LOUISVILLE – The Shippensburg University women's cross country team, ranked No. 3 in Division II, is seeking its best-ever national showing on Saturday when it competes at the 2010 NCAA Division II National Championships from E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park in Louisville.
The annual 6K national meet is set to start at noon. After initial forecasts calling for cloudy skies and a high temperature around 50 degrees, the latest weather predictions are offering high temperatures closer to 40 degrees with a slight chance of rain or snow showers.
In 1998, Coach Spence's debut season at the helm of the program, SU placed third with Emily Budnyk finishing 13th and earning All-American status. Shippensburg posted sixth-place team finishes in 1997 and 2008.
Shippensburg, the three-time defending champions of the Atlantic Region, made its first major statement of the 2010 season on the same course as this weekend's national meet. In October, SU familiarized itself with the locale at the Greater Louisville Classic – finishing fourth ahead of Division I programs such as Kentucky, Missouri and Mississippi State. Junior
Neely Spence won the meet with a 5K course record and SU was the only team with multiple runners among the top eight finishers.
The Lady Raiders entered last year's national meet from Evansville as the No. 8 team in Division II but struggled with humidity and unseasonably warm conditions – finishing 15th as a team.
Mary Dell was the squad's No. 1 runner in the race, posting a 21st-place finish.
Head coach
Steve Spence, in his 13th season at the helm of the program, has guided the Lady Raiders to their third consecutive conference and regional championships this season. The 2010 titles have been particularly impressive, as SU recorded a 79-point victory at the PSAC meet and an 86-point victory at the regional meet.
The top five runners for Shippensburg finished ninth place or better at the conference meet, and nine Lady Raiders received All-PSAC recognition. SU's pack was so impressive at the meet, that if the No. 6 through No. 10 runners had competed as a separate team, that group would have finished second at the meet ahead of all the other PSAC schools.
At the regional championships, all five of SU's scoring performers earned All-Region honors and all seven of its runners finished among the Top 20 competitors. Kutztown, the other Atlantic Regional representative at this weekend's national championships, finished 86 points behind the Lady Raiders in second place.
Individually,
Neely Spence will be among the favorites competing for the national championship. After an exciting second-place finish in 2008 as a freshman, Spence battled a stomach ailment last year as a sophomore and finished outside of the All-American classification. That race is the only collegiate loss for Spence over the course of the last two seasons.
Meanwhile, Dell is seeking to finish her collegiate career as an All-American for the third consecutive season. In addition to her success at last year's meet, Dell posted a 33rd-place finish at the snowy 2008 national meet from Slippery Rock and earned All-American laurels for being one of the Top 30 American finishers in that race.
Shippensburg's projected runners are as follows, listed in alphabetical order:
Dell, a two-time All-American and Shippensburg's No. 2 runner, finished third at the PSAC Championships and fifth at the Atlantic Region Championships. Dell has thrived in all five of her races this season and finished seventh in the Greater Louisville Classic in October with a 5K time of 17:18.
Senior
Emily Dubs returns to the pack after missing the regional meet. She has had a stellar senior season, including a seventh-place finish at the PSAC Championships. Dubs was the team's No. 3 runner at the Division II Challenge and the No. 6 runner at the Greater Louisville Classic.
Senior
Abby Huber is also a four-time All-PSAC performer and projects as Shippensburg's No. 3 runner. She finished fifth at the PSAC meet – her best career finish at the conference championships, and was sixth at the regional championships with a time of 22:24. Huber was also the team's No. 3 runner at the Greater Louisville Classic with a 5K time of 18:13.
Junior
Jamie McCollum will be the team's alternate this weekend and has been a sensational contributor to this year's team. She posted an All-PSAC time of 23:21 that was good enough for 17th place and achieved a Top 20 finish at the regional championships with a time of 23:19.
Freshman
Patty Reis was the PSAC's top rookie finisher with a 16th-place time of 23:18 and excelled once again at the regional championships – finishing 17th in 23:17. She has made an immediate impact with the Lady Raiders despite never running competitive cross country before college.
Junior
Neely Spence is the three-time defending Atlantic Region champion and is looking to finish the season undefeated. She has won all five races in which she has competed this season - finishing 70 seconds ahead of the field at the PSAC Championships and 51 seconds ahead of the field at the Atlantic Region Championships.
Sophomore
Katie Spratford made her SU debut this season at the Greater Louisville Classic with a 5K time of 18:20 that was just five seconds off her pace from the 2008 A-10 Championships, where she finished sixth as a freshman. Since then, she finished ninth at the PSAC Championships and eighth at the Atlantic Region Championships with an impressive time of 22:26.
Junior
Sarah Strayer had a great national race in 2009 as the team's No. 3 runner, finishing 100th overall. She was the team's No. 6 runner at the PSAC Championships and finished 14th, an improvement of 24 places from her previous two runs at the conference meet. At the regional meet, Strayer was the team's No. 5 runner and finished 13th in 22:56.
