Complete Results

LOUISVILLE – Junior Neely Spence set a course record on Saturday afternoon from E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park while senior Mary Dell finished seventh as the Shippensburg University women's cross country team posted a stupendous fourth-place finish against elite Division I and Division II competition at the 9th Annual Greater Louisville Classic.

Saturday's 5K race was held on the same course that will host the Division II national championships this December. SU was only 10 points behind the University of Georgia for third place and bested a legion of prestigious cross country programs, including Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi State and host Louisville.

Spence posted a time of 16:32.90, finishing more than four seconds ahead of Georgia's Kristie Krueger and 25 seconds ahead of Western Washington's Sarah Porter, the runner-up at last year's Division II Championships. The time is also 16 seconds ahead of the previous course record established at last year's Louisville Classic by Western Kentucky's Janet Jesang.

Dell posted a sensational time of 17:18.12 – leaving Shippensburg as the only school with multiple runners finishing among the top eight. Her collegiate PR in the 6K for cross country is 20:45, and Dell continues to showcase her splendid talents as a two-time Division II All-American.

Senior Abby Huber continues to dazzle as one of Shippensburg's top runners. She finished 65th on Saturday, posting a time of 18:13.12. Her collegiate 6K PR is 22:02, and Huber was just ahead of that pace with her run on Saturday.

Newcomer Katie Spratford, a redshirt sophomore transfer from the University of Richmond, made her Lady Raider debut and dazzled with a 76th-place finish in 18:20.49. As a method of comparison, Spratford was just five seconds off her pace from the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championships, an event in which she finished in sixth place as a freshman with a time of 18:15.40.

Junior Sarah Strayer ran one of the best races in her collegiate career, serving as the final scoring performer for Shippensburg and finishing just two places behind Spratford. Strayer's time of 18:21.38 is further evidence of her skill as a distance runner and continues the pace she established as SU's No. 3 runner at last year's national championship meet.

The performances of seniors Emily Dubs and Jamie McCollum were also vital to the cause. The duo finished within one second of each other at 18:24 in 82nd and 83rd place respectively. Dubs last ran a collegiate cross country 5K race in 2007 and posted a time of 21:50 at the NYU Invitational. McCollum ran that same race in 19:33. Both individuals have grown as runners over the course of their SU career and still have plenty to showcase as the season continues.

In two weeks, Shippensburg will compete in the Gettysburg College Invitational. That 6K meet is set to begin at noon. On Wednesday, the USTFCCCA will release their latest edition of the national rankings. SU entered this race at No. 6 in Division II.

5K [4th, 208 points]
1. Neely Spence (16:32.90)
7. Mary Dell (17:18.12)
65. Abby Huber (18:13.12)
76. Katie Spratford (18:20.49)
78. Sarah Strayer (18:21.38)

82. Emily Dubs (18:24.27)
83. Jamie McCollum (18:24.82)

129. Patty Reis (18:45.68)
138. Katie Frey (18:48.77)
219. Emma Shank (19:29.74)