SPOKANE, Wash. – Senior Neely Spence won her second consecutive Division II national championship on a snowy, windy and frigid morning from the Plantes Ferry Athletic Complex in Spokane, Washington with a 13-second victory over the field and a 6K time of 20:53.

Spence concludes her collegiate cross country career as a two-time Division II national champion, three-time Division II All-American, four-time NCAA Atlantic Region champion and a four-time PSAC champion. She led for the majority of the race, gradually expanding her lead as the courageous runners staggered through the frozen tundra.

“I wanted to have as much fun as I could, and it was honestly exciting for about the first 2,000 meters,” Spence said. “After that, though, I pretty much wanted the race to be over because in these conditions it was pretty hard to have much more fun and I think we were all pretty much ready to be done and get warm.”

Shippensburg posted a ninth-place team finish to serve as the pacesetter from the Atlantic Region. Bloomsburg placed 14th, while Lock Haven earned a 20th-place team finish. Saturday's race was also the third time in four years that the Raiders had to compete in snow and frigid conditions at the NCAA championships – including polar temperatures in 2008 at Slippery Rock and chilly wind last year at Louisville.

“It was like a blizzard out there,” Spence said of the conditions. “It's always something at nationals. There was just enough snow on the ground that you could hardly plant with your feet. The snow is fun in the sense it adds the element of drama, but the conditions were not conducive to great running.”

Not to be lost in the midst of Spence's historic run was the effort of junior Katie Spratford, who earned All-America honors for the second straight year with her best finish to date at the national championships. Spratford placed 10th with a time of 21:35 – which is 16 seconds faster than her 23rd-place finish at last year's national championships despite dealing with conditions on Saturday that were arguably worse than last year's snow in Louisville.

“It is truly awesome and exciting,” Spratford said. “I believe in this team and in the coaches, and I've gotten this far with confidence and placing no limits on myself. Today, I stuck as close as I could to Neely and used her as my guide while believing in the training that I've endured to get to this point.”

Spratford will enter her senior year having already earned two All-America honors, two All-Atlantic Region designations and two All-PSAC citations in two years with the Raiders. While the efforts of Spence have deservingly taken much of the spotlight, the outstanding efforts of Spratford have been equally paramount to the team's success. Saturday marked the first time in school history that Shippensburg placed two runners in the Top 10 at the national championships.

“It is so awesome, especially after losing the senior girls that we had last year,” Spratford said of the team's finish. “I'm so proud of how we handled the situation and the pressure of the NCAA meet as a unit. You don't have to be spectacular – you just have to do what we always do. This group has such a great attitude and we were able to get this far because of it.”

Senior Sarah Strayer was another of Shippensburg's three seniors competing on Saturday and finished up as the team's No. 3 runner. Strayer earned 93rd place with a time of 23:34.4. It is the second time in the last three years that Strayer has been the team's No. 3 runner at the national meet, as she did so in 2009 with a 100th-place finish in 23:05.

Sophomore Patty Reis was one spot behind Strayer in 94th place with a time of 23:34.7. Freshman April Schlusser rounded out the SU Top 5 with a time of 23:51.

Sophomore Emma Shank and senior Jamie McCollum finished in 118th and 144th respectively. McCollum is the third senior who concluded her SU cross country racing career on Saturday and made her championships debut in the race.

“The women have been ranked right around No. 8 or No. 9 all year 8-9 all year and that's where we finished today,” head coach Steve Spence said of his squad. “It was a really solid effort on their part.”

Shippensburg has competed in the NCAA national championships in each of the last four year, posting a 9th-place finish in 2011, a 4th-place finish in 2010, a 15th-place finish in 2009 and a 6th-place finish in 2008. SU has also had multiple All-Americans in three of those four national championship races.

“It is so exciting to have been part of the national championship race four times in four years,” Spence said. “There is a tradition that we have started here at Shippensburg that began my freshman year and will continue into the future. To come away with three Top 10 finishes in four years is extremely exciting.”

Shippensburg (9th, 256 points)
1. Neely Spence (20:53.8) [1]
10. Katie Spratford (21:35.3) [8]
93. Sarah Strayer (23:34.4) [77]
94. Patty Reis (23:34.7) [78]
109. April Schlusser (23:51.0) [92]
118. Emma Shank (23:59.0) [101]