Hall of Fame
Neely Spence Gracey is the most accomplished distance runner in the history of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and one of the most decorated student-athletes in Shippensburg University history.
Spanning four seasons of cross country and three seasons of indoor track & field and outdoor track & field, Spence Gracey won eight NCAA Division II National Championships and finished as an 11-time NCAA All-American. After each of her 10 competitive seasons, she was named the PSAC Athlete of the Year for that sport.
In cross country, Spence Gracey was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Cross Country Athlete of the Year as a junior in 2010 and as a senior in 2011 after winning the NCAA Division II National Championship both years. Spence Gracey was a four-time PSAC Champion (20:59 in 2008, 21:32 in 2009, 20:52 in 2010, 20:16 in 2011) and a four-time NCAA Atlantic Region Champion (21:09 in 2008, 20:15 in 2009, 20:46 in 2010, 20:43 in 2011) – the latter victories resulting in four USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year awards.
In addition to winning the 2011 national championship by a 13-second margin and the 2010 national championship by a 15-second margin, Spence Gracey was the 2008 national runner-up as a freshman. All three of her historic finishes came on snow-packed courses, with her senior year victory achieved during a full-blown snowstorm in Washington state.
She competed in 27 career cross country races as a Raider and finished first or second in all but two of them – winning 22 times.
Her performances were integral to a run of unparalleled team success for the Raiders, as Spence Gracey paired with the likes of Mary Dell, Katie Spratford, Amanda Raudabaugh and others to win four consecutive PSAC and Atlantic Region team championships while posting three Top 10 finishes at the NCAA National Championships. SU’s fourth-place team finish at the 2010 NCAA Championships is its second-best at a national meet in school history.
In indoor track & field, Spence Gracey competed in five events at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships and won three NCAA titles – the 2009 distance medley relay (DMR), the 2010 5K, and the 2011 DMR. She was the national runner-up with the DMR in 2010 and the national runner-up in the 5K in 2011. In addition to her five NCAA indoor All-America classifications, Spence Gracey achieved NCAA automatic qualifiers in the mile in 2009 and 2010 but did not compete in the event at the national championships.
At the PSAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, Spence Gracey won all 10 of the races in which she competed, finishing as a three-time champion in the mile and the 3K, and also with the DMR. She also won the 5K conference title in 2010. She was named the Most Valuable Track Athlete at the 2009 PSAC Indoor Championships as a freshman before winning both the Most Valuable Track Athlete and the Overall Meet MVP awards at the 2010 and 2011 PSAC Indoor Championships.
Spence Gracey graduated with five indoor school records – three of which are also conference records. In addition to her school records in the mile (4:48.54) and 3K (9:27.79), she holds the all-time PSAC record in the 5K (16:01.09), 4x800-meter relay (9:04.77) and the DMR (11:24.54; which also set a NCAA Championships meet record).
In outdoor track & field, Spence Gracey won all three of her career races at the NCAA Division II National Championships, winning back-to-back-to-back 5K national titles from 2009-11. She also recorded an NCAA automatic qualifier in the 1,500 meters as a freshman but did not compete in the event at nationals.
At the PSAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Spence Gracey won seven of the nine races in which she competed and finished second in the two that she did not win, resulting in nine All-PSAC classifications. In her third and final outdoor season, Spence Gracey was named the 2011 PSAC Outdoor Championships Overall Meet MVP after pulling off an incredible triple, winning the 1,500 meters, 3K and 5K. She finished as a three-time PSAC outdoor champion in the 3K and 5K, winning the event in all three of her seasons, while finishing second in the 1,500 meters as a freshman and sophomore.
Spence Gracey graduated with four school records – three of which are conference records. Perhaps the most impressive of all her collegiate runs came at the 2011 Mt. Sac Relays, where she posted a 5K personal best of 15:33.83 to set the all-time NCAA Division II record in the event. The record stood for 11 years and the time remains second all-time in NCAA Division II history. She holds the school record in the 1,500 meters (4:24.59) and the PSAC record in the 3K (9:10.82) and the 4x800-meter relay (9:02.85).
Spence Gracey graduated with a degree in human communication studies and a coaching minor in May 2012, compiling a 3.85 cumulative GPA. Her exemplary balance of academics and athletics resulted in being named the PSAC/Pete Nevins Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year following both the 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years. She earned five consecutive PSAC Top 10 awards from Winter 2010 through Fall 2011 and graduated as a three-time Academic All-American®, earning Third Team honors as a sophomore, Second Team honors as a junior and First Team honors as a senior.
She has stayed active as a runner and was the top U.S. finisher at the 2016 Boston Marathon. She has qualified for four Olympic Trials (2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024) and has represented Team USA in five international competitions, including a 13th-place finish at the World Cross Country Championships. In the summer of 2022, Spence Gracey was recognized as one of 10 women who “blazed a trail in sports in Franklin County.”
She founded Get Running Coaching in 2013 and has helped nearly 1,000 runners work toward their goals. Last year, Spence Gracey co-authored the book Breakthrough Women's Running as a way to broaden her coaching support to runners around the world.
Neely is married to fellow Shippensburg alumnus and cross country and track & field athlete, Dillon Gracey ’10. The couple currently resides in Colorado and are the proud parents of two boys, Athens and Rome.
