EDINBORO, Pa. - The Shippensburg University women's track and field program won its first outright PSAC indoor championship on Sunday from the Mike S. Zafirovski Sports & Recreation Dome at Edinboro University with a spectacular second-day performance and an overall total of 173.25 points that helped the Lady Raiders surpass three-time defending champion Slippery Rock.

“I am really proud of them,” Shippensburg head coach Dave Osanitsch said of his women's squad that achieved the first outright female track championship for the school since an outdoor title in 1998. “There were a lot of expectations on them and quite frankly it was tough – Slippery Rock is an incredible program and they did not give up. We had to bring our very best in the second half of the day to overcome them.”

Sophomore Neely Spence was named the track and overall meet MVP of this year's championships after finishing the weekend with three PSAC individual titles (mile, 3K, 5K) and one relay title (DMR). Senior Mary Dell, while not winning an individual title, was also another integral factor with second-place finishes to Spence in the mile and 3K while also recording a second-place finish in the 800 and contributing to the DMR championship.

Shippensburg thrived in the mid-distance and distance events, winning the 400, 800, mile, 3K and 5K this weekend. In just these five events, the Lady Raiders scored an overwhelming 95 points. Fifty of those points came from the 800 and the mile, events in which Slippery Rock recorded just one total point.

Five Lady Raiders had five scoring performances in the 800-meter run, including the first individual PSAC title for sophomore Amanda Raudabaugh. Raudabaugh posted a time of 2:14.74 that narrowly edged Dell. Junior Emily Dubs ran extremely well to earn fourth place, while junior Abby Huber and freshman Ashley Fornshell also scored points in the event.

Shippensburg finished 1-2-3 in the mile. Spence won in 4:58.45, edging Dell by .02 seconds, while Huber finished in 5:00.79. The 3K saw Spence and Dell finish in first and second place once again while junior Katie Frey kicked in a late push during the final two laps and held on for an eighth-place finish in 10:11.71. Spence's winning 5K time was 16:46.35.

Junior Erica Hess maintained her sheer dominance in the 400 meters by winning a PSAC championship in the event for the fourth time out of five career performances at a conference meet. Hess ran a blistering time of 56.42 seconds that established both a new school and indoor championships meet record. Junior Laura Henzy finished fourth in 58.51 seconds while senior Shannon Hare took eighth in 58.93 seconds.

In sprints, sophomore Katie Craven placed fourth in the 200-meter dash while Hess was fifth. The 60-meter hurdles also resulted in two Lady Raiders at the awards podium, as junior Rebekah Newhart finished sixth in 9.23 seconds and freshman Caitlin Stuetz was one-hundredth of a second behind in seventh place. Newhart also finished third in the high jump and tied for fifth in the pentathlon that finished on Saturday to improve her school-record point total in the multis.

In the field, two strong performances in the triple jump greatly assisted the Lady Raider cause. Graduate Amanda Spickler recorded a season-best effort of 38 feet, 2 inches to record a third-place finish, while sophomore Lauren Redington also had a season-best effort of 37 feet, 3 inches for a sixth-place performance.

Junior Steph Harrison picked up a seventh-place finish in the shot put on Sunday with a throw of 39 feet, 7.75 inches. Harrison also finished second in the weight throw in Saturday's competition and contributed 11 points toward the Shippensburg total this weekend.

Shippensburg had already clinched the conference title entering the final 4x400-meter relay, yet the quartet of Hess, Hare, Craven and Henzy finished second in 3:55.60. The Lady Raiders scored 28 out of a possible 30 points in the three contested relay events at this year's tournament.

“Our superstars and some other girls really came through in the end for us,” Osanitsch said. “I am really excited for them and they deserve it. It has been a long time coming, I look forward to celebrating the championship with them and building on this for the outdoor season.”