.71 GPA in the School of Acting, completed over 20 hours of community service, was an All-PacWest Second Team honoree in singles while winning 17 of her 19 singles matches, being named ITA West Region Player to Watch, and contributing to the team's PacWest title to embody the quintessential Academy of Art student-athlete.

"It was a big surprise to win the award, especially because I had a very difficult year trying to get back to the courts after an injury that left me out for a little over five months," Plazas said. "I had to work very hard to even be able to play again and it felt very special to know that all the hard work is paying off."

Plazas then rejoined her teammates from tennis as the night concluded with the group's honor as the Team of the Year. Winning the PacWest Tournament Championship with plenty of individual honors in tow, the Knights held the top seed for West Regionals for the first time in program history and, for the second time to date, qualified to the National Championship Tournament.

  Full list of ARTYs winners below:
 

Community Service Award	Softball
Best Individual GPA	Jamal Fuller (MBB), Brooklyn Villapudua (WSOC)
Best Team GPA	Women's Tennis
Record-Breaking Performance	Men's Basketball's Latrell Williams breaking four program records
Freshman of the Year	Amelija Supulniece (WT)
Newcomer of the Year	Lauryn James (WT&F)
Best Moment the Year	Women's Tennis becoming PacWest Tournament Champions
Dr. Jamie Williams Male Servant Leadership Award	Tristen Banquil (MSOC)
Meghan Bushnell Female Servant Leadership Award	Ashana Hinds (WBB)
Male Team MVPs	Joey Glaab (SOC), Jaden Singleton (XC), Ajani Ince (T&F), Latrell Williams (MBB), Giulio Zanichelli (MG)
Male Individual Athlete of the Year	Latrell Williams (MBB)
Female Team MVPs	Katie Humphreys (SB), Haley Vaughan (SOC), Nicole Yang (WG), Alba Rovira Ayuso (WBB), Grace Southern (XC), Maya McClellan (VB), Jessica Plazas (WT), Lauryn James (T&F)
Female Individual Athlete of the Year	Lauryn James (WT&F)
Richard & Clara Gil Stephens Urban Knight of the Year	Jessica Plazas (WT)
Team of the Year	Women's Tennis