Shippensburg's All-Time Academic All-Americans

CoSIDA Women's Track & Field/XC Release

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Junior Neely Spence was selected to the 2010-11 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America College Division Second Team for women's track & field/cross country. Spence is one of just three athletes from the PSAC to be chosen to the national All-America squad. She was a Third Team All-American last year.

Spence, Shippensburg's 2010-11 Women's Student-Athlete of the Year, boasts a 3.87 cumulative quality point average while majoring in human communications studies and seeking a minor in coaching. It is the sixth time in school history that an SU women's track & field athlete has been selected an Academic All-American.

Shippensburg finished the 2010-11 academic calendar with four Academic All-Americans – more than any other year in school history. Spence joins men's track & field selection Bryan Beegle (second team) and women's at-large selections Kristen Brooks (first team) and Amy Fisher (third team).

For her career, Spence has been selected as a PSAC Athlete of the Year in all nine of her collegiate seasons to date (cross country [3], indoor track [3], outdoor track [3]).

As an outdoor track & field competitor, Spence won her third consecutive 5K national championship from California State University Stanislaus with a time of 16:17.30. Spence, the 2011 USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Track Athlete of the Year, is just the fourth female athlete in school history to be a three-time outdoor All-American in the same event, joining Emily Budnyk (10K), Kathy Stec (3K) and Tunisia Lacy (triple jump).

In April, Spence broke the all-time Division II record in the 5K at the prestigious Mt. Sac Relays with a time of 15:33.83. She also improved her own conference record in the 3K at the Penn Relays with a victorious time of 9:10.82.

During the indoor track season, Spence was the anchor leg on the distance medley squad that won a national championship. Shippensburg has now had an All-American DMR squad four years in a row – three of those with Spence – winning two national championships.

Individually, Spence earned All-America honors with a second place in the 5K. Her postseason awards included being named the 2011 USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and the 2011 PSAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.

At the indoor conference championships, Spence won individual titles in the mile and the 3K while aiding the DMR squad to a team crown. She has won all 10 races in her career at the PSAC indoor championships.

During the regular season, Spence temporarily posted a world season-best 5K time of 16:01 in February at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational that was six seconds faster than the NCAA Division I automatic qualifying standard.

Her success resulted in a selection to the Bowerman award watch list in February. Spence's only loss of the indoor season was her second-place finish in the 5K at the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships.

Through three years of indoor and outdoor track & field competition, Spence has won 17 PSAC championships in 19 total races.

In February, Spence was named the 2010 Division II Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Spence, the 2010 USTFCCCA Division II Cross Country Female Athlete of the Year, became the first women's cross country national champion in school history and earned the second All-American award of her career with a time of 20:41.2 at the 2010 Division II National Championships.

Spence, the three-time defending PSAC and Atlantic Region champion, finished the 2010 season undefeated in six races. Spence finished 70 seconds ahead of the field at the PSAC Championships and 51 seconds ahead of the field at the Atlantic Region Championships.

CoSIDA selects Academic All-America® teams in 12 programs. A first team and second team are selected in both the University (Division I and I-AA) and College (Division II, III and NAIA) Divisions.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.