NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nick Laning has earned first-team Academic All-America honors, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced on Wednesday.
“Nick is what Vanderbilt is about, excellence on and off the track,” said Althea Thomas, director of cross country and track and field. “He showed that it is possible to be excellent in the classroom and in competition.”
Laning has now earned this honor in back-to-back seasons. In the 2021-22 season, he became the first Academic All-American for Vanderbilt men’s cross country when he was named to the third team.
He has maintained a standard of academic excellence with a GPA of 3.98 in civil engineering. Laning is a two-time SEC cross country Scholar-Athlete of the Year, making him the first in Vanderbilt history — man or woman — to earn this honor and the second man in SEC history to win it more than once. He has also been named USTFCCCA All-Academic and all-region, is a three-time CoSIDA first-team Academic All-District selection, and has made both the SEC Academic Honor Roll and SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.
He has been second-team All-SEC twice in cross country during his career and finished 21st at the NCAA South Region Championships after crossing the finish line first for Vanderbilt. He also paced the Commodores at the conference championships, finishing 23rd overall and second on the team. Laning has 15 top-20 track and field finishes with several first-place finishes in the 3,000 and 5,000 meter races.
“We are proud of him and this award is an exclamation mark on his career,” said Thomas. “Vanderbilt is a place where you can be both a scholar and an elite athlete.”
Eighteen of the 45 members of the Academic All-America Division I men’s track and field/cross country teams boast a perfect 4.0 GPA in their undergraduate work or graduate school. The 15 members on the first team have an average GPA of 3.90, with the entire men’s team holding a collective average GPA of 3.83.
