There haven't been a lot of PA girls in the 4:40's in the 1600 in recent years. So having two in the same week is extremely rare (Anyone who wants to research the last time this happened, please let me know.).
But this one will go down in the books as a cause and effect. The cause was the 4:46.7 1600 that was run by 800 meter specialist Chanelle Price of Easton at the LVIAC Championships on May 7th. Price's time eclipsed the meet record of one Frances Koons, a Foot Locker Finalist, state champion in the 1600 and current all-American runner for Villanova. It also bypassed this year's then-PA#1 4:48.51 of Shippensburg distance specialist Neely Spence. (In photo from April 19 Shippensburg Invitational)
So when a talented distance runner sees a time like Price's go on the books and knows it's top five in the U.S. and #1 in the state, it can get the competitive juices flowing.
Hence, the effect.
"Yes, definitely," said Spence shortly after she ran a US#4 4:44.38 at the May 10 Mid-Penn Conference Champs, when she was asked if Price's time affected her race strategy. "She (Price) can have the 800. This one is mine" Spence continued. "But it really helps to have that goal," she quickly adds.
Coming into the race, Neely said that her father, Steve, tried to lower expectations a bit, knowing that his daughter carries the Spence competitive genes as well as the talent ones. "He told me to run on effort, and then judge what I could do during the race."
But Neely was determined, and told her dad it was 4:44 or 4:45 she wanted.
The weather was not ideal – cool and a little breezy – but Spence went out quickly and in a talented field, was alone by 200 meters. She split the 800 in 2:23, and then pushed the third lap, going negative by two seconds for the 4:44.38.
Spence says the PR is making her rethink doubling in the distances at the state meet in two weeks, since the 4:44 already meets her season goal.
"I felt really good doing it, and lots of positive things happened in this race," she said. "We'll have to see where we go from here."
But first it was an open 800 at Mid-Penn, and then on to her senior prom, where with an increasing wind on the backstretch, she ran 2:17.90. To save valuable time between the 1600 and 800, Spence had a friend doing her nails in the team tent. A 4:44 is nice, but a prom is pretty important too.
It was a dark and stormy night.....no wait, it was actually a partly cloudy and brisk, but great running day with intermittent drops of rain and light winds at Landis Field at the Central Dauphin School District stadium where the highlight of the meet came in the form of one Neely Spence, the home schooled phenom representing Shippensburg H.S. Spence electrified the crowd with a stellar run in the Girl's 1600m. Taking the lead from the gun and never looking back, Neely put together a string of splits by herself with no help from the rest of the pack after the first 300m. Leading at the first 400 with a 70.34*, she slowly pulled ahead from Kara Millhouse of Boiling Springs. The 800 was traversed in a 2:24.04 (73.70*) and then she picked up her pace with a 1200m split of 3:36.67 (72.63*) and then finished the field off with an unmatchable split of 67.61* to finish 18.72 *seconds ahead of Millhouse in 4:44.38. Her time is the 4th fastest school girl time in the U.S. this year. With two more weeks left in the Pennsylvania scholastic season, barring any weather issues or injuries, the Shippensburg University bound senior will surely continue to excite the crowds with her racing. The next competition for Spence will be at Shippensburg University on May 17 in the Class AAA District 3 Championships.
*All splits are fully automatic
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