June 24, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Graduate student Erika Rucker was named to the Academic All-America® Division I Women’s Track & Field Second Team Friday afternoon, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The honor is the first for Rucker, and marks the eighth-straight year that the program has had either a male or female athlete make the prestigious list.

Rucker carried a 3.90 cumulative grade point average while also competing at the highest level of collegiate track and field in the SEC. The biological sciences major ended her career with the Gamecocks by earning the bronze medal at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as part of the 4x400m relay team. It was the eighth All-American certificate earned during her impressive career, making her just the 16th Gamecock woman in program history to make an All-American team eight or more times.

South Carolina’s track and field program has now been represented on the Academic All-America list every season dating back to 2009. Twelve Gamecocks have been honored dating back to 1998, and Rucker is the fifth female honoree.

Along with the Academic All-America recognition, Rucker is a four-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree and made the SEC’s Academic Honor Roll each spring. Now that her academic and athletic careers at South Carolina have ended, Rucker plans to attend medical school in Georgia.