NEW ORLEANS - The Shippensburg University women's cross country team had five of its runners selected on Friday afternoon to the 2009 USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic squad, which ties for the second-most of any PSAC institution with Kutztown.

The five athletes were honored for their success from this past cross country season as well as their classroom merits. Leading the pack was PSAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year, sophomore Neely Spence, and red-shirt junior Mary Dell, a Division II All-American.

Also honored by the USTFCCCA were juniors Abby Huber and Emily Dubs as well as red-shirt sophomore Katie Frey.

The selection of Spence, Dell, Huber and Frey marks the second-straight season the quartet has been named to the all-academic team.

A total of 286 Division II female student-athletes received 2009 USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic honors, representing 106 Division II institutions. The PSAC had the most conference student-athletes on the 2009 USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic list for the second-straight year with 43, followed by the Northeast-10 with 36 student-athletes each making the All-Academic list.

To qualify for All-Academic honors, a student-athlete must have completed at least 12 semester/quarter hours through the semester of competition at the institution to be eligible. The student-athlete must have at least a 3.25 cumulative grade point average and have placed in the top 30% of the total number of athletes eligible to compete at the respective regional championships, or in the top 50% of the field at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.