Track & field heads to NCAA East Preliminary round

Thursday, May 29

Jacksonville, Fla.

Middle Tennessee

NCAA Regional

Eliud Rutto running at the Conference USA Championships May 17, 2014 in Houston at Rice University.

Photo by: Kaitlyn Hungerford/MT Athletic Communications

5/28/2014 10:53:00 AM | Men's Cross Country and Track & Field, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field, Track & Field/Cross Country

Blue Raiders to Compete in Jacksonville Florida

By: @MTAthletics

IRVING, Texas - Autumn Gipson and Rachel Islam were named to the 2013-14 Conference USA Women's Track & Field All-Academic team as announced by the conference office Wednesday.

The duo was also selected to the 2013 C-USA Cross Country All-Academic team and were members of the 2013 Middle Tennessee women's cross country team that was named an all-academic team by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Gipson, a senior from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, finished with a 4.00 GPA in exercise science and was one of six female athletes to have accumulated a flawless GPA, which also includes Kim Spano from Charlotte, Kyle Kitrell from North Texas, Felice Johnson from Southern Miss, Elinor Kirk from UAB and Lindsey Pew from UTSA. The Oak Ridge native competed in 14 meets in 2013-14 and tallied three top-15 finishes in the indoor season, including a third-place finish in the mile at the Christmas Invitational. She added four top-10 finishes in the outdoor season, which is highlighted by a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter at the Coach O Invitational.

Islam, a senior from Barrie, Ontairo, accumulated a 3.82 GPA in political science and participated in 15 meets this season. The Ontario product finished with four top-10 finishes in the 800-meter indoor, while setting a personal-best indoor time of 2:13.48 at the Vanderbilt Invitational Jan. 25. In the outdoor season, she finished with three top-10 finishes in the 800-meter and at the 2014 C-USA Championships she notched a career-best 2:12.01 in the 800 preliminary race. Islam qualified for the finals with her time and finished sixth overall in the 800-meter at the championships.

The all-academic teams were originally comprised of 11 athletes on the men's and women's side but due to a tie the men's squad tallied 13 selections. To qualify for the initial ballot, athletes have to be a sophomore in class or greater and have maintained a 3.2 cumulative grade point average. Listed below are the full all-academic teams.

2013-14 Conference USA Men's Track & Field All-Academic Team
Kevin Calhoun (Charlotte,Sr., 3.82) - Computer Science
Zach Greth (Charlotte, Jr., 3.96) - Psychology
Coye Still (Charlotte, Sr., 4.00) - History
Henry Johnson* (East Carolina, Sr., 3.73) - Management Accounting
Conner Bey (North Texas, So., 3.95) - Computer Science
Tom Kalisky (North Texas, Sr., 4.00 Engineering
Wyatt Doop (Rice, Sr., 3.87) - Chemical, Biomolecular Engineering
Evan Karakolis (Rice, So., 4.02) - Mechanical Engineering
Richard Collingwood* (Southern Miss, Gr., 3.92) - Accounting
Colt Johnson (Tulsa, Jr., 3.92) - Chemical Engineering
Elphas Maiyo (UTEP, Jr., 3.80) - Multi-disciplinary Studies
Anthony Rotich (UTEP, Jr., 3.32) - Multi-disciplinary Studies
Nate Brunette (UTSA, Sr., 3.79) - Civil Engineering

2013-14 Conference USA Women's Track & Field All-Academic Team
Kim Spano (Charlotte, Gr., 4.00) - Elementary Education
Autumn Gipson (Middle Tennessee, Sr., 4.00) - Exercise Science
Rachel Islam (Middle Tennessee, Sr., 3.84) - Political Science
Kylee Kitrell (North Texas, Sr., 4.00) - Accounting
Belle MacFarlane (Rice, So., 3.77) - Kinesiology/Psychology
Felice Johnson (Southern Miss, So., 4.00) - Pre-Nursing
Joanna Lapucha* (Tulane, Sr., 3.92) - Chemistry
Brandi Krieg (Tulsa, Jr., 3.88) - Athletic Training
Elinor Kirk (UAB, Gr., 4.00) - Communications
Samantha Fish (UTSA, Sr., 3.92) - Interdisciplinary Studies
Lindsey Pew (UTSA, Jr., 4.00) - Multidisciplinary Studies

* denotes repeat selections

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