2011 Women's Cross Country Roster
Biography
Top Times:
4K: 12:26
5K: 16:32
6K: 19:57
2010 (Junior): Spence was named the 2010 USTFCCCA Division II Cross Country Female Athlete of the Year and became the first women’s cross country national champion in school history after navigating the snow-packed 6K course at E.P. ‘Tom’ Sawyer Park in Louisville at the DII national meet. Her time of 20:41.2 was 15 seconds faster than Western Washington’s Sarah Porter. It was the second All-American award of her career. She is the three-time defending PSAC and Atlantic Region champion who finished the 2010 season undefeated in six races. Spence finished 70 seconds ahead of the field at the PSAC Championships and 51 seconds ahead of the field at the Atlantic Region Championships. In 2010-11, Spence won a cross country national championship, an indoor track national championship with the DMR, an outdoor track national championship in the 5K, seven conference championships (including cross country), broke three conference records and set a new Division II record. Spence has been selected as a PSAC Athlete of the Year in all nine of her collegiate seasons to date (cross country [3], indoor track [3], outdoor track [3]). Her efforts also helped Shippensburg come away with a team trophy, as the Lady Raiders finished fourth at the national championships. Spence has lost just once over her last two seasons of collegiate cross country racing. After her collegiate track season, Spence finished seventh in the 5,000 meters at the 2011 United States Track & Field Championships from historic Hayward Field with a time of 15:27.72 – establishing a new PR by more than six seconds. She was also named the 2010-11 Pete Nevins PSAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the USTFCCCA Division II Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was the only PSAC student-athlete in 2010-11 to receive Top 10 awards in all three seasons (fall, winter and spring).
2009 (Sophomore): For the second consecutive year, Spence was the PSAC and Atlantic Region champion in cross country, winning the conference title by 10 seconds with a time of 21:32 and the regional crown by 26 seconds with a time of 20:14. She finished the year as the 2009 USATF Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year after winning the USA Junior Cross Country Championships in February and being named the PSAC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year and USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season. Spence was undefeated in collegiate competition for the entire regular season, besting 363 participants in a Division-I laden field to win the Paul Short Invitational and also defeating the field in the Penn State National Invitational in addition to winning the 6K Alumni meet and 4K Mountaineer Invitational. Her only blemish came at the NCAA national championships, where she battled an intestinal virus throughout the race but still finished 43rd overall. Through two years of college, Spence has been named the PSAC Athlete of the Year in all six of the intercollegiate seasons in which she has competed (cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field). During the outdoor track campaign, Spence defended her 5K national championship with a time of 16:14.23 that was just short of her own school record in the event. She also won the indoor 5K national title with a time of 17:19.98 and was an All-American for the second straight year with the DMR squad. Through two seasons, Spence is a five-time All-American in track and a four-time national champion. She has run the 5K three times on the national stage and never lost.
2008 (Freshman): Spence parlayed her outstanding talents to the Lady Raider cross country squad and posted the best individual season by any runner in school history. She finished second at the Division II National Championships with a time of 21:27 to become the first All-American for Shippensburg since 2003. Two weeks before that performance, she broke the course record at Cooper’s Lake Campground by 26 seconds to win the 2008 Atlantic Regional Championship by 58 seconds. Spence was also the individual champion at the 2008 PSAC Cross Country Championships, the first athlete in school history to achieve the feat. During the season, Spence finished second among a field of 301 primarily Division-I competitors at the Brooks Paul Short Invitational in October and her fastest time in the 6K was 19:59. She made history by becoming the first known athlete in conference history to win three PSAC Athlete of the year awards (cross country, indoor track and outdoor track) in an academic calendar year. She was not only the athlete of the year for each sport - she was also honored as the freshman of the year in all three seasons of competition. For indoor track, she was also a part of the distance medley relay squad that obliterated the national championship meet record with a time of 11:24.54. Despite posting outdoor automatic qualifying times in both the 1,500 and 5,000-meters, Spence only competed in the latter at the national championships but finished in 16:35.36 to become the first outdoor national champion in school history and the first women's outdoor All-American for Shippensburg in the 5,000-meters since Emily Budnyk in 1999. Additionally, Spence was a five-time conference champion and set numerous school records.
Shippensburg Area Senior High School: In her final high school race, Spence became a national champion by winning the two-mile event at the 2008 Nike Outdoor Nationals, finishing the race in 10:20.77. On the cross country circuit, she was the fourth-fastest competitor in the nation at the 2007 Foot Locker Nationals with a time of 17:35, yet her 5K personal record is 17:19, an effort recorded at the New York Road Runners Club Cross Country Championships that is the fourth-fastest time in the history of the historic course at Van Cortlandt Park. Spence was the Northeast Region Foot Locker Cross Country Champion as a junior and a senior. On the track, she successfully defended her state title in the 1,600-meter Class AAA event in May at Shippensburg’s Seth Grove Stadium with a time of 4:44.85. Her fastest mile was run in 4:48, while her quickest two-mile time was 10:20.05. Among her other personal best times were a 22:00 turn in the 6,000-meters and a 10:16 time in the 3,200-meters. She was named the Shippensburg Sentinel Athlete of the Year and finished her high school career with two PIAA Class AAA cross country titles and two state track medals.
Personal: Neely Harteis Spence is the daughter of Steve Spence and Kirsten Harteis. She is majoring in human communication studies while seeking a minor in coaching.
