By: By: Bill Morgal, Sports Information Director
TURLOCK, Cal. – Junior
Neely Spence won her third consecutive national championship in the 5,000 meters and junior
Amanda Raudabaugh earned All-America honors for the second straight year in the 800 meters on a cold and rainy Saturday night from CSU-Stanislaus as Shippensburg University concluded its season at the 2011 Division II Women's Outdoor Track & Field National Championships.
In the 5K, Spence began to expedite the pace of the race with five laps to go - forming a three-person lead pack with Western Washington's Sarah Porter (10K national champion) and Western State's Lauren Kleppin. With 400 meters to go, Spence laid down the proverbial hammer and distanced herself from the field, finishing more than five seconds ahead of Porter and 16 seconds ahead of Kleppin.
With Saturday's championship, Spence becomes the first SU athlete to be a three-time All-American in the 5K. Emily Budnyk was a three-time All-American in the 10K. Her father and coach,
Steve Spence, was a four-time All-American in the 5K at Shippensburg.
Spence is the fourth female athlete in SU history to achieve All-America honors in the 5K, joining Kathy Stec (1988), Steph Yingling (1997) and Budnyk (1998, 1999).
Raudabaugh posted a second-place finish of 2:15.11. Saturday's race was somewhat slow and tactical and was run in a steady rain – making the kicks over the final 200-plus meters all the more important.
She is the only 800-meter runner in school history to earn All-America honors. Last year, she set her career PR with a school-record time of 2:07.62 that resulted in fifth-place finish – a testament to the difference in conditions of the two races.
Sophomore
Katie Spratford came just short of All-America honors, finishing ninth in 16:51.85. She closed with an outstanding kick and made up significant ground on the competition over the final 600 meters but was unable to sneak past Eileen Creutz of Grand Valley State, who did not relent at the end of the race to achieve the final All-America position.
In the last three years, Shippensburg has posted All-America performances in nine events.
Notes: Spence is a seven-time All-American between indoor and outdoor track...she has won all three times she has run in the outdoor national championships, all in the 5K...indoors, Spence won the indoor 5K title as a sophomore and is a two-time national champion in the DMR...Raudabaugh also won a national championship during the indoor season with the DMR squad.