Gipson, Rush Named Academic All-Americans

LINCOLN – Nebraska track and field seniors Levi Gipson and Cody Rush were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team on Friday.

Their selections bring Nebraska’s all-time nation-leading total to 325 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 57 of whom are Nebraska track and field student-athletes. The track and field program has produced at least one first-team Academic All-American each of the past seven years.

Gipson earned his third consecutive first-team honor, joining Bjorn Barrefors (2010-13) as the only Husker track and field student-athlete to be honored on the first team three times. A Lincoln Christian product, Gipson holds a 3.96 GPA majoring in nutrition, exercise and health science.

Rush was selected to the first team for the first time in his career after earning second-team honors in 2014. A native of Grand Island, Rush posted a 3.93 GPA in nutrition, exercise and health science and will attend the UNMC College of Dentistry this fall. Rush also received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award during his senior season.

Gipson and Rush were part of Nebraska’s 4x400 relay team that won the Big Ten outdoor title in May and finished third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Their 4x400 team also set the third-fastest outdoor time in school history – 3:03.31 – in the prelims at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and they are both part of the team that ran an indoor school-record 3:04.83 to finish second at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2015.

Gipson (eight) and Rush (11) combined for 19 All-America honors in their illustrious careers. In addition to their relay honors, Rush was a three-time All-American in the 400 meters, while Gipson won a 600-meter Big Ten title indoors in 2014.