Neely Spence has a long list of running accomplishments including: Nike Outdoor National two-mile champion, 4^th at XC Footlocker, and many Pennsylvania state titles.  Neely is adding to these many accomplishments as a standout freshman at Shippensburg University. Last weekend, she finished 2^nd at the prestigious Brooks Paul Short Run covering the 6k in 19:57.  Such a high level of achievement in running is par for the course for the Spence family: Neely’s father, Steve Spence, was a world-class marathoner, participating in the 1992 Olympics and winning a bronze medal at the 1991 World Championships.  Her mother holds the 5k PR for women in the family.“She really enjoys mentioning it whenever I am around” Neely reports.

            Not only is her father an Olympic marathoner, but he is also Neely’s coach. She explains the advantages, as well as the challenges, of this arrangement:   “I trust him and his knowledge of the sport, and I know that he will help me meet my goals.  He knows what I am capable of and what my limits are better than I do.” She continues, “I think the hardest thing for my family as a whole is since we are all into running and it is our lifestyle we never stop talking about it.  If I had a bad race or workout the last thing I want to do is talk about running.”

            With her father being the head coach of Shippensburg cross country, it seemed like a natural step for Neely to run there. She explains, “I didn't want the transition to be too stressful for me to not have a good athletic or academic first semester.” She elaborates, “The idea of competing for Ship was a very exciting factor that drew me to this decision. I have been involved with the team here for 10 years (when her dad first took the coaching position until now) and the university is like my second home.”

Neely thoughtfully continues, “When I was younger I would go along to meets and until my junior year of high school I actually wasn't allowed to run for the high school (she was homeschooled) so I trained with the college team and ran open races unattached.  It was great this year to be able to put on a Ship jersey and give back to a program that has meant so much to me.”

Neely has given back to the program helping her team to remain undefeated by any DII team so far this season. “I am very excited about our team!  This is the first time in my running career where I have a team with success on the brain.  We have a great group of young talented athletes.  We are all focused on a common goal, to do the best we can during our training and translate that to positive race performances.  We will continue to work hard and we are excited to see where that may lead us” she says.

Neely explains that her and her teammates have been working hard: “I would say the key workouts thus far have been long hill repeats and grass intervals and the long run.  Each of these workouts have worked on different aspects of our fitness that will play out during specific time during the race.  We also lift twice a week and that has been a new development for me as an athlete.  It is really building our strength and endurance.”

When considering the difference between her training this year and last year, she concludes, “The intensity has increased (from high school) a little.  My paces have dropped and repetitions during workouts have increased.  On the days we do not weight lift we have ab workouts, strides or cruise drills.”  The transition for Neely seems to be going smoothly, and she will undoubtedly make her mark at the DII Cross Country Championships.   

Along with winning there are also some fun traditions in this running family. Neely explains, “Last New Year's eve my dad, my sisters and I ran for 2008 seconds through down-town Shippensburg.  We ended at the square a minute before mid-night and watched them drop the anchor (because it's the town of Ship).  We ran back to the car and my dad realized he locked the keys inside. We had to run all the way home at 1AM!”

 

Races for the weekend of Oct.4- The first weekend of October had a lot of excitement and there were some good match-ups. Per usual, I urge you to comment on any races that are not covered here.

Colorado Rocky Mountain Shootout- Adam’s State Aaron Braun took the overall men’s title with a time of 25:04 over the 8k course. His teammate, Ryan Mcniff (25:28) was the second DII finisher and Western State’s Tyler Pennel (25:40) was the third place DII finisher. Adams State finished first in the Non-DI division with 20 points, followed by Western State (36) and Metro State (83).

 University of Colorado at Colorado Springs’ Shannon Payne finished first overall in 21:25 over the odd distance of 5.8k. Adams State’s Lavenna Mullenbach (21:33) was second and Mesa State’s Alexis Skarda (21:49) was third. Adams State won the non DI division team title with 53 points followed by Western State (56) and Mesa State (66). 

Cowboy Jamboree- Harding’s Daniel Kirwa was first overall in the men’s race finishing the 8k course in 23:47. Abilene Christian’s duo of Julius Nyango (24:23) and Daniel Maina (24:24) were the next DII finishers placing 8^th and 9^th respectively.  Abilene Christian was the first non-DII team finishing 4^th with 102 points. Harding was 5^th with 111 points. Missouri Southern was 11^th with 358 points.

Missouri Southern’s Kimi Shank was the first DII finisher covering the 6k course in 21:38 for 11^th place.  Abilene Christian’s Winrose Karunde finished 25^th in 22:08. Missouri Southern was the first DII team with 344 points for 11^th place.  Harding  (396) was 14^th and Abilene Christian (530) was 20^th.

Slippery Rock- Slippery Rock hosted their invitational this weekend and with nationals being held there later this year, many teams participated to preview the course. In the men’s 8k race, Slippery Rock’s own Pat Reagan set a course record with a time of 24:51. The next scored runner was Lock Haven’s Nick Hilton (25:22) and Wayne State’s Abdntlah Sallah (25:23).  UC San Diego took the men’s team title with 52 points, followed by Lock Haven (69) and Wayne State (91).

Wayne State’s Rachelle Mallet won the women’s race covering the 6k course in 21:35. Cal State LA’s Vivien Wadeck (22:08) was second followed by Millersville’s Priscilla Jennings (22:14).  Cal State LA and Slippery Rock tied for first place with a score of 107 points. They were followed by Wayne State with 119 points.

*photo from Shippensburg website

Also, if you, my reader, want to send me results from any meets. I encourage you to do that here on flotrack.