SEATTLE – Senior Neely Spence, the 2011 NCAA Division II women's cross country national champion, will be representing Shippensburg University on Saturday as she competes in the 2011 USA Track & Field National Club Cross Country Championships in Seattle.

Spence will be competing in the open 6K race that is set to start at 4 p.m. EST (1 p.m. Pacific). She is seeking a berth on the United States of America (USA) team that will participate in the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country International Challenge to be held January 7 in Scotland.

The Top 3 finishers from clubs in Saturday's race will automatically qualify for the challenge race in Edinburgh and six more will be selected via U.S. team protocol.

The January 7 race will feature Team USA battling the best runners of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in both juniors and seniors competition.

At last year's 2011 USATF club championships, Renee Metivier Baillie (28 years old) won the 6K race with a time of 19:50. Western Washington's Sarah Porter, who finished second to Spence in the 2010 NCAA Division II championship race and at the 2011 NCAA Division II outdoor track championships in 5K competition, placed seventh in last year's race with a time of 20:16.