was named the PSAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Monday afternoon by conference officials after finishing as the top competitor at Friday's 2009 Brooks Paul Short Run, besting a Division I-laden field of 363 participants to earn the prestigious individual championship.
Spence finished with a time of 19:58 to edge Guelph's Lindsay Carson by two seconds - nearly matching her record-setting time of 19:57 from a year ago that still stands as the fastest Division II performance in the history of the event.
She stayed with the pack for most of the race until picking up speed over the final 2,000 meters of the course. Among the other finishers in the Top 10 included runners from Tennessee, Indiana, West Virginia, George Washington, Wake Forest and N.C. State.
Overall, the Lady Raiders, ranked atop the Atlantic Region and No. 4 in Division II, finished in 23rd place overall with a total of 581 points while defeating a multitude of Division I programs, including George Washington, VMI, Maryland, Massachusetts and South Florida.
Spence is next scheduled to compete on Friday, October 16 against another Division I-laden field at the Penn State University National Invitational. Last year, Spence finished sixth in the event that was composed of more than 300 runners.
