NEW ORLEANS – Shippensburg University senior Neely Spence and head women's cross country coach Steve Spence '85 have been named the 2011 USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Women's Athlete and Women's Coach of the Year, respectively, marking the fourth consecutive year that both individuals have received their prestigious honors.

Neely Spence captured her fourth-straight Atlantic Region crown last Saturday by nearly a full minute with a 20:43 performance in the 6k. She erased 16 seconds from the course record originally established in the 2008 NCAA National Championship race where she finished second as a freshman behind Seattle Pacific star Jessica Pixler and has now recorded margins of victory at the Atlantic Regional Championship meet of 58, 26, 54 and 53 seconds.

Two weeks ago, Neely Spence became the first athlete in PSAC history to win four consecutive individual conference championships with a 25-secod victory. Spence has posted victories of 25, 70, 10 and 17 seconds in her career at the PSAC championship meet.

Steve Spence, in his 14th year at Shippensburg, guided the Raiders to their fourth consecutive PSAC and Atlantic Region championships. Shippensburg will head to the NCAA national championship meet for the fourth consecutive season after a NCAA Atlantic Region championship in which it had six runners achieve All-Atlantic Region honors, including a 1-2 finish and five scorers in the race's top 20.

At the PSAC championship meet, Shippensburg had nine of its 10 runners achieve new career PRs as the team recorded a 43-point victory over No. 10 Edinboro. SU had three All-PSAC performers and six runners finish in the Top 25.

The 2011 NCAA Division II National Championships will be held November 19 and is hosted by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference from Spokane, Wash.