Neely Spence of Shippensburg Among Top 30 Nominees for NCAA Woman of the Year Honor
Top 30 Announcement
Lock Haven, Pa. - Neely Spence of Shippensburg, who earlier this summer was selected as the PSAC's nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award, has been named as one of the top 30 semifinalists for the award. One of 10 honorees from Division II, Spence will now advance onto the next round of voting, the results of which will be announced in September when three finalists from each NCAA division are named.
Spence completed her college career in the fall after winning her second straight NCAA individual cross country title and will go down as one of the finest student-athletes in PSAC history for her accomplishments both in the area of intercollegiate competition as well as in the classroom. She is one of several hundred of the finest graduating female student-athletes in the country who have been nominated for the Woman of the Year honor. The final list of nominees consisted of nearly 430 from across the country.
Schools nominate perspective honorees from their own respective schools and the Senior Woman Administrators (SWAs) from the PSAC vote on the PSAC's nominees. One is then forwarded onto the NCAA as the conference's nominee. After a first round of voting based on a list of criteria, the top 10 honorees per division (I, II and III) are announced in August. After a second round of voting based on a list of criteria, the top three honorees per division will be announced in September. From the group of the final nine honorees, the national winner will be announced at the NCAA Woman of the Year Awards Dinner in Indianapolis on October 14, 2012.
The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. Student-athletes may only be nominated once in their careers by their institution. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) manages the nomination process and selections.
Spence concluded her Shippensburg career last fall after winning her second straight NCAA women's cross country championship as she turned professional and began her training for the Olympic Trials. She ended her career as an eight-time NCAA champion, including events won at the NCAA cross country as well as indoor and outdoor track & field championships during her career, and a 10-time PSAC Athlete of the Year. She became the first athlete in PSAC history to be named an Athlete of the Year for four straight seasons in any sport, accomplishing the feat in women's cross country. She was also the PSAC Track Athlete of the Year in all three of her indoor and outdoor track seasons - all of which resulted in her being named the PSAC Athlete of the Year in all 10 of her collegiate seasons of competition. In cross country, she was a three-time Division II All-American, and a four-time NCAA Atlantic Region and PSAC Champion, becoming the first athlete in PSAC cross country history - male or female - to win four PSAC individual championships. Spence also led her team to four straight conference team championships in cross country, as well as two indoor and outdoor championships as Shippensburg became the first program in conference history to win the league "triple crown" - capturing the cross country, indoor and outdoor titles in the same season. The Lady Raiders accomplished the feat twice with Spence on all three teams - in 2009-10 and 2010-11 - and also did so this past year for the third straight season, with Spence on just the cross country team.
On the track, Spence was an eight-time Division II All-American and a six-time national champion - winning four 5,000-meter titles between indoor and outdoor and anchoring two national champion distance medley relay squads in indoor. At PSAC Championships, Spence won 17 of the 19 races in which she competed over three years between indoor and outdoor and contributed to seven PSAC track records, including the all-time Division II record in the outdoor 5,000 meters (15:33.83).
Also a standout in the classroom, Spence graduated last month with a 3.85 cumulative grade point average and a degree in human communcation studies. One of just four female track & field/cross country athletes in Shippensburg history to be named a CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American®, Spence ended her career as three-time Academic All-American, garnering third team honors as a sophomore, second team accolades as a junior, and wrapping up her career with a first team honor this year. She is also a five-time recipient of a PSAC Top 10 Award, including being named a Top 10 recipient in all three seasons - fall, winter and spring - during the 2010-11 academic year, and was the 2010-11 PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year, an honor that she will be on the ballot for once again for the 2011-12 year. Spence was also named the USTFCCCA Division II Cross Country Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year twice and the Division II Conference Commissioners' Association (CCA) Regional Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2010-11.
Spence's full and lengthy list of accomplishments can be found here.
Four other student-athletes from the PSAC were nominated for the award. They were Melissa Gates (California - women's swimming), Jackie Hynson (IUP - women's swimming), Amanda Riley (Bloomsburg - field hockey) and Amanda Sharbaugh (Gannon - women's soccer/lacrosse).