University of Georgia Athletics
Rush Thrilled With UGA Experience
May 13, 2026 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Ella Rush's four years at Georgia have been life-changing. The Georgia track and field combined-events competitor graduated last week with a degree in Fashion Merchandising, and she's accumulated enough experiences, friendships and memories to last her the rest of her days.
"It's been great," she said. "It's been exactly what I thought it was going to be, and more. I decided I wanted to come to the States at the age of 14. I just had it in my head; I remember watching (college track) on TV, and I was like, This is something I feel like would be cool."
One of the things that's changed for Rush, from Repton, England, north of Birmingham, is her accent. Her British accent is still there, of course, but she does sometimes sound more Australian than British.
"It has definitely changed," she said with a laugh. "I hear it sometimes and I'm like, Oh, my gosh! I think it's because I did find, when I first came here, people just couldn't understand me, so I've definitely found ways where I adapt my words. It's now something I do naturally, without thinking about it. I hear it and I'm like, That's not how I usually speak!"
A major foot injury slowed down the start of Rush's Georgia career. After placing fifth in the pentathlon at the SEC Indoor Championships as a freshman, she was limited to only a couple of outdoor meets that spring. She placed fourth in the pentathlon at the SEC Indoors as a sophomore, and at the 2024 SEC Outdoor meet, she placed third in the pentathlon with a then-personal best score of 5,606.
During her junior year, she placed 13th in the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships, and then finished third again in the heptathlon at the SEC Outdoor Championships. This indoor season, she was eighth in the pentathlon at SECs, and she has followed that with an excellent outdoor season in the heptathlon.
At the Spec Towns Invitational last month at the UGA Track & Field Complex, she scored a career-high 5,797, which is the eighth-best score in the country heading into the postseason.
"I feel like with the type of training I'm going and how everything's lined up in practice, it's all coming together," she said, adding that "this is my final year, and I want to leave a mark."
Rush and the top-ranked Georgia women and third-ranked Georgia men are at Auburn this week for the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She will begin the heptathlon competition on Thursday with the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 meters. On Friday, she'll do the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.
Because of the physical demands of the heptathlon, Rush could have skipped the SEC Outdoor meet to focus on next month's NCAAs, for which she's already qualified. But she's all in on trying to win her first SEC title. She has the highest score of any SEC heptathlete going into the meet, and she knows this is her last shot.
"I've chosen to do the hep at SECs, and I'm so excited for that. Two years in a row I've got bronze, and I'm like, It's my final year, and I really want to get the gold," she said. "If I'm ranked first (in the SEC), why would I not try to get the gold?"
Rush has been participating in the sport since she was six years old. "I basically lived and breathed track and field," she said. She played some other sports, too, namely netball — a sport similar to basketball but with no dribbling or backboard — and field hockey. When it came time to choose which one she would pursue, the answer was obvious.
"I realized, no, track is for me. And ever since then, I just wanted to do track," she said.
Rush comes from a very athletic family. Her father, Sam, was a professional rugby player in England, and her younger brother, Johnny, played soccer at Ohio State and is now at UAB. Their mother, Caroline, is originally from Gibraltar, a small island-nation near Spain, and Johnny has played on the Gibraltar men's national soccer team. In the past, Rush has competed for Great Britain in track junior competitions, but she will now represent Gibraltar going forward.
In June, after the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., Rush will head back to England to keep training and begin competing professionally. She will represent Gibraltar at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland, in July.
"I have a pro group set up back home, so when I go home in June, I'll be training with them. I'll be following the same training schedule I've done here because I don't want to make any changes when everything is going so well," she said.
Of course, back in England, she won't get as many warm and sunny days to train in as she's had in Athens the past four years.
"I've definitely taken advantage of the weather here. When I go home, there will be a lot more indoor training. I think you get spoiled a bit here with the weather," she said.
The great training weather is just one more aspect of Rush's Georgia experience for which she's grateful.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
