Caption: Neely Spence poses for a picture after the awards ceremony on Saturday with the men's champion, Jon Grey — a Lancaster native and Kennard-Dale High School graduate who ran collegiately at Oklahoma and William & Mary. Grey was also a four-year attendee of the Shippensburg University summer cross country camps that are conducted by head coach Steve Spence.

SEATTLE — Senior Neely Spence finished in second place Saturday at the 2011 USA Track & Field National Club Cross Country Championships held at Jefferson Golf Course in Seattle — guaranteeing herself another chance to represent the United States in international competition.

Spence, competing in a field of 265 runners, finished the 6K course in 19:58 — just four seconds behind Washington native Brie Felnagle, a cross country All-American and track national champion who competed at UNC from 2005-08. Spence finished one second ahead of Katherine Follett, an All-American at the University of Washington from 2007-10.

It marked the third time that Spence has matched her cross country PR of 19:58. Her goal was to finish Saturday's race in the Top 3, and she certainly accomplished that.

"Being a part of this race was a lot of fun," Spence said. "I had never run a cross country national race before, and the energy was really positive. I really hope to run more in the future. You don't get that many opportunities to run cross country races, and this is something which I think is a lot of fun."

Despite the race being held in the Great Northwest on the 10th day of December, the weather was about all that a racer could have asked for. At the start, the temperature was about 39 degrees and there was virtually no wind on the course.

"I was really pleased — finally the weather came together for me," Spence said. "The course was a little bit slick – a little muddy – but nothing compared to what we have had all season. Thank you to Pennsylvania – I was very well prepared."

By crossing the line as one of the Top 3 finishers in the race, Spence secured a spot as one of nine U.S. competitors for the women's senior race to be conducted at the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country International Challenge on January 7 in Scotland.

"I am really excited about being able to get everything together out here so that I can get to Scotland," Spence said. "I finally feel like I am coming into good shape, so I want to keep on getting healthy and getting better in order to continue with some really good training these next three weeks before I leave."

The effort was all the more impressive considering that Spence has been battling cold symptoms for the last several days.

"I really didn't know what to expect coming into this race," Spence said. "On Thursday morning — the day I flew out — I woke up with a sore throat and just felt awful. I took some Vitamin C – and I realized that everything was already paid for – so I might as well go. When I got to Seattle, I wasn't feeling any better."

Spence slept for 11 hours upon her arrival in Seattle and then stuck to the basics on the Friday before the race — picking up her race packet, previewing the course and relaxing in her hotel room. In addition to both a warm bath and an ice bath (thanks to a couple of trips to the hotel ice machine), Spence also got 10 more hours of sleep heading into Saturday's race.

"I was sort of hoping to trick my body with the extra sleep," Spence said. "I had some coffee, popped two ibuprofen and said, 'Alright.'"

Given her improved health on Saturday morning and having had some time to assess the moment, Spence's morale was strong heading into the race.

"At first I felt devastated, but then I talked to my dad, who reminded me that this is what happened to him at the Olympics," Spence said. "This won't be the first time I go to run in a race and I'm not feeling well. My dad told me that I have to be smart about it, and realize that there are always more races to come."

With her health in question, Spence went into the race with a straightforward approach: either drop out early if she wasn't feeling well, or carry on if her body felt capable of racing.

"It really took the pressure off," Spence said. "This morning, I told myself that I'm here and I'm just going to enjoy the experience and get the most out of myself. I know I'm in really good shape, so even if I'm not having the best day, and I can still hold it together and get Top 3, that is what I want to do because it gets me to Scotland."

The impressive second-place result — coming in Spence's first national cross country race as a senior competitor — proved to be important to the young racer's ever-growing career.

"I really learned a lot from this race," Spence said. "You cannot actually predict things going into a race. I had not planned on running this race until last week. It was kind of thrown together, but everything fell into place, and then I got sick. After waking up and feeling decent, I realized that I've done everything that I could to have a good race, so I was going to get up on that starting line and see what I could do."

Ultimately, it was another impressive milestone during a season full of twists and turns for Spence.

"I was really frustrated when I first got here because I was feeling so poorly," Spence said. "I've battled inclement weather and some scattered sickness all season long, and getting sick here I was just so disappointed because I knew this was really my chance to put together a fast race. It ended up with me tying my PR though for the third time, so there's certainly no complaints there."

Now, after completing some final exams next week, Spence will continue her training for three weeks in advance of the race in Edinburgh. That competition will be the figurative crescendo for what has been another historic cross country season.

"I will take a bit of a break when I get back from Scotland," Spence said. "I'm focusing on two seasons — as opposed to peaking for three — so indoors is ultimately going to be a buildup to get me ready for the Olympic trials."  

Notes: Spence also finished a cross country 6K in 19:58 at the 2008 and 2009 Paul Short Invitationals...Spence, when asked on the uniqueness of a national cross country race: "It adds a different element to running – I'm excited to get into road racing and that aspect of professional running – but I hope to have opportunities like this in cross country every now and again. I hope that this is just the first of a series of club cross country races that I get to run."