UCLA - Class of 1997
Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country
• 1994-95 Women's At-Large (Track & Field) Second Team Academic All-America
• 1995-96 Women's At-Large (Track & Field) First Team Academic All-America
• 1996-97 Women's At-Large (Track & Field) First Team Academic All-America
A five-time Olympian, formerly top-ranked in her sport, and a collegiate record-breaking high jumper, Amy Acuff has all the qualifications to be one of the newest inductees to the Academic All-America Hall of Fame.
Acuff’s introduction to high jumping started with an open gate and a mission to get over it. When she was 14 she joined her first junior development program after spending years searching for coaches in the Texas area to help improve her technique.
Acuff is a three-time Academic All-American, having earned the honor in 1995 (2nd team), 1996 (1st team), and 1997 (1st team). A 1997 graduate from UCLA, Acuff was the first female track and field alumna to receive a NCAA postgraduate scholarship.
She won a high jump title in each of her years as a student-athlete, making her the first woman in Pac-10 Conference history to win an individual track and field title in four consecutive years. In both 1995 and 1996, she was named the Pac-10’s Track and Field Female Athlete of the Year.
In 1997 she set the collegiate record for the high jump with a mark of 6-6.75. That same year, she took home gold at the World University Games in Italy.
Acuff went on to compete in five consecutive summer Olympic Games, her first in 1996 and final in 2012. She is the fifth American woman to take part in five Olympics. Her best Olympic finish in the high jump was a 4th-place performance in the 2004 Games where she reached a height of 1.99m.
She also won an astonishing six US outdoor championships and five US indoor championships. From 1993-2007 she held the number one rank in the country for female high jumpers six times.
Acuff was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007, the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2015, and the US Track and Field and Cross Country Head Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2025. The records she set as a UCLA Bruin remain unbeaten in the program’s record books.
"I am deeply honored to be inducted into the 2026 Academic All-America Hall of Fame. The opportunity to be a student-athlete at UCLA truly changed my life. It built my confidence, taught me discipline and resilience, and opened doors I never could have imagined,” shared the five-time olympian.
Acuff is now the CEO of Winning Edge Apps LLC, sports AI technology company that helps athletes to train more effectively through video applications. She studied at the Academy of Oriental Medicine in her home state of Texas and became a licensed acupuncturist, an occupation inspired by the medical treatment that increased the longevity of her athletic career.
Acuff supports Cheyanna’s Champions 4 Children, an organization that enhances the lives of children battling rare or undiagnosed conditions in Texas. She gives free lessons to children in her local area on high jumping.
Acuff believes that, “This induction celebrates not just my journey, but the countless student-athletes who prove that academics and athletics can elevate one another."