LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Senior Neely Spence was named the PSAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Monday afternoon by the conference office after her successful performance at the 2011 Paul Short Run presented by Brooks. It is the first time this season and the seventh time in her career that she has received a weekly honor from the PSAC.

Spence ran in the 6K gold race for Shippensburg University and finished second with a time of 20:19. She was in a battle for the individual championship with Villanova senior Bogdana Mimic and Providence sophomore Emily Sisson. Mimic is a native of Serbia and a two-time All-American who finished 27th at last year's Division I national championships. Sisson was an All-American with Wisconsin last year after a 14th-place finish at D-I nationals.

Ultimately, Mimic won the race with a time of 20:10 while Sisson crossed the finish line in 20:20. Spence's time is her fastest in a collegiate 6K cross country race since her sophomore season when she was victorious in the 2009 NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships with a time of 20:15. That same season, Spence established her collegiate 6K PR in winning the Paul Short Run with a time of 19:58.

Among the talent-laden field of Friday's Gold Race was four Division I schools ranked among the Top 10 schools in the country, including No. 1 Georgetown, No. 3 Providence, No. 5 Villanova and No. 9 Duke. SU finished 21st overall, ahead of D-I teams from Richmond, UNC, Tennessee, Colgate, UMass, Colgate, Quinnipiac and host Lehigh amongst others.

Shippensburg was one of five teams among the Atlantic Region's Top 10 to compete Friday at Lehigh but the only school running in the Gold Race. No. 16 Lock Haven, the region's No. 3 team, and No. 24 Mansfield, the region's No. 4 team, ran in the Brown Race while Kutztown (No. 5 in region) and Seton Hill (No. 9 in region) ran in the White Race.